Japanese Ramen @ Sentoka in Hong Kong 香港山头火

In Hong Kong, good Japanese food is readily available with restaurants specializing in specific food items. Sentoka Japanese Ramen Restaurant specially imports their ramen and miso from Japan.

Proof, as I see it, is in the eating. Stepping in, I ordered the miso ramen. The way I see this, I kill two birds with one stone. I get to try how good their miso and ramen are. The noodles did not disappoint. The noodles had the right amount of zing and taste of wheat. The miso was fragrant and not too salty. This made for a excellent meal. One of the better bowls of ramen I have had.



The address:
Sentoka, Basement 1 Jusco, Kornhill Plaza, Taikoo Shing, Hong Kong
Directions to get there on my Food Map

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Beef Noodles @ Master Kong 康师傅私房牛肉面

Master Kong (康师傅) is one of the top selling instant noodle brands in China. So when I passed by this restaurant along Fuhua Road (福华路) near the Huaqiangbei (华强北) shopping area, my interest was piqued. And of course, I stepped inside.



Allow me explain why I had my curiosity aroused. Beef noodles is Master Kong's best selling flavour of instant noodles. This brand extension into a restaurant specializing in beef noodles would not only boost Master Kong's credibility as a beef noodles expert brand, the restaurant also becomes a trophy piece and brand spokesman. Of course, the restaurant is also an income generator so what better way of having your own brand advertisements that actually makes money for you.

This is all very well in theory. In practice, there are many potential pitfalls in this strategy.
Firstly, Master Kong as a company is a manufacturer and not a restaurant operator and they need to invest in this core competence and learn to trust the restaurant's professional management and not interfere. It would certainly be something that is quite difficult for a company as successful as Master Kong. Secondly, as both businesses share the same brand name, any incident affecting either business would automatically affect the other. And it is so easy to mess up with a restaurant. Someone gets food poisoning, whether it is the fault of the restaurant's or not, creates a major media stink and even the instant noodles business would be affected. It is so easy to create that media stink too, with the internet empowering every individual with his or her own media platform and with traditional media reporters and editors scouring the internet daily to get in on the latest scoop, bad publicity becomes harder and harder to extinguish. Then there is the product experience and whether both products, the restaurant and the instant noodles, provide a uniform level of experience that the consumer expects. So then, the Master Kong restaurant walks a really thin tightrope. Do the food too well and the consumer wonders why the instant noodles are so terrible in comparison. Do the food just like the instant noodles and customers do not see the point paying to be served when all they need is to add boiling water.

A scan of the menu revealed a range of items meant to boost Master Kong's brand reputation within the domain of beef noodles. There is even a high end halo product in the menu - some special rib noodles for 108 RMB for a bowl! Apparently, the restaurant picks a specific rib in the cow and there are only four of this particular rib in each cow. The main reason why this particular four ribs are picked are because of the texture and tenderness of the meat. Seems a bit extreme and it also reminds me of another taiwanese restaurant in Shenzhen that makes similar claims for their steak, Taiwan Rubber-Wangpin Beef Steak Restaurant (台朔王品牛排). The rest of the noodles clustered around the 20-30 RMB price range which is relatively standard for fast food. In the posters and promotional materials found around the restaurants, they proclaim their choice of fresh choice beef which makes the noodles much more satisfying. In all, I thought Master Kong could not have done a better marketing job to boost the image of their brand. However, all this would be a complete waste if the food could not live up to the high claims.

Unfortunately, the restaurant did not allow photography and I respected their request. So, no photographs of the food, which was a pity, as the food looked pretty good. I ordered their chef's special beef tendon, tripe and meat noodles (招牌牛三宝面). The noodles arrived beautifully presented in a large bowl. Portions are generous and the food looks appetizing. So I tucked in and then I found out where they went wrong. Firstly, the food while looking good, tasted just like instant noodles. The noodles had no texture to it and were soggy. The soup tasted like it came from the instant noodles spice packet too. The only good parts was the bits of fresh beef on it. At this point, the entire experience unraveled completely. What the restaurant served is a bowl of instant noodles with beef topping.

At this point I am not sure if this was the right move on the marketing front. It certainly was not from a restaurant perspective. Who would go to a restaurant that served instant noodles? From a brand perspective, I am not sure how it would work for the Master Kong either. In attempting to boost the image of the instant noodles, Master Kong has sacrificed the restaurant. In that process, it could also do irreparable harm over time to the instant noodles business as well.

The address:
Master Kong's Chef's Table, Fuhua Road (junction with Fuxing Road), Futian District, Shenzhen 康师傅私房牛肉面
Directions to get there using my Shenzhen Food Map
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Sichuan Chengdu Food @ Taoweifang 淘味坊成都风味

Chengdu (成都), the provincial capital of Sichuan (四川) province, is famous for her street food stalls offering a variety of spicy and savoury snacks and quick meals. Chengdu has exported their street fare all to the rest of China. Of course, Sichuan food has been very popular in major cities in China but it has mostly been restricted to hot pot restaurants and spicy crab restaurants.

Chili oil bamboo shoots (红油小笋) is a popular appetizer that is a spicy and crispy. Sichuan is also home to pandas and I wonder how many pandas were deprived of their meals to serve up this dish. In any case, I am glad this made it from the pandas' grasp as it was excellent.



Crunchy black fungus (爽口木耳) was the other starter and like the bamboo shoots before it, the fungus was excellent as well. The fungus is scalded and then doused with vinegar and chili.



Chili beef noodles (素椒牛肉面) are the Taoweifang's house special. This is basically a dry noodles with sauce and a generous topping of dried chili, minced pork and peanuts. While the ingredients are not exactly generous, the taste is excellent. It is like a great tasting instant noodles, in a nice kind of way. I love this and will definitely go back for more. But I would advise going for some other dishes to go with your noodles.



Pork noodles in chili oil (大肉面) is a more soupy variant with a more generous topping of pork belly meat and the noodles are soaked in a soup that is probably 50% chili oil. I found this a bit too oily and ordinary. The taste is not as multi-layered and interesting as the chili beef noodles too.



Flour balls in glutinous rice wine (粉子飂糟) is a traditional dessert in Sichuan and Hubei. Many families actually make their own glutinous rice wine as well. The wine made the soup mild and slightly sweet and this made the flour balls a bit easier and smoother to eat. Compared with the dish served in other restaurants that I have tried, this is one of the better ones. It is the perfect end to a hot, spicy and oily meal.



The address:
Taoweifang Sichuan Restaurant Jiaxinmao Shopping Mall (next to Sam's Club), Nonglin Road, Futian District, Shenzhen 淘味坊 深圳福田农林路嘉信茂购物中心负一楼山姆会员店旁
Directions using my Shenzhen Food Map



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Japanese Ramen @ Domon Noodles 味幌拉面

Tucked in a corner in the basement of Diwang Building, there is a tiny Japanese restaurant specializing in Japanese noodles. The decor and setting is that of a small traditional diner and the staff speak fluent Japanese. Observing the other customers around me, I noted that most of the tables appear to be occupied by Japanese men coming down from the offices upstairs and judging by the way they converse casually with the staff, they appear to be regulars too. So it seems a very promising prospect that I would find good Japanese food here.

A scan through the menu revealed that their specialty is noodles and for every bowl of noodles you had the choice of regular ramen that are made in China, or for an additional 10 RMB, noodles imported from Sapporo, Japan. They also claim their miso is directly imported from Hokkaido as well. If it lives up to the claims, this could serve up an authentic flavour that is only found in the best Japanese restaurants, and cost loads more for that same bowl of noodles.

I ordered a bowl of roast pork ramen (叉烧拉面) and naturally opted for the noodles imported from Japan. That came to a total of 48 RMB. A princely sum for a bowl of noodles but the damage could be far worse in a top Japanese restaurant. It was instantly apparent that the noodles were worth the extra 10 RMB. Appearance-wise they were a deeper yellow and they taste some how richer, smoother and a lot more springy. Compared with the normal noodles served here, these were night and day if you appreciate good noodles. The soup showed off the restaurant chef's class in that it was fragrant and captured the essence of the sea without the need to sully the soup with the addition of salt or other seasonings. While the roast meat slices or chashao (叉烧) were reasonably portioned, it did feel a tad bit over-cooked, resulting in a meat that was too soft and lacking in texture. Other than that, it was the best bowl of Japanese ramen I have tried in Shenzhen thus far.



Well worth a visit if you love a good bowl of Japanese ramen and are prepared to pay a little more for the pleasure.

The address:
Domon Noodles, Shennan Road, Diwang Building Basement 1, Luohu District, Shenzhen 味幌拉面 深圳罗湖深南路地王大厦负一楼
Google Map Directions


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Earthern Pot Noodles @ Xinsheng Changfenwang 新盛肠粉王

Hunan earthern pot noodles (罐罐面) is a popular quick and affordable meal that offers a combination of convenience, speed and great slow cooked taste. A paradox, it seems but the noodles cooked in traditional Chinese soup that has spent hours on a slow boil and laced with a bit of meat or vegetables.

I ordered the beef earthern pot noodles (牛腩罐罐面) for princely sum of 12 RMB and it arrived after a wait of five minutes, it arrived steaming hot. The soup was fragrant and the portion of noodles was enough to fill an average adult. The beef portions was not very generous but in the context of the price of the meal, I reckon I got my money's worth and a satisfied tummy.



In addition to the noodles, the restaurant serves an assortment of set meals and their title dish changfen (肠粉) which is a broad rice noodle rolled into a tube and served with soy sauce and chili. It is sometimes also filled with meats or vegetables inside to provide variety of taste. I will find an opportunity to sample the rest of their food some other time.

The address:
Xinsheng Changfenwang, Kingkey Banner Plaza (at the back facing the village), Baishi Road, Nanshan District, Shenzhen 新盛肠粉王 深圳南山白石路京基百纳广场后面
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Chaozhou Beef Noodles @ ChangTeng Noodle House 长腾潮州面馆

Whenever I do not feel too good or I have had too heavy and greasy meals over a period of time, this is the place I go for a cleansing. This restaurant specializes in traditional Chaozhou (潮州) style beef noodles and soup.

I always order the same two soups that are their specialty. First is the lotus rhizhome with pig innards soup (猪杂莲耦汤). The soup is a light clear broth made from pig innards and the lotus rhizome is pre-stewed so that it is already soft and sticky. The soup is just fragrant and perfect for a light meal.



The second house specialty is the watercress soup (西洋菜汤). If not properly cooked, watercress tends to have a strong flavour and on the fibrous side. The vegetables here are done nicely with the soup flavoured lightly with a distinct watercress flavour but yet not overpowering to put off the uninitiated. As watercress is high in fibre, those on a diet can take some comfort in this despite the high cholesterol coming from the pig innards.



One other specialty is the beef ball noodles (牛肉丸汤粉). While their beef balls are by no means the best I have ever tried, they are pretty good with the right amount of chewiness and texture and tastes of beef. They are hand beaten till they achieve a certain level of chewiness and springiness and yet are tender to bite on and smoothly textured. I have had beef balls that are hard and tastes more of the flour that is used to hold the beef balls in shape.



The address:
Changteng Chaozhou Noodle House, Huaqiang Bei Road (just north of the Shenzhen City Hospital for Traditional Chinese Medicine), Futian District, Shenzhen 长腾潮州面馆 深圳福田华强北路市中医院北测
Google Map Directions



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Sichuan Noodles @ Hexu Noodle Bar 和旭面吧

Hexu Noodle Bar (和旭面吧) is a tiny eatery that serves traditional Sichuan street food. This is the type of food where you expect to see at a roadside stall. Hexu Noodle Bar's specialty is noodles, a Sichuan variant called guamian (挂面) or a literal translation being noodles that are hung and these noodles are typically served in soup. In addition, there is a usual mixture of spicy dishes with enough go to light anyone's tongue on fire.

The first dish is an appetiser Sichuan mouthwatering chicken or koushuiji (口水鸡) . It is basically a boiled chicken that has the traditional spicy sauce consisting of peppers and chilli oil and a mix of other condiments garnished with a leaf of lettuce and a generous sprinkling of fried peanuts. The chicken arrived warm and tender which was a surprise since I usually have this dish served cold. But no matter, this is much better than cold chicken. The sauce was appropriately fragrant although it was quite spicy.



The main courses arrived. I selected the Sichuan chili oil dumplings or hongyouchaoshou (红油抄手). The sauce is the same as what you get in the chicken dish earlier sans garnishing of lettuce and peanuts. The dumplings are hand made and they were well done. This dish has to be eaten quickly while it is hot as if you leave it for too long, the dumpling skin will get soggy and expand. Then it would lose most of its texture and not taste as good. An excellent meal for me.



The second main dish we ordered is the Sichuan mouth tomato and egg noodles in soup (西红柿炒蛋挂面) and one of the signature dishes at the restaurant. Contrary to popular belief, Sichuan food is not all spicy and numbing. This is like the Sichuan equivalent of a bowl of rice noodles and the soup tasted fragrant and pleasant.



The final main meal we ordered was the chili oil noodles (红汤杂酱面), another specialty of the restaurant. It consists of noodles soaked in the spicy chili oil soup base and topped off with minced pork. Quite excellent as a meal since it came from the same spice base as the other dishes that we ordered.



In all, it was an excellent meal that was quick to serve and light on the pocket. Well worth trying if you happen to be in the neighbourhoood.

The address:
Xexun Noodle House, JinHui Furniture Mall, Nanhai Road (opposite Nanyou Building), Nanshan District, Shenzhen 和旭面吧　深圳南山南海大道金辉广场(南油大厦对面)
Google Map directions



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