Lamma Island Restaurant Tips by bpacker Top 5 Page for this destination

street stall: Fried Dessert

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Theme: Local

Han Lok Yuen: The Best Thing to Eat on Lamma Island

If you're a foodie, you would know that the best thing to eat on this island would be a roasted feral bird and not the seafood. Many locals would recommend you the famous Han Lok Yuen ‘Pigeon’ Restaurant which can be a real pain in the butt to find. Here's the reasons why:

First, you need to hike into the mosquito-infested trail to find the eatery. Next, you can't see it unless you're up on the hill from Hung Shing Yeh. Third, if you're hiking and hungry and craving for roasted pigeon at the same time, you can get homicidal. Fourth, you might decide that the eatery is an urban myth and settle for convenient seafood around the bay.

Well, let me assure you that the eatery exist and that it's worth making a reservation before going. Yes, you're making a reservation to eat a roasted feral bird that you would normally shoo away in Picadilly Circus. Under normal circumstances, you won't do that unless you're a foodie.

Favorite Dish: So was it worth the hike, the mosquitoes and the ferry ride? Without a doubt yes, the bird though small was delicious to the bone. While the skin was crisp and it seperated easily from the succulent gamey flesh. It takes skill to roast a pigeon this way and other restaurants, have tried, without much success, to replicate that croissant-like skin texture. Other pigeons on the island tasted like they had an oil bath.

Directions: Han Lok Yuen (Pigeon Restaurant)
16-17 Hung Shing Ye (Tel: 2982 0608)
A vexing 15-min walk from Yung Shue Wan Ferry Pier
Open from 11am-9.30pm (last order).

Rating: 0

Theme: Local

Ah Po Doufa: The Most Delicious Beancurd in HK

Other than the pigeon, the other dish is worth a mention here is the famous beancurd (Dou-fa in Cantonese, say Tow-Far) made by an old woman known respectfully as Ah-Por. Ah-Por's beancurd stall is about 10 min away from Yung Shue Wan pier and it's so popular that it's marked by a queue that snakes along the path near the shade of banana trees. Undetered by the free advertisement of greedy customers, Ah-Por also takes the intiative of putting up newspaper clippings of herself on a poster board beside her stall. You won't miss the stall unless you're a bat depending on sonar for dear life.

Favorite Dish: The dofu-fa, without a doubt. The curd was the softest I've tasted in my life. Nothing on the main island or in Singapore comes close to this heavenly soft manna. If you prefer it sweet, you can sprinkle a confetti of red sugar (a specialty of Guangdong) on your dessert. The sugar is found in a tub on every table and plasted on the tub are the Chinese words - "Pls close the tub after you've helped yourself to the sugar, you greedy bastard!" Ok, ok, I made those last 3 words up.

Comparison: least expensive

Rating: 5

Theme: Local

Various: How to Eat Prawns in Hong Kong

What:Freshly steamed prawns with silvers of ginger.

Where:In a typical seafood restaurant in Lamma Island.

Over here on Lamma Island, they serve freshly steamed prawns, with feathery whiskers, shells and all. To eat the juicy little suckers the true Chinese way, yank the head off and proceed to suck in the succulent brain juices before de-shelling the body. After you've done the gruesome deed, bite into the prawn. If it's fresh, it should be sweet and firm to the bite (On Lamma island, it usually is) Now, that you've digested the prawn, proceed to wash off guilt, I meant your hands daintily in the bowl of tepid lemon tea. Yes, the tea is meant to rid your hands of the briny prawn smell and not for drinking. It's said that a certain dignatary drank the hand-wash after mistaking it for her cuppa. Just don't make the same royal mistake.

*You may skip sucking the living delights out of the prawn head if you find it too Fear-factor esque. Not all Chinese do it.

Rating: 0

Theme: Local

Sau Kee Seafood Restaurant: The Most Delicious Noodle on the Island

What: Scallop Steamed with Garlic and Vermicelli ( thin rice noodles)

Where: Seafood Restaurant, Lamma Island

OK, I know that I mentioned that seafood is only passable on Lamma Island but there is one dish with seafood, alas, over here that is worth trying - fresh scallop steamed with garlic and vermicelli and chives. Ironicaly, the noodle is more delicious than the the scallop beneath so my word stills stands. Though the dish looks deceptively simple, it is the most delicious noodle in the universe. Nothing beats this, not even the stupidly expensive hand-made noodles I ate the day before in Central *. This humble island noodle sent me to heaven since it was infused with the delicious briny taste of the scallop and heady with a dollop of fragrant garlic. I've never tasted anything better.

*As corny as this sounds, a huge group of us watched in rapt attention as a chef whacked a huge ball of dough into strands of noodles and we clapped ardently as he finished. Alas, the finished product looked and tasted like fat Japanese udon, it was none of the fine strands I've tasted before in China.

Directions: 43 Yung Shue Wan Main St (Tel: 2982 0210)

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Theme: Local

Rainbow: How to Choose your Dinner in HK

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Theme: Local