What’s better than a steaming bowl of rice on a dark, rainy night?
After a long, horrific day (involving my favourite pair of shoes almost falling apart because of the silly rainstorm), I needed a good pick-me-up. So I dragged my perpetually hungry friend, hereinafter known as HF, to a place near my house. I’ve walked past this place a million times, and always wondered how their claypot rice is – well, now I know.
The restaurant is called Ho Ho, which in chinese translates to very good. I can’t tell if they are just a bit full of themselves, but yeah… I guess the food was quite good. Now the interior, on the other hand, is not quite so good. But as a hole-in-the-wall, it’s pretty standard. There are both booths and round tables, the menu is sprawled alongside the walls – with pictures for those who are visual eaters, or those who don’t know Chinese since the menu is entirely in Chinese.
HF and I ordered a claypot rice each and, in keeping healthy, a plate of veggies as a side. The vegetables (Sauteed Choi Sum with garlic) were pretty standard – a bit on the oily side, but that is almost to be expected at places like these. Nothing special to report on – so moving on to the good stuff….
I got the ‘mui choi kau yuk’ (梅菜扣肉)– which is literally “Stewed pork with preserved mustard leaves” – claypot rice. I expected a little more meat, to be frank, but it tasted absolutely divine. But then again, I am a big fan of this meat dish. It’s something I grew up loving but limit myself from eating for two reasons: 1) my mother never cooks it, and 2) the meat is ridiculously fatty – but I digress.
The meat was soft and tender, and the perseverved vegetables weren’t too overbearing. Throwing in the slightly sweet cooked soy sauce onto the rice, it was a party in my mouth.
The best part? The little burnt bits of rice of course. This is my favourite part of claypot rice. It gives the whole dish a little crunch, and also it’s just fun to pick off the sides…
Overall, I had a fantastic meal.
HF, on the other hand, did not enjoy his meal. He ordered, on poor advice (oops), the classic Lap Cheong (臘腸) rice which turned out not to be so much of a signature dish for the place.
For those who are wondering, Wikipedia kindly lets you know that:
Lap Chang (臘腸) is a dried, hard sausage usually made from pork and a high content of fat. It is normally smoked, sweetened, and seasoned with Rose water, rice wine and soy sauce
Now, good lap cheong is delicious. It’s a little slightly sweet and a little on the fatty side, but the fat is what gives off this amazing aroma when it is steaming in the pot. HF unfortunately experienced not-so-good lap cheong…
“It tastes like dishwasher”, he had said as he picked away at my (delicious) meal.
Well, you win some you lose some. HF had earlier at lunch not offered me any of his starter – so, that’s karma for him.
The whole meal cost us $148 (each rice being $50, the veggies being $28 + 2 drinks) – It’s probably a bit on the pricey side for what it is, but it satisfied me so guess I won’t complain.
Ho Ho Restaurant 好好茶餐廳
2 Fa Yuen Street, Hong Kong (opposite a HK Jockey Club betting branch)
Closest MTR exit: Yau Ma Tei Exit A1 or Mong Kok Exit D.
Hong Kong's hole in the walls 