Restaurants

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Tim Ho Wan – Hong Kong
I normally hate restaurants with a buzz about them. I despise crowds, don’t like to wait in line, I am perturbed when people get all hyped up about food that is not that good… I also do not like to eat at a place that lets this fame go to their heads, making the famed food and the service a thing of the past. My favorite thing is to find the little “hole-in-the-wall” before all the buzz, and avoiding it like the plague when it gets found out.
To my surprise this was worth the wait in line…

This is the line 1/2 hour before opening… Better get there early for this seat!

Rice and BBQ meat in Lotus Leaf. This is a great version of a local specialty, but it is truly the “killer” when eating here and you order too much wanting to try everything. Two times I got to this dish and REALLY got full. But its delicious. Herbaceous and grassy, sweet and savory, with awesome sticky rice. Well worth having to “roll” out the door…

Cantonese dish that is much more polished here. This one is filled with pork liver. Soy sauce is poured table side…yet another Michelin starred difference;) You can tell that the chef/owner was the dim sum chef at the Michelin starred Four Seasons of Hong Kong prior to opening this place. Every dish here is more refined, the flavors are more concise, and the service is much more than your usual Chinese place.

A great take on the typical steamed BBQ pork buns. Nice and crispy, chewy, and much more interesting than the original steamed bread.

Oh yeah. This is my kind of Michelin starred restaurant! Chicken Feet in a sweet and spicy black bean sauce. Perfect flavor and amazingly tender compared to the usual in other Chinese restaurants. Forget about fancy expensive ingredients, this is the real deal, and cooked to perfection.

Another Cantonese staple, the turnip cake. This one had a little more crispy crust, and a little smoother sticky texture than your usual dim sum turnip cake…

There are a few dessert options at this place, and here is by far the most refreshing after stuffing your face. Basically a “jello”, this is “Osmanthus jelly” but the menu translation says it is “tonic medlar and petal cake”. Just imagine floral jello with goji berries. Not to sweet and perfectly refreshing after over-indulgence.

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THE PLUM GARDEN, McKenry, Mckenry County, IL.

You cant get this dish in Hong Kong…. This is Hong Kong Chicken, at the Plum Garden. Its a Cantonese restaurant that is in McHenry, way north west of Chicago. Its well worth the trip and it has been for around 30 some years….