that magical deep fried fish
prawns were an exercise in richness upon richness
lotus wrapped rice, pure genius
drunken squab, almost makes you want to drink

Restaurant Review!

Dong Bo l North Point l Hong Kong

Don’t mind the owner with the severe Hitler youth haircut. Don’t mind the movie posters he has rotting on the walls because he was in some movie or TV show. Pay no attention to the fact that Jean-Claude Van Damme eats here. Try to ignore the loud table of obnoxious office worker meatheads pounding back red wine like teenagers at a kegger. Just know that this is one of the 800 lb gorillas of great Chinese food here in Hong Kong.

I’ve seen this place slowly grow over the years. Located on the top floor of a wet market on Java Street, it’s slowly expanded and taken over the spaces of other restaurants on the floor and now takes up fully half of the space. On top of that, you’re going to have to make reservations if you want a seat and you’ll have to do it in the afternoon when their not open, otherwise, they may not even answer the phone much less make reservations. After some pondering, I decided that would be an appropriate place to take my 2 aunts and uncles for their last meals in Hong Kong before heading back to Vancouver.

Our first course was a drunken squab served with white vinegar. This is always a good opener as its cold, fast, and goes great with the chilled bowls of beer that you’ll soon be ordering through the go-go dancer beer girls. Next up, one of the dishes that made this place famous, Lotus wrapped rice steamed with chicken, pork, and shitake mushrooms. I can’t even begin to describe this dish in a way that will do it justice. Wonderful floral notes and woody tones from the leaf wrapped steaming process give it an elaborate complexity that nothing else truly approaches. I think I ate half of this on my own. Following this was a course of perfectly fried prawns with salted egg yolks. Did you know that prawns have tons of cholesterol? Did you know egg yolks; much less concentrated dried salted egg yolks are also heavy in cholesterol? Did you know that this dish was worth every artery punishing lipid? Tofu with broccoli and preserved vegetables was a great way to cleanse the palate and gird ourselves for the courses to come. A juicy fried chicken with dark crispy skin was up next in all its glory. In Hong Kong, when you buy a chicken at a wet market, you just point out the live bird from the cage, continue your shopping and in 10 minutes, you’ll come back to a freshly killed and dressed bird ready for consumption. Let me tell you, this bird flu taunting freshness makes a world of difference. Then there was a course that was almost magical. A deep fried “9 stomach” fish, similar in size to a sardine, yielded flesh that was so soft and smooth; it could only be described as panne cotta. As always, the meal ends with a hot dessert soup of mouth searing ginger and sweet potatoes. My uncle regarded the dish with suspicion, stating in no uncertain terms that this dish is only edible if there a lot of ginger. After a sip, his eyes widened ever so slightly and the only words that came out of his mouth was a quiet chuckle.