Dinner For Two In Hong Kong

Back in February we went to Hong Kong to see some city lights and eat some food. I made us reservations at Hutong because I read that it is basically a restaurant in the sky. Upon arrival we confirmed this: Hutong is a restaurant on the 28th floor of One Peking Road (yes, that is really the name of the street) in Kowloon overlooking the bay and the neon Hong Kong skyline. Our table faced the view, as did just about every table in the restaurant. We took lots of pictures and I even took a few pictures of pictures being taken - the Hong Kong skyline is just that impressive. It's like Times Square times ten, and that's before you take in the glowing watery reflection.


We started the meal with scallops tossed with pomelo segments and green asparagus coated with white sesame. The scallops were raw and I didn't know what to expect from the pomelo but found it to be just like grapefruit which cut the saltiness very nicely.


For my entree I took our server's suggestion and ordered the Dragon Red which was lobster fried with red pepper and sweet chili sauce. It was delicious but it was really hot (almost too hot for me) and really, really hard to eat (I mean, WAY to hard). They gave me a big wooden spoon and a tiny silver fork to master the dish and my embarrassing performance was not unlike Julia Robert's escargot scene in Pretty Woman, I hate to say. But what I did get up to my mouth I enjoyed very much.


I had a first with the dessert menu; every item on it was deep fried. Not a problem. We ordered two deep fried desserts. This one is the apple spring rolls with apple chips. It was good, but when hasn't deep fried sugar been good?


Before we left for the night I ordered tea and asked for milk and sugar like a good westerner. They brought out a cup of tea, a bowl of honey larger then my cup of tea, the smallest pot of milk I have ever seen, and a slumped over, melted-looking jar holding a couple of sugar packets. I probably should have ordered green tea but then I guess I wouldn't have been able to snap this funny shot.

Leaving Town

At this time tomorrow I’ll be getting on a Cathay Pacific Boeing 747 headed for Hong Kong. That is the plan. But as I noted in my last post, this weather were having in New York City really sucks. Will it snow? Will it rain? Will it accumulate? Will the flight be cancelled or delayed and will I be on time for my dinner reservations at Hutong once the flight has landed? This is the part of the narrative where there is a wrench thrown in the gear set.

There are only 7 possible plot lines in existence. For all the options, last minute decisions, delays, changes of heart, promises, actions, and barricades, there are never more then 7 ways that the story can go. This is the part of the story where were climbing Freytag’s pyramid and were almost to the top, awaiting, dreading, craving the climax. The orchestra is playing and it’s playing faster and faster; the bumble bee buzzes a shrinking spiral around your head coming closer and closer to swiping your earlobes on the way by each time. How will this end!?

I have to wait. No amount of internet searches and phone calls will bring the climax to my door step any faster.

If the plan is not derailed I will be seeing Hong Kong and Thailand for the first time. I’m going to take a lot of pictures and eat my meals slowly so that I can describe them in detail here on my blog. I’m going to keep my eyes peeled for the whale sharks as they pass by Thailand on their yearly journey around the globe. Maybe I will even see fireworks in Hong Kong. I’ve heard they have a fireworks show over the marina every single night.

In Thailand we will be staying at Zeavola on the island of Phi Phi Don, the northern island in the pair of Phi Phi islands. I’ll be there for a week, internet questionable, so this may be my last post for a little while. But hopefully when I return I will have up to 7 Asian and Southeast Asian plot lines to share.