words cindy lam, shruti vashist

Even a blue-blooded diner would find something to drool over in Prince Edward
You may not find a king’s feast in Prince Edward but there is enough variety in the area’s eateries to keep a royal person slumming it for a night quite happy. Although its name suggests a crowned head, the district offers economical cuisine so bona fide even a royal family could be moved by its novelty. So, pretending we were the undercover children of kings (workers making out they are royals pretending to be workers?) we left our ‘regal carriage’ at home and took a trip to Prince Edward by shanks pony. (Good thing too – the area is infested with parking meters.) Our progress started with inquiries to the residents of the area for the most popular restaurants in Prince Edward. Here are some of their favourites.

The Tiffanys of Audrey Hepburn fame may well have catered to the royals of Europe, but Tiffany Restaurant (No 148, Prince Edward Road East, Kowloon, 2381 1516) in Hong Kong is better known as a ‘five-star restaurant for civilians’. Those born in the ’70s or ’80s and who grew up in Prince Edward may remember parents taking them to Tiffany Restaurant on special occasions. Western dishes, such as steak and ox tongue are always very popular here from a menu built around an ‘East-West melting pot’ style of Hong Kong cooking. It includes German pig’s knuckles ($105), grilled spring chicken ($105), US T-bone steak ($138), Japanese-styled cod ($118), and other international fare. The main dining area on the second floor tries for a touch of romance with dim lighting and large windows. A European royal (albeit sham) might be very much at home.

In contrast to the old and established Tiffany Restaurant, M’s Café (Shop A3, 238 Tong Choi Street, Prince Edward, 2308 1690) has been open for less than half a year. It is the first bistro to make good use of its location (beside the flower market) by putting three tables out in the open. The chef has trained in Western cuisine and enjoys chatting with customers and so, despite having only six tables, the bistro is popular in the neighbourhood. Customer Lesley Cheung, a regular here, says, “¢◊love their sandwiches and fish fillets. But the best item on the menu is their coffee.” Sets from breakfast to dinner (from $20 to $88) include main courses of fish fillets, chicken and duck breast, with sides of red-grain rice, spaghetti, angel hair and more. But even if we were real royalty, we’d sneak in here for the freshly brewed coffee and cheesecakes ($23/piece).

Eastern royals will be more at home in the other eateries of the area, as they all focus on Asian dishes. Pho Saigon (G/F, 224A, Garden Street, Prince Edward, 2142 7011) serves authentic Vietnamese cuisine. Its signature noodle is the semi-cooked beef with clear broth called Pho ($29). Shrimp roe broth ($38) is also popular for its strong taste. While the interior and seating are somewhat tacky, traditional paintings on the walls lend it an artsy, Vietnamese touch. For your convenience, the most popular dishes are marked on the menu – some of these are tiger prawn summer rolls ($35), sweet potatoes chicken curry with fragrant rice ($38) and Saigon flan (crème caramel, $18). Bon appétit.

Teppan Chiu Japanese Restaurant (Flat B, G/F, Prince Commercial Building, 150-152 Prince Edward Road West, Prince Edward, 2787 5135) is the only teppan restaurant in the area, and among the most economical in Kowloon – usually teppanyaki costs over $300 per person in Hong Kong. Here in the modest Teppan Chiu, you can either choose to sit near the teppan for the chef’s performance or in more relaxed seats further from the heat. Various kinds of beef from the teppan are on offer: Angus ($188) and premium ($108) among others. Tempuras (shrimps, oysters or eggplants) and sashimi platter ($78) are also available. But most popular here are dinner sets for two, which will set you back anything from $288 to $638. Set A, for example, for $288, consists of crab roe salad, assorted sashimi, salmon skin hand roll (two pieces), soft shell crab tempura, baked oyster, grilled rack of lamb, fried mixed mushrooms, seaweed udon with soup and ice cream.

Our ‘royal’ tour then proceeded on to Chinese cuisine. Hakka Concept Kitchen (Shop I-J, 232-242 Garden St, Prince Edward, 2392 8331) as its name implies, serves Hakka cuisine, which is not really popular elsewhere in Hong Kong. The wooden cart seats and tables make for a very cosy interior – more contemporary than the Hakka-inspired dishes with their liberal use of salt and oil. As Hakka people were mainly labourers in the past, the salt compensated for salinity lost in the sweat of work. They also like using yellow rice wine in their cooking, maintaining that it promotes good health. The Hakka Concept Kitchen keeps to the ‘three cups’ tradition – cooking with a cup each of rice wine, soya sauce and sesame oil – so, a princely person could expect dishes like three cups intestines ($68), chicken with rice wine ($68), Hakka-styled pork with mustard greens ($55) and Hakka-styled salt-baked chicken (half for $75, whole for $148).

While the Hakka stress salt, Shanghainese cuisine uses a lot of sugar. The difference is obvious just a few blocks away at Chui Kong Nam (G/F, 157A Sai Yeung Choi Street North, Prince Edward, 3690 2600), an authentic Shanghainese eatery with dishes such as lion-head meat balls with rice ($35), dragon-whisker vegetables (pumpkin vines, $50) and sweet and sour spare ribs ($58). Sets include rice with shredded vegetables, which is typical of Shanghainese cuisine, as well as a soya drink and soup. Among the area’s Shanghainese restaurants, this is the most popular, probably owing to the owner’s friendliness. He and his wife speak with an accent but are always happy introducing dishes to their customers in Cantonese. Pictures of their signature dishes decorate the walls and even a small TV keeps the buzz in this eatery alive. The shop only has 12-14 tables, depending on how they are assembled, but it is always crowded with customers.

Whether it has the same health benefits as royal jelly we cannot say, but tortoise jelly is popular in the south of China as a medication. So, with its walls plastered with explanations about tortoise jelly medications (making it look more like a Chinese pharmacy than a restaurant), Lan Yuen Chee Koon (318 Sai Yeung Choi Street North, Prince Edward, 2381 1369) obviously serves food from the south. Very health conscious, the restaurant avoids preservatives, MSG and oil, preferring to steam or cook food in iron pots. The offerings may look plain – no compromise for people with blue blood here – but the difference in taste is noticeable in the sets ($55) with their choice of pork, fish, or beef cooked in various sauces, along with soup, vegetables, rice or noodles. The pot sets ($63) are the same, except you get to choose a combination of one sauce, one side of vegetables and one main of meat or dumplings in a delightful clay pot. We thought this would be a good place for a royal who had to attend too many state functions. Not only does it sell medicines that could help counteract the effects of all those rich dishes but also the food here, in contrast, is homemade and down to earth. And in case you do not speak Chinese, ask for Mrs Leung, who will be happy to explain the restaurant’s philosophy of healthy eating in English and also suggest the best dishes for you.

Hong Kong has never had its own royal family but we finished our surreptitious tour of Prince Edward with a typical Hong Kong dine-out – One Dim Sum Chinese Restaurant (G/F, 15 Playing Field Road, Prince Edward, 2789 2280). As suggested by its name, it mainly serves dim sum, but without the service charges or bustling busyness found in conventional restaurants of its kind. The dim sum here are freshly made every day for very agreeable prices between $9 and $16. The signature crispy sesame egg custard cake ($10) is really a princely dish but you can also find other traditional goodies like steam rice noodles ($13), buns ($9) and steam cakes ($12) at One Dim Sum. The restaurant is open from 10am to 1am with an all-day dim sum feast – queues already start appearing from 11am on holidays! Ask the owner what he thinks makes it so popular, and he says, “I think apart from the food, people like the fact that this restaurant has a more contemporary feel to it than others in the area, owing to the leather chairs, trendy lights and wooden panels on the ceiling.”

Even without the regal pretence, we found the variety in Prince Edward stimulating. In fact, in a way we were royalty – with so much to explore, like kings, we were spoilt for choice.