Hong Kong weather to me is perfect this time of the year. Sweater weather, I call it. Food will always be amazing at anytime of the year in this culinary paradise, but I like this season best.

We were a group of 19 friends: Two were participants in the Hong Kong 42K Marathon last Sunday while the rest had a different “marathon” in mind—of the culinary and shopping kind.

My wife Tessa and I remembered dining in an Indonesian restaurant somewhere in Granville Street, Kowloon, so, off we went in that direction.

With a creative name like, “Indonesia Restaurant,” how could anyone get lost, or forget the name? I remembered this place served authentic Indonesian cuisine.

We ordered Gado-Gado, mixed veggies with peanut sauce; Chicken Saté, Shrimp Laksa and Beef Rendang.

The Gado-Gado was nothing extraordinary but when combined with the rest of the dishes, became amazing. The sate was excellent with the peanut sauce and so was the noodle soup. Laksa was the perfect blend of coconut and spice. With a slight taste of lemon, it was faultless.

But, the discovery of that evening was Beef Rendang. In the past, I had tried a very good version of this in a Singaporean restaurant in Richmond, Canada, but this current one surpassed that one by miles.

I am forever trying to minimize my rice intake, but I really blew it with this dish. They actually served my rice from a wooden bucket!

The beef was so tender with morsels of gelatin in between. Sauce was a bright, red and rich with a tinge of lime, thick coconut and spice. It seemed like the beef had been cooked and soaked for days in its sauce. Absolutely, incredibly delicious!

With lots of steamed rice, this just blew our minds. We talked about it for our entire stay and just had to have it just before we headed for the airport. It is impossible to eat this without rice, lots and lots of it.

With the cool weather outside, the Beef Rendang will keep you warm and provide the carbs you’ll need for all that walking. A must in Hong Kong!

Roast goose

The next day, we headed for Yung Kee on Wellington Street, the most popular place for roast goose. We were blessed to get a reservation for all 15 of us.

Roast Goose, creamy Century Egg, mildly spicy XO sauce which you mix with your steamed rice; Salted Fish Fried Rice, steamed Kailan with a superior kind of oyster sauce, Singapore noodles, Pork Sausage, Goose Liver Sausage; and Crispy Suckling Pig—everything is worth the trip.

Skip the suckling pig.

The place did not win the Best Ever Dining Awards for Guangdong Cuisine 2011 for nothing. The goose skin was crispy, meat is loaded with flavor and with some plum sauce and a peanut at the tip of your chops sticks, this is heaven on earth!

The next evening, after we all walked our version of the 42K in order to avoid gaining weight, we headed for the Jordan area for one of the most famous noodle houses. Mak’s Noodle House, Parkes Street, Jordan.

Here, we were served freshly pulled thin noodles with shrimp or pork dumpling with soup. Broth was mildly flavored but it was fantastic. I also loved the dry noodles with spicy pork on top and the beef tendon.

Another recommended place was Yuen Kee on Granville street, Kowloon. It was late at night when we ate at this place. Food was okay but you find entertainment in how rude and dour the waiters are. It’s as if they didn’t want us around! I even wanted to thank them for allowing us to give them business.

We all agreed that one has to absorb this behavior with a different perspective, otherwise it could really spoil your meal, or your day.” Ang susungeeeet!” Funny in a sordid sort of way.

Macao

The day after, we all took the ferry to Macao. Entertaining place, if you like to gamble. China has cornered its own niche in the world economy; it makes copies of all things profitable bringing the prices of authentic goods down. They even have a copy of Las Vegas right in Macao!

When we docked in Macao, we met two kababayan who were on their day-off from work and they offered to take us around the city. We hired these two enterprising Pinays as our tour guides, which I believe was well worth it since we were not familiar with the island.

Food was nothing great though. It was mostly a variety of toppings, such as pork innards with seafood balls, sausages over broth and noodles.

The one I enjoyed was the pork sandwich because of the texture of the Portugese bun, the peanut candy and the almond cookies. You can walk around the shopping area and sample so much, you can end up being full.

They also have a lot of Chinese tapa for sale. But ours in Binondo compared to theirs is not bad at all.

We walked the entire trip and in spite of that, I feel I still put on a little weight. Until I can get back to my exercise routine, I will stay away from tipping the scales for I might end up buying a new one thinking the one I have might be broken.

Do I regret this Hong Kong food trip marathon? I’d do it 42K times over.

By the way, don’t miss the very tasty Roast Goose and Egg Tarte at the airport departure area in Terminal 2.

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