Chan Kun Kee located at No.3-5, Dai Pai Dong, Wo Che Est Market, Sha Tin in Hong Kong

Sept 20, 2016 – 陳根記 Chan Kun Kee in Sha Tin dai pai dong

What a great authentic experience it was tonight to dine at a real dai pai dong in Hong Kong!

I honestly don’t remember when it was my last time eating at a large, authentic dai pai dong (side market tables) so this was definitely a thrill for the foodie in me.  It helps when you have real foodie relatives — I honestly believe that’s where I learned my foodie tendencies from; thanks aunts and uncles of HK. =0)

We sat outside and only a large tent covered everyone.  When it started raining like cats and dogs during the middle of the meal, we were safe and dry.  It was one of the better summer nights to enjoy a great meal at an outdoor restaurant in HK.

We ordered a lot of local dishes, but first I got a Somerbys Blackberry Cider to drink.  It wasn’t too sweet and a bi tart. 🙂

Bless my aunt for ordering such Hong Kong classics that night! ❤

The steamed garlic shrimp was fresh and had so much minced garlic on it!  I should have licked the plate clean of all those garlic haha.

The Salt and pepper bombay duck (椒鹽九肚魚) (not a duck; it’s a lizardfish) was delicious as always.  I loved eating this as a child; always salt and pepper styled!  It was crunchy and crispy and you could eat the bones too.

椒鹽九肚魚. Salt and pepper bombay duck

Clams!  Clams with black bean sauce.  Always a classic and there was enough “wok hay” to make it delicious.

Tung choi!  Delish.

XO sauce mantis shrimp.  These suckers take some time to pry its shell open, but then its soft meat is then so worth it.

攋尿蝦

Goose organs/intestines were very thin and slippery.  I wasn’t a huge fan of these — hard to digest and I really don’t need to eat a lot of these — but it was still very tasty and well prepared.

Lettuce with dace.  Yum!  Always up for more greens nowadays.

土鯪魚炒油麥菜. Stir fried lettuce with dace

Beef tripe with more veggies (yay!) [yay for the veggies; not the tripe].  Although surprisingly, the beef tripe was extremely tender and I haven’t had such soft tripe in many years.  It was so good!

Last but not least, we finished off with the mango crepe-pastry dessert.  We had to line up for it — thanks Pam!  Apparently, the restaurant boasts making over 100 of these in just 2 hours because it was so popular.

These were served as mango chunks in a pastry-crepe roll on top of freshly whipped cream.  It was actually really good.  The mango was fresh and smooth.  The whipped cream wasn’t heavy at all either.  Yummy!!

芒果—口脆 (8 pcs). $32 HKD

My guardian angel was looking after me again.  By the time we left, the downpour had slowed to a mist and we were fine walking out dry.

If you are up for an authentic and one-of-a-kind Hong Kong experience, I highly recommend Chan Kun Kee for seafood and local eats.  You can’t get more Hong Kong than eating at a dai pai dong and washing everything down with a beer!  It is a loud, hands-on, no air-conditioning experience where the washrooms are 50 m away outside in a dingy building.