Mrs. St-Cyr felt adventurous yesterday. We ventured on our own onto the streets of Hong Kong and bravely entered a local restaurant that had come recommended by our hotel concierge. When we got there we felt that it must be a pretty good restaurant indeed, since there were many people waiting in line for a table. This presented our very first challenge, since we were given a little blue paper with lots of Chinese characters on it. Fortunately we found the number 87 on this paper too. The bigger problem was going to be, as we found out, that the numbers were called in Chinese only. When we approached the counter area, the lady did not speak any English. We looked around for anybody else who was waiting and might help us translate, but we only received blank looks. This was going to be fun, so we started counting how many people were being called and periodically approached the counter to show our little blue paper and wait for a approving nod.
Finally we got that nod and we followed a waitress to our table inside the restaurant. Mrs. St-Cyr asked for an English speaking waiter, but none could be found. We were seated at a big round table with about 7 other people. They looked at us strangely, since we were the only Western looking people in the entire place.
One elderly man at our table was able to speak a few words of English. We were desperate, because the entire menu was written in Chinese and we were supposed to check a selection off. How were we supposed to do that??? The old man just ordered for us, we did not know what it was. While we were waiting, we had the opportunity to look around some more.
- Some eating with elbows on the table
- Children playing hand held video games at the table
- Only tea and hot water were served (no Coke or Sprite)
- Food was placed in the middle of some tables on a lazy susan and shared
- Only chopsticks were available
- People were reading newspapers at the table
- Many people were on their cellphones
Mrs. St-Cyr was so brave and tried ALL the food that the waiters brought. One looked like chicken, one was supposed to be beef and pork. We ordered some rice (we thought it was going to be fried rice) as well, but only a very white slimey rice soup was brought. I stuck to some Mango Pudding in form of a fish.
When we were finished looking and poking at the food in front of us, the family that was sharing our table started to smile and make gestures as if asking us why we were not finishing the rest. What an experience !
It is a very odd and humble experience when being the only foreigner in a room and one cannot communicate with anyone, nor anyone can talk to you.
8 Responses to “Dim Sum”
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Sounds good but it is too early here for lunch!
Yea! What a wonderful journey. Thanks you for sharing it. Lily and I logged on at least 4 times this weekend. Know that you are in our thoughts and prayers. Susan
Mrs. Pickering’s class asks:
Did Mrs. St. Cyr ever find out what the meat was in the meat balls?
If the chinese learn English in school why did the people at your table not know any English?
Do you like American style Chinese food better?
No, Mrs. St-Cyr did not find out what kind of meat it was
Although most kids will learn English at school, the older generation does not know it. We were sitting at a table full of older people. The two kids were too busy playing video games and looking at their cell phones. They did not pay much attention to us.
So far we like American style Chinese food better, simply because our taste buds are most used to it. So it probably is an unfair comparison to make at this point. I don’t foresee liking chicken feet though…
Mrs. Freyer’s class asks:
how old were the kids there?
did any of your meal taste good?
how big was the resturant?
Mrs. Freyer’s class,
I would guess that the little girl was around 8 or 9 years old and her older brother was about 12 or 13 years old. I ordered Mango pudding, since I thought that was pretty safe, but then it arrived in a fish shaped form. So it was really weird to eat, but it was pretty good.
The restaurant was pretty big. There were many bog round tables. Eight people could fit around each table. So there were approximately 200 people in the restaurant.
Hi Ladies,
Sound like you are having a great adventure. Mrs. T. the slimy rice was probably rice soup(congee), sorry you did not like the dim sum. What do you think about having someone in China give Jose a Chinese name? The majority of the American Chinese have a Chinese name given to them usually by a grandparent.
Regards,
Jeannie
Hello Ladies:
The Rice dish you wondered about is Rice Congee or “Zook” which feeds the majority of Chinese.
It takes 2 to 3 hours to prepare the rice simmered in chicken or other stock or water. After preparation, the rice turns into a thin porridge.
Not much to look at, but it will keep you alive.
There are many variations of it which include adding meat, poultry, vegetables, honey, etc.
Try the restaurant Tao Woo on Percival Street near the intersection of Lockhardt Road for great Cantonese food.
If you are in the mood for seafood, try the steamed garupa!
Cheers,
Chip