Project Fragrant Harbour, part II

Tung Po Seafood Restaurant
2/F, 99 Java Road
Java Road Municipal Services Building
North Point
Tel: +852 2880 9399

I suppose every country has its own version of comfort food – and our equivalent of tze char cuisine would be the dai pai dong fare in Hong Kong. The traditional dai pai dong referred to the open-air food stalls operating on sidewalks, with foldable chairs and tables set up around them – but there are precious few of those left, and dai pai dong is now used to refer to any generic hawker-type setting or food. One of the best places we went for this type of cuisine in Hong Kong was Tung Po Seafood Restaurant.

The word “restaurant” is quite a misnomer, for Tung Po is actually just one of many kitchens set up directly above a wet market. It therefore takes up one of many sections of tables and chairs set up on the second floor of the Java Rd Municipal Services Building, in North Point. This was one of Anthony Bourdain’s stops during the Hong Kong leg of his No Reservations TV show. Now I have never tasted Anthony Bourdain’s cooking, but I saw a segment once pitting him against Eric Ripert in a battle of “sell-out” celebrity chefs. The segment threw them into the heat of the bistro kitchen on the premise that each of them – caught up in their celebrity – had forgotten how to handle the frenzy that is the kitchen. Cut to two hours later, and Bourdain is sweating like a pig, backed up on his orders, and in desperate need of a break and a cigarette. Yet Ripert is still sailing along, the look on his face serene and placid, still churning out steaks to order. Ever since then I have taken on a (probably misguided) dim view of Tony Bourdain, and of course that isn’t helped by the immense jealousy I feel at the places he gets to go to and things he gets to eat.

Nevertheless, Daselin reaffirmed that this place was worth going to, and so we orchestrated an outing one night. Now, there is almost nothing you can say to romanticise the surroundings, unless you are a true-blue heartland Hong Konger. Yet there is something so comfortable about the spartan setup, the noise levels, and the hustle and bustle – that it just makes you want to eat, and eat a lot. Tung Po may occupy humble settings, and it is often loud and boisterous; but it is always a great atmosphere to enjoy great wok-fired food.


One of the greatest things about this place was that they served beer in pre-chilled bowls that they called 战斗碗 (Bowls of Battle). My hypothesis is that it is easy to get drunk this way, because you have no concept of how much liquid is in a bowl. When you drink pints of beer, you know roughly how many you can have before you need to take it easy (too many). But when you are drinking from bowls, you have no such advance knowledge, and so you just keep drinking. Coupled with the fact that the friendly beer-girls top you off incessantly, it is a recipe either for a great night, or for disaster – whatever your point of view.

The food at Tung Po cannot be considered traditional Cantonese food – although there are the staples on the menu. According to the segment on No Reservations, the chef-owner worked in a hotel restaurant before taking over Tung Po from his father, and has since created dishes unique to his palate that have been roaring successes. There are at least two with cosmopolitan influences – a squid ink pasta dish with cuttlefish balls, and deep-fried pork knuckle. Both of these were executed with Cantonese influences, and were very good. I loved the squid ink but thought it needed a little more pepper to be a truly spectacular and satisfying dish, while the pork knuckle was good without being great.



Of course no meal is complete without rice, and Daselin recommended the rice steamed in lotus leaf, that she had tried on an earlier visit. This was done rather well given the large portion size, and we attacked it with gusto.


I love bamboo clams, and these were excellent, with spice and just enough heft. The clams were also fresh and meaty, and it spoke volumes that this was the first dish to be finished.


Tung Po was relatively cheap too, since we did not have any of the big-ticket items like crab or steamed fresh fish. We trooped away for dessert at a nearby stall, feeling like happy campers, and thoroughly prepared for the rest of the night. (It turns out that we were in no way prepared, but that is another story, for another forum.)