Food & Dining: Hong Kong All-Day Breakfast Set @ Man Wah Restaurant

All-Day Breakfast Set
Image from Locky's English Playground

Having worked in Mongkok area for many years, I still struggle to find some decent places for a comforting meal. Since Tai Hing had upped its dinner set price by a good 20%, I have switched to Man Wah Restaurant, which is right across the road.

Previously, I recommended its brilliant Hong Kong-style French toast, now comes the review of yet another signature dish -- Man Wah's All-day Hong Kong-style breakfast.

Bird's eye view
Image from Locky's English Playground

Like most local cafes which offer the same breakfast set, a Hong Kong-style breakfast set includes scrambled eggs, ham, toast, macaroni and milk tea, very very standard. Then what makes this set deserves a recommendation from the English Playground?

close-up of scrambled egg, ham and toast
Image from Locky's English Playground

Speed is everything in a breakfast like this. Everything on that plate must come out from the kitchen and delivered to the diner's table while the food is still hot -- very hot, Man Wah managed to do this thanks to the highly attentive and efficient waitresses.

The scrambled egg comes with an attractive yellow and a buttery aroma, its richness and freshness in taste and its mellow smoothness leave you wanting more. I enjoy placing a little piece of egg and ham on the thick crispy toast before taking a huge bite out of the instant sandwich. It's simple food, yet brings immense joy and occasionally a wave of nostalgia for mum's handmade breakfast.

close-up of beef macaroni in rich tomato soup
Image from Locky's English Playground

A sip of the icy milk tea clears the taste buds, and a scoop of the spoon into the deliciously fresh tomato goodness. The beef I must say, is not the best by any standard, but it's already much much higher than those frosty soda powder-tenderised meat served in oh-so-many Cha Chaan Teng. The temperature is always right after I have finished the sandwich, meaning that the chef has prepared it hotter than expected. Is this a touch of thoughtful consideration or just a perfect coincidence?

At $35 a set and an extra $2 for iced drink, reasonably comfortable seats and no one chasing you to leave after your meal is done, how much more can one ask for from a local cafe these days?

Overall, I must say I haven't quite seen any Hong Kong-style breakfast as lovely as this one, this is extremely high quality stuff!


Scores:

Look:            ★★★★★ 5/5

Taste:            ★★★★★ 5/5

Smell:            ★★★★★ 5/5

Textures:       ★★★★☆ 4/5

Temperature: ★★★★★ 5/5

Overall:         ★★★★★ 24/25

Vocabulary:

attentive -- (adj) If someone is attentive, they are very helpful and take care of you:
nostalgia -- (n) a feeling of pleasure and also slight sadness when you think about things that happened in the past:
sip -- (n)  drink, taking only a very small amount at a time:
scoop -- (n)  the amount held by a scoop: 
frosty -- (adj) very cold, with a thin layer of white ice covering everything:
tenderise -- (vb) to make meat easy to cut or chew (= crush with the teeth) by beating it or preparing it in a particular way

Resources:
Food: The Search For Great Hong Kong-style French Toast -- Part 1 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/12/food-search-for-great-french-toast-part.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/attentive_2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/nostalgia?q=nostalgia+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/sip?q=sip+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/scoop_1?q=scoop
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/frosty?q=frosty+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/tenderize?q=tenderise+