Friday 18 January 2013

Food: The Search For Great Hong Kong-style French Toast -- Part 3


How many English words are there on this menu?
Image from Locky's English Playground
In between Food: The Search For Great Hong Kong-style French Toast -- Part 1 and Part 2, I have visited Man Wah Restaurant a couple more times. I just couldn't resist the thick yet soft texture. Lan Fong Yuen couldn't beat Man Wah, but that doesn't mean other smaller restaurants cannot. I happened to find myself in North Point one day and immediately I used the Openrice app and located the best of French Toast of North Point -- a pretty old-style Hong Kong Cha Chaan Teng named Lok Tak Restaurant.

I thought, why not give old-school cafe a chance?

In I went to the shabby-looking cafe and there were just about as many customers in it as the number of English words on the menu. I almost wanted to leave. Then my stomach rumbled to remind me I did need some battery and so I went by the most basic way or ordering food -- point my finger at the photos!! The moment I pointed at the French toast photo I almost immediately felt regret rushing up my digestive tract. That photo was yellow, damped, greasy and worst of all, the toast in that photo looked as though it was my first ever French toast making failure!

Image from Locky's English Playground
Before long the milk tea came. From my previous experience I learnt that if I am going to have Hong Kong-style French toast I should not add any more sugar in the tea, otherwise it might be "Hello diabetes!"

I would say there was nothing special about the tea, though it was kind of my cup for its generous milk content. 

Image from Locky's English Playground
Then the toast arrived, looking pretty good, but as I put my fork and knife into it, the bread sank quick, and in a very short time, it turned into a pancake.

Flat as a pancake
Image from Locky's English Playground
Don't get me wrong! It did taste better than McDonald's pancakes. It has the right amount of peanut butter in it and the colour was tempting too, but I just think the use of traditional bread loaf slices just cannot provide that bounce I was hoping for.

At $21 for a set with French toast and milk tea, the price is at the lower end. It has got that golden syrup that I wanted, it has a nice and adequate layer of peanut butter in between, most traditional Hong Kong by far, but that thickness was no match with Man Wah's version.

I think, it might be time for a visit to Kam Wah Cafe in Mongkok.



Scores:
Look:            ★★★☆☆ 3/5
Taste:            ★★★☆☆ 3/5
Smell:            ★★★☆☆ 3/5
Textures:       ★★☆☆☆ 2/5
Temperature: ★★★★★ 5/5
Overall:         ★★★☆☆ 16/25



Vocabulary:
Cha Chaan Teng 
old-school -- (adj) old-fashioned
shabby -- (adj) looking old and in bad condition because of being used for a long time or not being cared for
rumble -- (vb) [I] to make a continuous low sound 
digestive tract -- (n) the stomach and intestine, sometimes including all the structures from the mouth to the anus.(The "digestive system" is a broader term that includes other structures, including the accessory organs of digestion).
as though -- as if 
before (very/too) long  -- (also before much longersoon
diabetes -- (n)[U] a disease in which the body cannot control the level of sugar in the blood

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

Food: The Search For Great Hong Kong-style French Toast -- Part 2 Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/01/food-search-for-great-hong-kong-style.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/old-school?q=old-school
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/shabby_1?q=shabby+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/rumble_1?q=rumble+
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_gastrointestinal_tract
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/though_1?q=as+though#though_1__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/before-very-too-long?q=before+long#before-very-too-long__1
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/before+long
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/diabetes?q=diabetes+