Cafe O

I was really not prepared for the Western feel of Hong Kong. I expected to get lost a few times, not be able to communicate at least once, and perhaps even long for some toast. However, that has not been the case at all. I'm not sure if I should be ashamed that I did next to no research before coming, or just happy at the ease of daily life. I've been told that out in the New Territories it's not as easy to get around and fewer and fewer people speak English the further you go. I'm sure that's true. But around here, the British left a very heavy stamp on the city. This is felt in the language, transportation, and definitely the food.

I've tried to eat at a different place for every meal I have out. When that doesn't work, I at least never order the same thing twice. One of the many convenient coffee shops here is called Cafe O. Their menu is really hard for me to read, because they replace the letter A with the letter O if the word starts with an A. For example, Oll day breakfast and Omazing set menu. I guess it works for them; I actually like them because they are close to my flat and have free wi-fi.

This is their eggplant pizza that I had for dinner one night. It was delicious.

This is the breakfast I ate before heading to the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas last week. The soy latte hit the spot. And no, I didn't put jam on my banana bread.

And this is their chicken and mushroom pasta I had for dinner a separate night. It was gross. I haven't been back since.

For lunch during the week, I've tried to eat as much Asian food as possible, including seafood since they do fish here. But in many cases, I still couldn't get away from the more Western fare.

This is a roasted veggie sandwich with hummus spread. So good!

And this is a restaurant that serves 24-hour-a-day English breakfast. I had eggs florentine with fresh fruit and grilled tomatoes. Beans on toast was an option.

There are a ton of bakeries here as well. With hopefulness and a carb craving, I've tried a few. Unfortunately, the breads and pastries I've tried haven't stood up to the donut shops of the US or the bakeries of France. After the second one, I told myself it probably wasn't worth it to try again. But, I didn't listen to myself and tried "banana cake." It didn't make up for the first two disappointments. In more traditional bakeries they have "moon cake" and "wife cake." These are traditional desserts. The wife cake I've had, and I enjoyed it. It has a light, flaky outter dough portion with powdered sugar, and there's a candied paste on the inside. It would probably be very good with tea; although I had it alone. And, there is a Hong Kong pastry called an egg tart that looks like a tiny lemon custard pie and screams of egg flavor. This particular tart is either trendy or traditional (I'm not sure which one), but definitely a Hong Kong favorite.

And now that I've shown you much (but not all) of the Western food, soon I'll have to delight your senses with the Asian side of cuisine here. Get ready for the Dim Sum!