I think I mentioned it before, but Hong Kong is a food frustrating city to me. I know there’s good food out there, but from my experience it’s not that easy to find it. Granted, because I was in Hong Kong to compete in a dragon boat festival, I was more careful not to put just anything in my mouth on this trip as I didn’t want to end up with “bad stomach”. When I researched online about places to go, people kept mentioning the same high-end type places and I couldn’t really find the true “gems”. So, I had to rely on my friend Henry who lives in Hong Kong for suggestions. Henry, who was probably more concerned than I about me getting sick before the festival, was careful in directing me to clean establishments which ended up mostly being in hotels or malls. I guess not a bad thing, because I ended up loving Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao so much I went twice on my trip.
Located in the Harbour City Mall in Tsim Sha Tsui, Crystal Jade is really accessible. There was a line both times I went, but moved quickly. On my first visit I was lucky enough to go with my “work lunch partner” who was also in Hong Kong paddling for another team. We wanted to compare the food of Hong Kong to home, so we ordered our usuals from a vast menu of options. Because there were only two of us, I couldn’t try out as much as I wanted, but it was a good start.
Verdict from visit 1? The food was delicious, although only slightly better than similar food we’d get at home.
A few nights later, with another group of friends, we ended up at Crystal Jade again. This time, I only had my iPhone to take photos, so although the food was just as wonderful, my photos are not.
Verdict from visit 2? More convinced that the Chinese food we get in Vancouver is pretty good. The noodles and dumplings here at Crystal Jade were better than I’ve had at home, but not so much so that I’ll feel like I’m missing out.
Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao– Zone GW 3328, Harbour City, Canton Rd, TST, Hong
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