Tung Po     東寶小館  

I cannot deny the overall food quality is good but imagine the 1st dishes arrives 30 mins after yr order, it takes another 5-10 mins for each of remaining dishes to arrive. I've lost my appetite while waiting.

I guess there are many customer due to its fame and the service level is really dropping, no one really cares if you food is ready or not but it just keeps you waiting. IF I ever have a chance to dine out in North Point, I would rather have my dinner in nearby restaurant in Wharf Road next time...

Went on a monday evening at 7pm.
Decided to play it safe and made a booking for the table a week in advance. Do note that you have to call between 2pm to 5pm for table reservations.

The restaurant did set a side a table with a handwritten placard of my name and the time. We were promptly ushered to the table after the waiters spoke to each other on their walkie-talkies -- do remember that this is a food centre one level above a wet market, so I was pleasantly surprised at their use of such equipment in this setting.

At the waitress' recommendations, which she seemed to memorise and blurt out without much emotions, we ordered:

1. Wind-sand chicken ("Fung Sha Gai") -- This was the best dish I tried. Give it 5 stars out of 5, The skin was very crispy, and meat was tender. Some people may find that the chicken could be slightly undercooked, but I find that it makes it more juicy.

2. Deep fried pork trotters -- 4 out of 5 stars. Crispy skin and collagen. Not much meat, but you shouldn't expect meat from this dish anyway. The problem is that there was too much for us to finish, and after eating 5-6 pieces of this per person, the marginal satisfaction does plummet very quickly.

3. Fried kailan with garlic - 3 out of 5 stars. I must confess that I'm not a veggie person, so I can't really appreciate vegetables. This is but an obligatory dish for a psychological health boost.

4. Carrot, radish, and corn soup. Soup of the day. - 4.5 out of 5 stars. I actually drank the same soup at FuSing Shark's Fin restaurant (a Michelin star restaurant) at Wan Chai a few days ago. This one at Tung Po is much tastier and had a richer taste of ingredients. There was one big pot, and I easily drank 5 bowls of this soup. At FuSing, it was one bowl per person...

Didn't order beer, but I did notice that the other patrons drank from bowls. Also saw other patrons ordering lotus leaf duck rick, which I shall try on my next visit.

Total cost of the meal was around HKD 450. We had 3 persons, and 4 dishes as listed above.
Two thumbs up.

東寶小館 is one of the most famous restaurant in North Point
Unfortunately, the food is not good enough

辣酒螺 - strange taste, the alcohol taste is too strange (actually, taste like 酒精 hand wash!!!)
鴨汁荷葉飯 - portion big enough, taste ok
蒜香骨 - ok, but not special
豉椒炒蜆 - normal 豉椒炒蜆

Can't find any special points about 東寶小館

The setting is just the same as usual 大排檔 but it is too expensive for the food of this quality!!!

It's a friend's birthday dinner, birthday boy dining with 3 girls including myself, what a lovely combination.

Friends are very casual local folks, choosing this famous HK Dai Pai Dong dining place and indeed, it's really a good experience, both food and services.

One of us were a bit late, and we ordered beer and appetizers while waiting. Eel, my favourite, yummy! Wasabi squid, Wow,...the wasabi is really strong, very nice with beer.

Okay, another friend arrived and we wanna tried the popular dish, 风沙鸡, however, it's sold out.....anyway, we ordered fried pigeon, pork ribs in Salad sauce, delicious! 醉鸡汤煲, and vegetables....and at least 5 bottles of beer...with lots of laughs. What a wonderful night.

This cannot be missed, the beer bowl, so cute; and...their house music playing so loud like clubbing, great atmosphere.

The only thing must be improved is, the floor is too slippery; they should better clean it or put sth to ensure the safety of their staff and customers.

We arrived close to 9 p.m. so no need to worry about waiting for a table. We ordered the recommended dishes: Chicken, lotus leaf rice, Gai Lan (Veggies), Deep Fried Ngou To Fish, Eel in hot pot. Each dish was greeted with good comments from my family but the music was WAAAAY TOOO LOUD! Asked if they could lower the volume but was told by one of the waiters that it is the wish of the owner to turn the music on so loud. OMG, if you go there everyday, I guarantee you will become deaf in no time. Will probably go back again because of the great food but hopefully the owner accepts critiques to lower the level of his music.
PLEASE NOTE that I am not the only one who commented about the noisiness of the boombox!

Dai Pai Dongs (大排檔）- a large part of Hong Kong's heritage, now sanitized into mostly municipal services buildings by the government. Ok, not so sanitized, considering greasy floors and who knows what happens in the deep throes of the kitchen. There's been hype about Tung Po and it was sheer luck that we got 6 people available together to try it on a Sunday night. Like the experienced ones tell us, reserve the chicken and the lotus leaf rice. Ok, all set.

We sat down amidst the hustle and bustle and with the boom box blasting. Ok, adds to the atmosphere. Just don't expect to do any thinking around here. Can't even hear yourself speak. Soup of the day kicked us off although it was rather blah. Tasted a little like they ran out of soup and added water to make up the volumes at end of day. Next..

The advantage of reserving food ahead is that you get it really quickly. The roast chicken (南乳風沙雞) was well executed - very crispy skin barely hanging on to the juicy flesh and topped with crispy garlic bits. Great start especially since there was beer and coke on the table.

Similarly, the deep fried pig trotters were excellent. Thank goodness some of us are pretty health conscious otherwise there would not be enough to go round.

There's been much talk about this dish. Very similar to Italian style squid ink spaghetti, this was Tung Po's interpretation of squid ink spaghetti but with squid colloid balls. A+ for innovation although it wasn't as good as I thought. Overall, it was pretty bland so save for getting black teeth and lips after eating this, there wasn't much else to speak of. The balls were better and had traces of squid bits in them but I probably won't order this again unless someone demanded it.

The flower crab steamed in egg white and chinese wine was light but tasty. Not as good as 三姐， but still very decent and worth the order. Flower crabs tend to be sweeter but light on the meat available to eat. If you like something more hearty, substitute for the meat crab (肉蟹).

This was easily my favorite of the evening. A simple oyster omelette but oh so yummy. The eggs were very fragrant and fried to a perfect golden brown. Complemented by the very meaty oysters as opposed to a more muscular textured version, these oysters offered up more of the oyster taste akin to dried oysters ( 壕豉）as you bite into them and start savoring them on your palate.

As we neared the end, we expected our duck-sauced lotus leaf rice （鴨汁荷葉飯）to show up but amidst the lengthy commotion, we learnt that it had been given to someone else! In ordinary cases, one would get most upset to lose the opportunity of trying the house special, but here comes Robby - probably the owner/manager or in Chinese triad terms, the one who speaks (話事人). His flamboyance distracted us and hoodwinked us into giving him 2 beers from our table, and agreeing to the substitute of the fried noodles (豉油皇炒麵). The noodles turned out to be my 2nd favorite of the night, fried so well to leave little trace of grease on the plate. The crunch from the bean sprouts and the fragrance from the toasted sesame seeds completed the delectability of this very quintessential Hong Kong staple.

To end, everyone enjoys the house dessert of Chinese herbal jelly in a ginger-based syrup（薑汁涼粉). Refreshing especially in the summer, this is a great way to cool down the system before braving the summer humidity.

Overall, an enjoyable experience. Some dishes obviously better than others but worth at least one try. Might be one of the better Dai Pai Dongs left on the HK island side, I'm told.

For the original with photos, visit edeats.blogspot.com

I've been told many good things about Tung Po so I decided to try it out myself with a small group of friends. I researched what others had ordered before and decided to get the stir fried razor clams with black bean sauce, Wind Sand chicken, Big belly fried rice, stir fried veggies, and the others added in Peking spare ribs, and beef in lettuce wrap.

It was a promising sight to see that the food hall was dominated by Tung Po, outshining the other empty tables from the surrounding competitors. The place was not too noisy, with a vibrant vibe, the waiters were friendly (when you have their attention), there was a good selection of beers (asahi, erdinger amongst the regulars), and served in a bowl which the westerners found very amusing. The place was generally clean enough.

About the food. The ingredients were fresh, the razor clams were juicy and plump, the chicken was tender but just a little on the dry side, the spare ribs were meaty and tender, the beef cubes were evenly diced and flavourful without being too greasy, and the fried rice was a massive heap of everything thrown in for good measure.

The only thing I would say is that the half chicken was a little pricey at $120, the other dishes were reasonable, but you could really go nuts if you get a lot of seafood at seasonal prices. But free dessert (grass jelly in ginger sweet soup) was a good refreshing finish. They had other puddings and cakes which we oggled at but were too full to eat anymore.

the food in 東寶小館 is really 好普通
the food they serve is not really different from those available in ordinary 廣東 restaurant

and the price is very high for a 大牌檔

墨魚汁墨魚意粉 is ok, but not fresh enough
鴨汁荷葉飯 is also 普通

overall, the food is just ok

the environment is the same as other 大牌檔 - crowded and dirty

This restaurant is inside of the North Point market, so customer should not expect comfortable sitting and clean floor. So many customers wait in line for their good food everyday night. The food is very good and suggest to dine with more than 8 people. The seafood is fresh. The taste is not salty.

The last time I was here was about two years ago on a hot summer night. I guess it is about time to try this place again. Booked a table for 4 @ 7pm and we arrived at 7:05pm. The place was fully packed already and I approached the staff notifying him of our booking. "You are late Mister! You dare to be late !? Brave indeed!" said the staff; and I replied , "I am sorry, we got lost, we rushed up as fast as we can already." Apparently our table was already taken over by someone because we were 5 mins late but the staff nonetheless pointed us to the only remaining table for 4 on the side. As I walked past the staff, he said to me, "Don't be late next time, be on time!" I would not considered them as rude but rather being sarcastically friendly I guess. Once you try to get them to talk (through ordering and chit chatting), they are actually very friendly and helpful. To my understanding, this place is run by members from the same family but each one of them has their own style and unique appearances. One with punk hair, one with long hair and one with Urban Afro style. An interesting scene indeed.
We were approached by different brands of "beer girl" but instead of trying the usual Carlsberg or Tsing Tao beer, we opted for a German one named Erdinger and shared the beer using the special "Fighter Bowl." Although there were only 4 of us, we ordered alot! Most of the dishes are famous dishes. It seems there are so many so-called famous dishes that there are still a few we did not order. (Sorry for those who cannot read Chinese, I will try my best to find the English translation for the dishes below, forgot to take a picture of the menu)

(1) 豆豉炒蟶子 (2) 黃金蝦 (3) 風沙雞 (4) 墨汁墨魚丸意粉 (5) 金銀蛋唐生菜 (6) 鴨汁荷葉飯 (7) 椒鹽九肚魚 (8) 炸榴槤 (9) 薑汁涼粉 ... o my, 9 dishes !
(1) 豆豉炒蟶子 (Bamboo Clams / Razor Clams)
For some reason, there seemed to be more shells than the actual meat inside. Maybe it was my incorrect perceptions due to the dark sauce. Overall, it was a nice dish but I think the sauce was abit too rich that it overtook the taste of the fresh clams.
(2) 黃金蝦
This dish is known for its high colestro content but eating it once in a while is fine! I like the way how they prepared it because unlike many places which claim to be famous with this dish, extremely thick batter are used to fried the shrimps and they are usually so salty. The way they prepared it here seems different, a very thin layer of batter and not too salty while maintaining a very rich taste of salt egg yolk. Two thumbs up !
(3) 風沙雞
My perception of a good 風沙雞 is to have a very crispy skin and ALOT of fried garlic. However, I am not a big fan of those fried garlic so I usually would shove those aside. The 風沙雞 we ordered did not come with tons of fried garlic as I would have expected, instead there were just little sprinkled over the top. Although the skin was not particular crispy, the fact that it came with little fried garlic made me really happy.
(4) 墨汁墨魚丸意粉
Another famous dish from this place; however, I wanted to know why. Is it suppose to taste like that? I mean is it suppose to have ... ... ... ... ... ---->
http://jason-bonvivant.blogspot.com/2009/06/tung-po.html

I guess many people should have tried this restaurant. Many users have described about its food and environment already.. ..so i wanna drop it from here.

Instead. I wanna say something about the owner.. "LO baan"... I like his style much... Remember years ago.. I've been there for a friend's birthday.. we went with a group of 12.. all of us drank with the birthday boy till he was very drunk.. By the time we were about to leave.. the lo bann suddenly stopped us from leaving.. get 3 big bottle of beer and pour a big bowl of beer into his mouth. then he requested the birthday boy to do the same. We were all shocked but then he said "these beer are all for free.. It's my treat.. Happy birthday to u.. Finish it right now or I won't let you go..."

He is so " HO hey!!".. funny.. what he've done is totally unexpectable. I still remember that scene till today.. his boots/ hairstyle.. colour... . haha.. Miss him a lot!

Lo baan.. I will come again soon.. reserve the "ho yip farn" for me.. it's my favourite.

We booked a table 2 weeks in advance for 20 people at 8:30. I was a bit late and arriaved around 8:45 but knowing that our friends were there already, I was not too worried. I arrived at the restaurant and could not see my friends so I asked a waitress where's our table.

She said, basically yelling at me, "WHAT IS THE TIME NOW?
YOU BOOKED A TABLE AT 8:30 and YOU ARRIVED AT 8:45? YOU OK OR NOT?"

I was FURIOUS. My face is all red. I don't think i have ever been yelled at by anyone like this, not even my boss. So I said, oh, but my friends are here but I can't see them.

Then she said "OH! The two tables of 10 each? Tables are not ready"

WHAT!?
I got being yelled at BUT then I don't have a table?

I SWEAR TO GOD that I WILL NEVER EVER step into the restaurant.

I had a gathering with friends, total 8 of us.

We made reserve in advance days ago. When we arrived, the waiter asked us to wait for a few minutes for him to clear up the table, that's fine. Table's clear, we sat down, then the waiter yelled 'Oh no no not this one, this is not for you, step aside and we'll call you when table's ready!' Is there anyway to rephrase the sentence so it sounds less rude?!

As you know, the place is so 'spacious', and 8 of us standing in the corridor for nearly 20mins!!! Finally the 'reserved' table was available and we could all sat down.

The food was disappointing, and the portion was unreasonably small, not to mention the hygiene conition.

Absoutely NO NEXT TIME!!!!!!

NO GOOD !SERVICE BAD BAD!
OVER CHARGE!
FOOD TASTE WERE VERY BAD!

Tonight i went there with my husband, really good, we ordered 4 dishes, very delicious and i love their Cheese Cake!!