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2017-02-13
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I've long *kinda* wanted to go here. I know it's a classic, but I was never all that big on tomato soup. I also know they have non-tomato soup, but you don't go to a classic joint and then not get the classic. So recently my "New Year's Resolution" (yeah yeah, you laugh) was to go to some of the classic Hong Kong places I've been missing out on. So I went here, I waited in line (and waited and waited) and then I got the soup.So when I go back home to America and people find out I live in Hong Ko
So when I go back home to America and people find out I live in Hong Kong, the most common question I get is "What's it like in China?" Because Americans are idiots. Sometimes I get, "What's it like in Japan?" Same reason. The second question is, "What's the food like?" When I tell people, "Oh, it's like tomato soup with instant noodles and a hot dog thrown in. Maybe a chicken wing." they don't believe me. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. I'll give the soup the full rundown. Broth: it's tomatoes. The boxes stacked around say "Italian Tomatoes" and the cans say "Rosso Gragnano." I looked up Rosso Gragnano, they have a hilarious webpage. It says, "I am the sweetest, juiciest, and finest of tomatoes. I am the best choice for those who want to give their recipes a natural taste and at the same time a gourmet touch..... I was born in the land of Puglia." I like first-person tomato sales pitches. OK, so legit Italian tomatoes. The broth has a nice saltiness to it, and a light oiliness. I thought it lacked some depth, personally, so I put the chilis in oil on the table in it. That gave it a little bit of spice, some more oiliness, and another depth of flavor (maybe they're smoked chilis?) Anyway, it seemed pretty good to someone who doesn't really like tomato soup.
Macaroni: I'm assuming you know what elbow macaroni is like. It's like that. I wouldn't call it al dente, but it wasn't mushy, so that's nice. I didn't see the boxes of macaroni so I can't tell you if it's some fancy import like the tomatoes. Well, of course it's imported, it's not like Hong Kong has wheat fields... but that doesn't tell you if it was fancy.
Beef: I wouldn't call it tender, but it wasn't tough or chewy or gristly either. It had a fine beefy flavor, but that was about it. Like the tomatoes, the beef comes out of a can. That's never gourmet, so I didn't bother to look up where the can was from. It looked like maybe China though. (Who else eats canned beef?) I've gotta say, the beef brisket places in town totally outclass this place beef-wise.
Add-ins: I'm torn. I think that scallions and cilantro would definitely improve the soup, but I'm wondering whether it would ruin the soup concept. Like, this is food out of a can and a box. It's not freshly plucked and flown in from New Zealand or wherever. Anyway there were no add-ins unless something accidentally fell into the soup pot. The other thing we got was the crispy bun with peanut butter and condensed milk. This was more for my wife. Actually this whole trip was mostly my wife's doing. I don't really like tomato soup, I don't really like peanut butter, macaroni without cheese is OK, and I've only ever ingested the tiniest amount of condensed milk in my life, and I plan on keeping it that way. These things take forever because there's a big backlog of orders for the oven. Ours came after we'd finished everything else. My wife liked though.
Final assessment (for non-locals only): it's worth a go... once. If you're a tourist, you can probably skip it and wait in line across the street at Kau Kee. If you're an expat, you should try it. It's definitely not bad, surprisingly good even. But I for one won't become a regular here, like I am at some of the other classic places around town.
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