'Bo Lo Yau' (菠蘿油)Contrary to what the name suggested, this popular sweet pastry widely available in Chinese bakeries contains no pineapple fruit at all. The sugary tasting crust on the top of the bun is supposedly made to resemble the epicarp of a pineapple, with a dough similar to that used to make sugar cookies, commonly consisting of sugar, eggs, flour and lard. The bread underneath is the same used in Chinese style Western bread, which is a softer and sweeter dough compared to Western breads
Contrary to what the name suggested, this popular sweet pastry widely available in Chinese bakeries contains no pineapple fruit at all. The sugary tasting crust on the top of the bun is supposedly made to resemble the epicarp of a pineapple, with a dough similar to that used to make sugar cookies, commonly consisting of sugar, eggs, flour and lard. The bread underneath is the same used in Chinese style Western bread, which is a softer and sweeter dough compared to Western breads. The name of the pastry is therefore pretty much derived according to its appearance.
The 'bo lo yau' tried at Kam Wah has a slight variation, though commonly served in cha chaan tengs in Hong Kong, with a large slab of butter in between the halves of the bun. The bo lo bau was served straight from the oven, feeling slightly warm. The slab of butter was applied at room temperature and the heat from the bun made it melt instantly. The top crust was slightly stiff and tasted very well toasted albeit it tasting slightly sweet. Being served straight from the oven, the fresh bun tasted light, fluffy and airy on the inside, which contrasted almost perfectly with the hardened sweet crust.You would fall in love with Kam Wah's version of bo lo bau if you are a fan of toast. What would probably be the icing on the cake would literally be the appearance of the crust. Ideally, it should resemble the epicarp of the pineapple, though in this instance, it was nowhere close.
The Hong Kong version of the French Toast is probably a more calories-loaded serving compared to its original counterpart. Served with a thin slab of butter, the surface of the sandwich had been deep fried to golden brown, leaving it a crisp texture but certainly greasy. The traditional way of enjoying this sandwich is to drizzle honey over the toast, though upon the first bite, we realised that something was amiss.
There was no peanut butter in the sandwich! Well it is not exactly a standard spread expected when one orders the French Toast in Hong Kong, though majority of the cha chaan tengs around would probably serve their toasts with a generous layer of peanut butter before deep-frying it. The toast however was exuding a rich fragrance of butter flavour with a fluffy soft interior, leaving us craving for another bite after the first. If there was any consolation to this, it tasted oily but at least it was not overwhelming.
Priced individually, the puff pastry egg tarts were a 'must order' since my other half is a huge fan of it. The buttery crust was thin and crumbled easily, so have your plate close by! This was contrasted with a generous serving of the egg filling which was very soft and tender, literally melting in your mouth. There was a very subtle sweetness to the filling, enough to please the palate. There was a strong egg flavour to it (interpret it in a positive manner) and the filling had a solid strong yellow colour tone to it, which probably meant that good quality eggs were being used. Some might prefer the thin crust, though personally we would have enjoyed it better if the crust was slightly thicker, to give a balance to the plentiful filling. Likewise, the base of the tart was a tad too thin for our liking, though it must be said that the crust had a strong buttery taste and flavour to it.
As we were leaving the cafe, there was a tray of freshly baked 'Mexico bread' being brought to the front of the cafe, where takeaway orders are being served. It would be close to impossible to resist against piping hot freshly baked bread of any sort really. The Mexico bread was light and fluffy on the inside (the classic airy inside) and a slightly crisp toast to the surface of the bun, filled with sweetened crust, similar to that of the bo lo bun. It was not too sweet either, which suited our palate. Overall, it was another must-try, just be careful of the crumbling crust that might fall all over you.
Another takeaway order, but this simple looking and widely available chicken pie tasted pretty extraordinary to say the least. Despite a rather thick layer of buttered pastry on the top of the pie, it did not taste overly greasy nor overwhelming. The filling was simple and not excessive, but the rich flavours of the buttery pastry more than compensated the somewhat lacking chicken chunks filling.
Verdict: 7.5/10
题外话/补充资料：
Kam Wah Cafe is the classic traditional Hong Kong [i]cha chaan teng[/i], where you would expect a lot of hustle and buzz surrounding you while you attempt to feebly tuck in to your meal. Chances are you would have the pleasant or unwanted company of a stranger sharing a table with you, which will potentially affect your dining appetite. Do not expect to linger around too long either after you had finished your meal, for before you know it, the serving waiters and waitress are beckoning your departure. Apart from the setting, the food was in general very satisfactory. We would certainly return, for a takeaway at least, if we are in the Mongkok vicinity.
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早餐午餐例必多人，近年更成為海峽兩岸遊客潮聖地之金華，月前傳出上手業主，以過億的天價，將舖位售出。金華的前途，頓時添起變數，究竟新業主會加幾多倍租？或不再續約，轉租給予連鎖大集團？
台灣朋友們，對金華冰廳之膜拜程度，與我們去台北，要去永康街鼎泰豐打卡一樣，完全超乎我想像，聽他／她們說，金華在寶島的名氣甚響，但對大部份香港人來說，金華，只是一間茶餐廳，對我，是一間吃了差不多二十年的地方，因為我在十七歲的那一年，曾在花園街住上數月，與金華的緣份，正由那些年開始。
他們的菠蘿油，不斷出爐，任何時候吃到的都是新鮮熱辣，想不到還有那一間的菠蘿油，可以做到有金華八成的水準。
奶茶菠蘿油味道如一，但身邊不是搭檯的陌生人，而是心愛的人，那一口奶茶，不用下糖，已經盡在不言中。
記得廣仲曾經說過，來香港一定要吃菠蘿包，又想起，他其中一首歌：
