Yeah rrrrrrrrrrrrrrright!! I suspected the hideous notion might grab your attention readers.
Although I have been eating in restaurants whose decor remind me of the American giant the food bares no relation. Last night I achieved something. I reached the peak.....and I'm not talking about my career in acting, no I reached the highest point on Hong Kong Island. Its a jaw droppingl;y beautiful if voracious ascent (by tram) but felt compelled to take a photo from this optimum of positions in the sky.
Making my way quickly down so I could breathe again (literally) I chanced upon a cafe complete with fixed seats, uncomfortable steel backs and lots of reds, yellows and greens (you get the resemblance)
I instinctively flashed past any British or American dishes on the laminated menu like a shark sees through a shoal of bland looking fish preferring the surfer in bright shorts above.
"mmm let's go for the Malaysian chicken," I thought, my body still intoxicated by the heights I had scaled.
The waitress was busy and flustered, my green tea slid towards my hand like a sasparilla in a western saloon, but she took the order.
10 minutes later 2 dishes arrived, one bearing a satellite-dish-sized bowl of white rice, the other large pives of chicken on the bone sat deep in a rich red sauce.
The chicken (a thigh and a leg) was meltingly tender, falling off the bone and full of the flavour of the sauce. There was a huge potato in the sauce too as if the rice mouynd was not enough. They do love their starches.
Now I've never budgetted in my entire life and I almost felt an extended hand from my mother in England who taught me to be careful with money and whose advice I have always ignored.
This is because the meal cost me under three pounds, or less than my daily underground ticket.
A whole world of cheaper - but in no way inferior, restaurants were calling out to me.
I followed a similar tack the next day and ate crispy duck, choi sum and rice for 23 HKD or 1.50.
A food culture is knowing how to treat food even if its cheaper cuts. Its about freshness and seasonality. These guys know. Shame the McDonalds don't.
