Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

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April 22, 2011 By cheryl

Hong Kong: Sunday in the Sai Kung With Daphne

Sunday in Hong Kong and two sisters have nothing but empty hours and sunshine ahead of them.

The possibilities are plentiful — shall there be some dimsum? Or a lovely pork chop bun, perhaps? Because the day is beautiful, however, something outdoors becomes a must. Into a car we hop, squeezing through the city’s narrow, congested lanes, whizzing down a highway past thickets of toothpick -thin skyscrapers. Before long, there is a blur of greenery, squat shophouses, the sounds of children squealing.

As we tumble out, there is a smell. It’s the sea — and there is a vast expanse of it.

“I thought you would like Sai Kung,” Daphne says. And she is right, even if this is just the beginning.

We gather ourselves and amble on. Not so far away, a lively fish market awaits …

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Filed Under: Hong Kong, Markets, Seafood, Tales From the Road, Travel Tagged With: Boat, Hong Kong, Markets, Sai Kung, Seafood, Tourist, Travel

January 4, 2011 By cheryl

Lan Fong Yuen (Hong Kong): The Perfect Breakfast

There are far too many mornings in New York when I wake up with a pressing question: Where is my pork chop bun?

Flaky croissants, fluffy pancakes and hearty breakfast casseroles are perfectly delightful but one of my absolute favorite breakfasts is something far more basic — a soft white roll filled with a hot pan-fried pork chop.

It’s a classic Hong Kong breakfast — one you’ll find in coffeeshops all over the country. There are variations on the dish — the pork chop is sometimes breaded, the bun is sometimes sweet.

During a recent trip to Hong Kong, however, one place called out to us above all others: Lan Fong Yuen, a little shop in Central that is so beloved you’ll have to elbow aside throngs of starving locals for a place to sit …

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Filed Under: Asian, Breakfast, Chinese, Hong Kong, Restaurants, Tales From the Road

November 19, 2010 By cheryl

Lin Heung Tea House: Hong Kong Dim Sum, The Old School


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Because we are in Hong Kong, dim sum is a must.

My dear friend Jeanette and I — two women who have been driven by our stomachs in the 20 years that we have been the best of friends — we wake up in the cool grayness of Hong Kong bleary-eyed and starving.

Even in the fog of sleepiness, our mission is clear — we stumble out into the dusty bustle of mid-morning Hong Kong and make our way toward Central. On a corner of narrow Wellington Street lies our destination: Lin Heung Tea House, a dim sum place that has been around since 1928 and is packed most mornings with regulars who head there for a morning dumpling fix, strong pu erh (or po lei as it is known in these parts) and some quality time with the day's newspaper …

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Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Cantonese, Dim Sum, Hong Kong, Restaurants Tagged With: Beef balls, Beef tendons, Bun, Cantonese, Cart, Central, Char siew bao, Cheong fun, Chicken feet, Dim Sum, Dumpling, Egg yolk, Har gow, Hong Kong, Lin Heung Tea House, Lin yong bao, Lo mai gai, Lotus paste, Po Lei, Pu Erh, Roast pork bun, Shu mai, Sweet soy sauce, Tea, Wellington Street

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