Hong Kong - Playt (buffet lunch)

Playt - buffet lunch on August 30, 2017 at The Park Lane Hotel in Hong Kong

The second day of our offsite had a packed agenda so we didn’t have time to leave the hotel for lunch like we had done the day before. Fortunately, the hotel had a buffet restaurant on the ground floor so it was quick and convenient to troop down there instead.

I’m going to preface the rest of this post by saying when it comes to buffets in Asia or any other part of the world, I’ve been forever ruined by Niu by Vikings in the Philippines. That’s pretty much the pinnacle of all buffets with its block-long stations of different types of cuisine and the plethora of superior offerings. Vegas casinos have nothing on Niu.

So you’ll have context for when I say Playt was okay. It wasn’t bad but it didn’t come close to toppling Niu for me. There was an eclectic selection of food. And by eclectic, I mean offerings from made-to-order soup bowls/hot pot to sushi to a carving station to chicken nuggets and fries. The selection was varied but offered in small portions so the buffet didn’t take up a lot of room. Presumably the restaurant staff were quick to replenish the serving dishes since they didn’t seem to run out of anything.

I had my usual plate of mixed assorted small bites of “real” food including a custom-made bowl of noodle soup so I had room for dessert. The desserts were sectioned off, almost like a mini candy and ice cream store but with a variety of plated desserts, some macarons and a gelato “stand”.  Gelato, yum.

Although, I did mention I don’t have very Asian taste buds, right? The flavors were a bit too exotic for my non-adventurous taste buds except for the chocolate gelato. It was billed as chocolate banana and at first I was hesitant because I’m actually not a fan of banana and chocolate combined. Unless it was whole banana being dipped into warm liquid milk chocolate as part of a chocolate fondue offering.

Therefore I was pleasantly surprised that by banana, they made frozen bits of bananas as a mix-in to the chocolate gelato. I had thought it was be mashed banana stirred into the chocolate before freezing as gelato. This way was much better. Turns out I’m definitely a fan of frozen banana chunks suspended in chocolate gelato.

As is customary in Asia as well as Europe, the serving was small. That was okay. It gave me an excuse to go back a second time and ask for the single scoop in a cone. Something to take back with me when we got back together for the afternoon session.

Hong Kong - Sang Kee Seafood Restaurant

Sang Kee Seafood Restaurant - dinner on August 29, 2017

This was the first of our three team dinners during our 3-day sojourn with the Asia team. Our Hong Kong host(ess) planned out each dinner to give us the best exposure to her hometown cuisine, balancing between “no, not where the tourists go” and highly rated local favorites. 

Eggs with bitter melon - the eggs were really good

Sweet and Sour Pork

The first night was all about true Cantonese cooking. As she explained, Cantonese cooking doesn’t believe in adding a lot of sauces to their dishes. Instead it’s about making things simply and well to bring out the food’s optimal flavor. 

Yes, the prawns were that big

Similar to our dim sum lunch at Lee Garden, I can’t tell you exactly what everything was or how much it cost since I never saw the menu or the bill; she ordered everything ahead of time since we were such a large group. But there was ample variety and tons of food as you can see from the pictures. I don’t think I took a picture of all of the dishes either since they kept coming and I might’ve lost track.

Everything was delicious. I appreciated the “simple” flavors. Simple doesn’t mean tasteless; in fact, it was the opposite. The food might have been simply prepared, whether it was steamed or poached or fried but the ingredients were fresh and the dishes were straightforward and well done.

Described to me as something similar to pork belly

Oh, and here’s another thing about many Asian cultures. Food equals caring. As our Hong Kong host explained, it’s about sharing and making sure people feel welcome. That’s done through the generosity displayed with the food being prepared well and shared generously. Which means this is a bad place for a diet. I sat next to my coworker from Singapore and she showed her caring by heaping my plate whenever a new dish arrived. “Here, try this!” I tried it, I ate it, I enjoyed it. Can’t be rude by refusing, right? By that standard, I was the most amenable guest. At least until we got to the last few dishes and I had to end up crying uncle “I’m full! I can’t eat anymore!” LOL

After dinner we ended up extending the night by taking the ferry from Hong Kong to the Kowloon side. It was only 2.70 HKD or about 30 cents USD each way. The ferry ride was short and the night was humid but the views were pretty with all the lights. Plus it gave us a small chance to walk off a tiny portion of that delicious dinner.

Hong Kong - Lee Gardens Dim Sum

Lee Gardens Dim Sum - lunch on August 29, 2017

On our first full day of our all-day meeting, we broke for lunch at a nearby dim sum place, near the same complex where Passion byGerard Dubois was housed. Although this time, thanks to following a Hong Kong native who knew her way around, we arrowed straight to the place without the previous day’s wandering around wondering “where is it?” The complex was Lee Garden; there’s a Lee Garden One and a Lee Garden Two. The dim sum restaurant was in Lee Garden One and I have no idea if that’s what it was called or not. We were walking into the restaurant en masse and I was busy talking so I didn’t pay attention or get enough pictures of my surroundings.

My food pictures are a bit sketchy and sparse as we sat at large tables and I wasn’t situated well enough to snag pictures of each dish as it came out. Plus, fanatic as I am about snapping foodie pics, I do try to moderate my picture-snapping behavior in large groups where it seems rude to bellow “wait, don’t eat that yet! I need to take a picture!” I can behave on occasion.

Steamed Pork Buns

Consequently, I was only able to take pictures of either the food on my own plate, the partially consumed dish by the time it got to me or extremely zoomed in shots from across the table. I also can’t tell you what each dish was unless it was super recognizable like steamed pork buns because I didn’t order. Similar to Din Tai Fung, there were no dim sum carts patrolling the room (is that a US thing??). Instead, you ordered from a menu and they brought out the plates.

Siu Mai

The food was good. I don’t think I ate anything that wasn’t delicious in Hong Kong on the entire trip. I’d have to give the nod to Din Tai Fung as being better though. Lee Garden dim sum was more typical of the dim sum I can get in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Although that’s a good bar because dim sum in the Bay Area can be really good.

Walking back to the hotel after lunch