FISHY INTERLUDE - TUNG CHOI STREET, HONG KONG

Keeping gold fish is a very Chinese thing to do. Consequently, in almost any neighborhood where a large number of Chinese people reside, you will find stores that sell live fish, aquarium needs, small ornamental rocks, fish feed.
More than many other things, the proliferation of aquarium stores indicates a settled Chinese presence.
It's a cultural marker, more or less.

There's a stretch of Tung Choi Street (通菜街) in Mong Kok (旺角) that can fairly be described as fish-fanatic heaven. So many stores catering to that specialized audience that it has been deservedly nicknamed "gold fish street" (金魚街).


金魚街: 140 to 180 TUNG CHOI

Tong Kee Aquarium (棠記水族). Opposite Great Barrier Reef Aquarium Company (大堡礁水族), a few doors down from Techno Aquarium (科技水族). Which is next to the Hong Kong Aquarium (奥運水族) and the Success Aquarium (長實水族).
And if you look across the street, you will notice Aqua World H.K. Co., Ltd (水族世界香港有限公司), right next door to C K Aquarium (祥記水族).
Turn to the right - and there's 169 Aquarium (一六九水族), King's Aquarium Co. (海皇), and Tides (潮水族).
On the other side of the street, to the right of the entrance to the Kam Shing Hotel (金城賓館): Happy Aquarium (開心水族), Oceanic Hegemony Aquarium (海霸水族), and Chong Hing Aquarium (創興水族). Only that last one of those three has an English name, though not a very informative one.

Now, having reached the corner of Bute Street (弼街), the crowd thins out.

And you realize, belatedly, that some hot seafood would be a mighty fine idea.

Mmmm, fresh fish!

Unfortunately, you are squidlybit out of luck.

There's 金麵館 ('kam mien koon') which serves noodles, next door to the Seven Eleven. There are also two very nice places right in the middle of gold fish street that serve excellent food: 太興燒味餐廳 ('taai hing siu mei tsan teng''), a roast meats restaurant right opposite Chan Kee (陳記 - 粉麵茶餐廳), which specializes in rice noodles, wheat noodles, tea snacks. And very fine roast goose (燒鵝), which is a house specialty.
As well as HK style Western-ish dishes, lunch plates.
Taai Hing is next to 169 Aquarium, Chan Kee is between Seaview Aquarium (維港) and Mong Kok Aquarium (旺角水族).
Would you care to guess what kind of people eat here?


All three restaurants are very short walking distance indeed from the Chan Seung Kee Book Store (陳湘記書局), which is located about halfway in between Taai Hing and Kam Mien Koon.
Good browsing.
Chan Seung Kee has an extensive selection of books on keeping fish.
Not much on cooking them, however.


AFTERWORD

I only listed about half of the aquarium-related businesses, there are several that are in upstairs locations, around the corner, or in the next block. Also shops that sell hardware related to aquarium construction, water purification, and other tangential businesses.

Personally, I do not know much about keeping fish, I just dump them in the sink until it's time to cook them.

I was actually planning to write about congee (粥), but somehow I got sidetracked.
Sorry.

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