IT'S JUST PAST THE SEVEN ELEVEN, YOU CAN'T MISS IT!

The company for which I work has an office in Tsimshatsui.
Sometimes I wonder if my colleagues over there enjoy eating at the Ho Choi Seafood Restaurant (好彩海鮮酒家), which is the nearest place for dimsum.
I rather doubt it - a restaurant in one of the big commercial centres on Mody Road (麼地道) along the waterfront is probably a bit too pretentious and high-fallutin' for frequent dining, even though Ho Choi has a good reputation.

Same probably goes for the Home Feel Restaurant (住家菜) on the mezzanine level of Empire Centre (帝國中心) to the left of the entryway - you can see their beautiful big signboard from Mody Lane, immediately above the 7-11.

And similarly, I doubt that my colleagues often go to the Subway Sandwich shop to the right of Zume on the ground floor of that building, but the Starbucks on the corner probably gets quite a lot of their business, as they work very long hours.

The steakhouse next to Jaspas may cater mostly to foreigners. Mody Road and Chatham Road South are probably less frightening to non-locals than anything further away from the shore, and Chinese people are not nearly as fond of big bloody hunks of beef as Americans and Aussies.

By the same token, the BBOSS Nightclub and something called 尖東酒吧街 off Science Museum Road (科學館道) probably aren't regular stops either, even after work - Chinese people are not nearly as fond of vast quantities of alcohol as Americans and Aussies.

Instead, if they have enough time, the folks from the Hong Kong office probably cut through the Centenary Garden (百周年紀念花園), cross Granville Road (加連威老道), and go into Cameron Road (金馬倫道).
A little way down the block ,on the right hand side, there's the Guangdong Barbecue Restaurant (廣東燒味餐廳) - you can't miss it. Bluegreen sign board above the entrance, Chinese characters big and golden, English somewhat smaller and silver. There's a row of roast ducks in the window to the left of the doorway.
It's directly across the street from the 永亨銀行.

There's a sushi restaurant a little further on the left, opposite the 7-11 which is on the same side of the road as the barbecue restaurant - but sushi tends to be quite a bit more expensive than real food.

[Of course, there's also Fat Kee (發記粉麵茶餐廳) at number 27, just a bit beyond the 7-11. But I've always distrusted businesses with such garish signs. Completely in gold, and it's considerably more expensive than the Guandong Barbecue Restaurant in any case.
If you're really that desperate, a bit beyond where Carnarvon crosses Cameron, you'll find a MacDonalds and a KFC. They're both near Nathan Road (彌敦道).]


厚福街 PROFOUND GOOD FORTUNE!

However, if you go to the corner and turn right onto Carnarvon Road (加拿芬道), you'll shortly come to an alleyway opposite yet another 7-11, named Hau Fook Street (厚福街), where right next to each other on the right hand side there are two restaurants on the ground floor of the 宏生大廈 (Houng Sun Building), namely 桂記雲吞麵 (red shop sign - no English name), and 椰林越南茶館 (green shop sign, simply called 'Vietnamese Restaurant' in English).

[The first sign could perhaps be translated as 'Cassia's Wonton Noodle', and the second one would be better rendered as 'Coconut Grove Vietnamese Teahouse'.
The Vietnamese restaurant has a sign that sticks out over the street and nearly hits the opposite side. You. Can't. Miss. It. ]

The business immediately opposite must have been really hard-pressed for colour choices - they ended up with a large yellow sign with blue characters spelling out 雲南桂林過橋米線 Yunnan Guilin cross-bridge rice thread.
The English text underneath merely states 'Traditional Chinese Noodle'. Doesn't give you much to go by, does it?

Nevertheless, that's THREE real eateries within spitting distance of each other!
Wow!!
Real food!!!

Not pizza. Not burgers. Not steak-house, beer parlour, fancy French (too many branches of 'DeliFrance' in Kowloon, nearly as many as 7-11's), Irish grub pubs, German beer hall, American grease, etcetera.

Of course, you had to walk almost halfway across Tsimshatsui to get there, and you're now closer to the park (九龍公園) than to the office......

The Vietnamese restaurant looks mighty interesting. In addition to obsessing over dimsum and roast duck, I'm also very fond of Vietnamese food. As I'm typing this, I'm eating bún thịt nướng.
Cold rice noodle with barbecue pork and imperial rolls with crunchy chopped lettuce, beansprouts, basil leaves, and a tamarind and fish-dew dressing, shredded carrot and crumbled peanuts on top. Very Vietnamese.
And very San Francisco.
I wonder if that is also available there?
It would be perfect for warmer days.


Just a little further on, on Carnarvon Road near the corner of Kimberly Street (金巴利街), there's a 香港仔 where you can get noodles, roast meats, fish balls.
Like everything else in Tsimshatsui, there's a 7-11 only a few doors down.


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