Kwong Wah Convenience Store 光華士多 (Hong Kong)

One word: Awesome! Thanks for the introduction and organization by @g4gary ! While it is named as a convenience store in Chinese, this little store front is a truly a wonderful neighborhood eatery solely operated by a single woman whom she likes to be called "Fat Mama." She cooks every single dish, take all your orders and act as the faithful cashier on your way out even when she is busy cooking. Diners grab their own soup, get their own rice and make themselves home by getting beer right from the fridge whenever you feel like. Frequent diners even help out by serving other patrons. That is one charming characteristic of this joint I truly love. Yes you will be seated plastic or even wooden stools, floor may be slightly wet, but you get air conditioning as well as TV while you enjoy the food. You can even bring your own wine (and glasses as well in our case, thanks @g4gary!)

Please do not ask me what type of fish it was, it really did not matter to me because it will change daily and depending on the mood of dear Fat Mama, you may get your steamed fish a bit different in terms of cooking style every day, at least I presumed that is going to be the case. The steamed fish we had was timed perfectly and executed wonderfully for being what it was under all circumstances. With hints of spiciness, you can still taste the sweetness of the meat, a perfect dish to finish your first bowl of white rice.

Steamed Chinese Pork Loaf with preserved vegetables was another simple yet mouth watering dish to finish your second bowl of white rice. Nothing fancy, just minced pork together with some preserved vegetables and steam the whole thing with little seasoning. Some may do it with sliced pork instead of minced pork but the idea is the same and the result is equally wonderful.

Next was the Honey Chicken Wings. How can we not love chicken wings right? Sweet, crunchy chicken wings, I am sure we would fall in love with them at first sight!

Salt and Pepper Prawns, crunchy, well-seasoned, sweet from its freshness, a perfect dish to go with beer!   One may eat the shell as well but I had a hard to doing so but I did suck out all the flavors from every single part of the prawn!

You have heard of sweet and sour pork more than you want, being one of the more famous Cantonese dishes, it is no surprise. However, to master this dish is easier said than done. The flavors must be well balanced and the amount of sauce used should be just sufficient to cover and linger around each piece of the fried pork. Even for each piece of the fried pork, there should be a well balanced ratio of fat vs meat. It is indeed a piece of culinary art if you ask me. The one being served was alright, the amount of sauce was good but some pieces have quite a lot of fat while some were overly meaty. Nonetheless, a great dish to finish your third bowl of white rice!

Our last dish for the night was a steam pork with shrimp paste. The shrimp paste is quite rich in flavors, salty is another word but with just the right amount it can truly bring out the sweetness and deep flavors of the paste and whatever it is being cooked with. In our case, it was chewy, firm to the bite sliced pork which contained small amount of fat in each and every pieces. Stop separating the fat from the meat, they are meant to be together and go on and eat them together please!

Trust me! I will be back and I will just ask lovely "Fat Mama" to cook up whatever she thinks I am in the mood to eat. Ambiance and atmosphere are important elements of our dining experiences and here at this eatery, it has the perfect atmosphere for anyone looking for a cozy, homely and no BS simple home meal at affordable prices.

Likes:

• Down to earth no BS eatery in the middle of a dimly lit street mainly opened to serve the neighborhood and off duty cab driving. Adorable personality of "Fat Mama." The self-serve aspect of the resto as well. 
• Honey Chicken Wings - hard not to love right? 
• steam pork with shrimp paste - well balanced flavors with the shrimp paste and delicious pork slices with  fatty portions 

Dislikes: 

• Quite difficult to find this place and can be quite packed during cab duty shifting hours. 

Avg Spending: HKD 100 per person

Kwong Wah Convenience Store 光華士多 (Hong Kong)
14B Sun Chun Street, Tai Hang (大坑新村街14B)
Tel: 2577 4013


Tweet



View Larger Map