Food (**** out of *****); As long as their head chef is in, the place is legit and will serve up…read moresome of the best seafood equal in cooking skill to the big restaurants. If you're going on a holiday or Sunday, be sure to ask if their head chef is in before you decide if you want to go there or not. I've been there many times and their head chef has never disappointed me.
When in Sai Kung, I advise you to skip the restaurants that the touts will bring you to because those restaurants are much more expensive than but not better than this little mom and pop restaurant. Also, skip the big tourist trap restaurants on the main drag for the same reason. The owner "Michael" also owns a live seafood stand in the wet market behind the restaurant. Ask the owner to show you which seafood stand this is. Then, go and pick out and pay for the live seafood that you want them to cook for you. Take this seafood back to the restaurant and they will cook it for you for a small fee, This fee varies, but it is usually the greater of 200HKD per person or 100% of the price of the seafood. Many times, it is much less than this. I don't know how he figures how much to charge me as my Chinese speaking ability is crap, but he's always been fair and honest with me. This is a stupendous bargain, because I have a relative in the food industry and he informs me that most restaurants charge 200% of the price of the groceries as the profit margin to charge you.
On this trip, I had the live abalone, living scallops, pissing shrimp (mantis shrimp), fresh razor clams, and chicken. All of the seafood has that fresh, sweet, sea taste that only living seafood has. None of it tasted "fishy". BTW, you have to tell them how you want it cooked, so if you're not a major foodie, bring a friend who is or it will be cooked wrong, through no fault of the restaurant's. I had the razor clam stir fried with hot peppers and black bean. It was not too spicy as to overpower the natural flavor of the razor clams. There was only a tiny bit of sand in it. On a previous visit, I had the razor clams steamed with garlic, ginger, onions, scallions, and wine. There was zero sand in it on my previous visit. I like it steamed more than the stir fry method. On this visit, I had the live scallops steamed with garlic, onions, scallions, ginger and wine. It was divine. The abalone was steamed with special sauce. Both the abalone and scallops were not rubbery. If you overcook these shellfish, it will be rubbery and it is very easy to overcook. The chef here is very skillful. The pissing shrimp (mantis shrimp) were stir fried in cheese crust. It was fragrant and slightly pungent from the cheese. All the seafood was excellent.
The ginger chicken was average. I don't know what I was thinking, ordering a chicken in a seafood restaurant. Duh.
Service (***** out of *****); Unlike most Cantonese restaurants, the waiters here will check up on you to see how you are doing, they'll change out your dirty plates, and the manager will also check up on you.
Atmosphere (** out of *****); A typical mom and pop mini-restaurant. They have some photos of celebrities who've dined there before proudly displayed on the walls, but they have no decor and the front door is often open when the weather is nice outside, so you might have to fend off an occasional fly or mosquito. I did not see any flies at all on this trip.
Conclusion (***** out of *****); The tally is 4 stars, but I gave them an extra star for value. They have no English menu, but it is not really necessary. All you have to do is point at the seafood that you want and then tell them, "tsing" (steamed), "chow tseow yeem" (stir fried with salt and pepper), "hu dow see tsew" (black beans and pepper), "cheese" (with cheese), or "chow" (stir fried). This is a hidden gem on the side streets frequented by locals, away from the tourist traps. For the best seafood in Hong Kong at a very reasonable price, go directly to New Tak Kee Seafood Restaurant.
P.S. some unscrupulous seafood, mushroom, beef, and dairy vendors sell radioactive stuff from Fukushima and the surrounding regions in Japan. This is a big problem in Hong Kong because almost all food is imported into Hong Kong. My crazy S.O. actually tested all the seafood here and it is all within safety limits.
