People always say there are plenty of places to eat in Causeway Bay, I am not 100% sure about that; from my experience, you know, after rehearsals at night and it is always tempting to look for places to eat before going straight back home and being starved all night long. Man Fai is one of the very few noodle joints that is still open after 11pm, the exact period of time that i am released from the studio. Although not really having a lot to choose from, but it is still a hardy meal to fill the stomach with warmth and comfort.
Famous of its cuttle fish products, the shop has transformed the cephalopod into delicacies of different forms. Cuttle fish balls, whole baby squids and tentacles are the holy trinity in this shop; my favorite combination would be the trio go with a nori based soup sprinkle with ample amount of white pepper. If you are looking for something more substantial, they also provide noodles of different sort. Rice sticks, flat rice noodles and egg noodles no matter thin or thick.
Normally you would expect a noodle shop to have great soup bases or outstanding noodles, but for this joint, the crown jewel would be the hot sauce, well, chilli oil to be exact. Not your everyday chilli oil that serves in bottles, the oil is actually only filling half the tub, the other half is loaded with fried chilli flakes, skin, seeds and all; as you may know, the hottest part of the chilli is actually the seeds, with such amount you are best warned to partake within your means. The outstanding point of the condiment is that you can taste not only the heat and acridity of the chili, but actually the aroma of the pepper is very much preserved; it is more than often that when people is looking for heat, they actually overlook the special aromatic flavor of the pepper itself other that the capsaicin which gives only hot. Good chilli oil keeps the 2 factor in a perfect balance.
So there you go, a midnight diner either for you to fill your belly after a long exhausting night or a joint for you to have a slightly bigger late night snack; man fai is convenient and accessible, too accessible may be so that you tend to go there more than you originally intended. read more