This place is the epitome of local flavour. Good food, good beer, and good times (they bust out the Karaoke machine at around 9 pm). It's where the locals come to drunkenly belt out Chinese tunes on a Friday night. It's where you bring your tourist friends when they ask you to take them somewhere "cool". It's where you kick your craving for the exotic into high gear.
Jook Yuen Chungking Chicken Hot Pot (unofficially Anglicizing, because this place doesn't have an English name, translates to "Bamboo Garden") is a gateway to really local HK eateries. They are a traditional "dai pai dong" or street stall, but within an air-conditioned space and is kept relatively clean. They don't have English on their menus, but you can get Kronenbourg Blanc on tap. They give you a box of tissue at the table, but the washrooms are squat pots, literally holes in the ground.
The food itself is also a perfect mix of the familiar and unfamiliar. They've got hot pot but also ready-made dishes, all leaning towards the spicier, deep-fried delicious end. The signature Chicken Hot Pot is a simmering pot of chicken pieces (half or whole) boiling away in the sauce of your chosen spice level (low, med, high). As it boils down and you eat the chicken, soup is added to create a very flavourful hot pot base for you to cook your raw ingredients in. Each plate of ingredients range from around $20-$60.
I'm a Hongkie by birth, I've lived here for 6 months, and I grew up with HK food surrounding me. Even I was surprised by some of the things served here. Sure they have your fish balls, beef slices, etc. But then you have fatty goose intestines, which was a surprising treat. It's got none of that "poopy" smell that accompanies pig intestines (which they also serve here fyi) and was unexpectedly crisp. They've also got these dry doughy rolls that you dip in the hot pot broth for extra flavour. And one of my favourites, little cheese sausages. To round out my "must order" recommendations, definitely get the squid paste, which comes as a gooey ball inside a bamboo container. You scoop up bits at a time and dump it into the pot.
This place is the perfect catalyst for a good time. The beer flows (BYOB with a corkage fee of $50), the food is amazing, and you get that lively "dai pai dong" feel. Jook Yuen is just one of the many stalls in the North Point Food Centre, another being the famous Tung Pao. The difference is, it's highly difficult to get a reservation at Tung Pao, but Jook Yuen will quietly welcome you with open arms. I dare you to try holding back from singing old-school Karaoke tunes after a few bowls (yes, they serve it in bowls) of beer. 飲勝!
(66/100) - 2017 read more