Dai Pai Dong themed restaurants are a disappearing staple in Hong Kong, but places like Man Fat (萬發) are keeping it alive. One of Sham Shui Po's gems, this corner section of Kiu Kang and Un Chau streets feature different locations with the same Man Fat name. (#1)
This seafood themed location is two levels, with the second level only accessible by a narrow alleyway stairwell and plenty of dodginess that comes with it. There are no signs, but all the workers running in and out of the place will be quick to point it out.
For DPD standards, this is a very clean place. The second level has extremely low ceilings, so anyone who is close to 6 ft tall will need to potentially duck while navigating the room. Round tables that can fit up to 10 are draped with a plastic tablecloth, along with a sassy waitress with limited English who is quick to make recommendations.
My group and I ordered a myriad of dishes, from braised pomelo skin (蝦子扒柚皮), the classic beef cubes and potato (薯仔牛柳粒), a crispy white sand chicken (風沙雞), stir fried chives with cashews, dried fish and squid (小炒皇), scrambled egg with shrimp (蝦仁炒蛋), and dried shrimp stir fried watercress (蝦醬炒通菜). Most everything was a thumbs up, though I have to say the pomelo skin or siu chao wong chives are not my bag. Each dish ranged from 118-148HKD, which feels pricey, even for post-pandemic foodflation standards.
There is a wait during weekend peak hours, so I recommend the early weekday dining time for skipping any lag. Service is good, but make sure the Canto is on point. While they do take AliPay and Octopus, cash is always king.
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(#1) Unless it's a secondary spot for crowd overflow, this is the location directly across the street: http://www.yelp.com/biz/NU_9szCzhgFwSkMeKYCPCg read more