炳記茶檔 - Dai Pai Dong Nostalgia

Rating: ❤❤❤❤

I actually quite like this area of Tai Hang as it is conveniently accessible from Tin Hau and CWB but remote enough without the crowds and tourists. I come here to eat occasionally as there are always new restaurants popping up. Last time after trying Ramen Kureha, I wandered around for a bit and stumbled on this dai pai dong 炳記. Funny how I have never seen this shop before even though I go to the other dai pai dong 順興 down the street quite often. 

When I saw that this shop was hailed as one of the 4 milk tea kings in HK by CNN, I was intrigued and knew I had to come back to try their milk tea! I was going to try their milk tea only at first but discovered that they are also famous for their pork chop so I decided to make a meal out of it. 

The seating was all outside with tables extending into an alleyway. The alley was wide and spacious enough while the hygiene conditions were acceptable. I like how you can see the area where they wash their dishes, which was well-kept. One of the better dai pai dong dining environment I've been to in HK. 

For food, they primarily serve instant noodles and rice vermicelli with a combination of ingredients of your choice such as pork chop, chicken wings, egg, ham, etc. They also serve sandwiches as well. The prices were very cheap and reasonable for this area.

Milk Tea with Condense Milk ($13) - a special version of milk tea where instead of adding evaporated milk, a layer of condense milk is added first to the bottom of the cup so as you stir the milk tea, the condense milk will slowly dissolve and make the tea sweeter without diluting the tea. It's basically a stronger version of regular milk tea. Just don't stir too much all at once or else it will become too sweet! The milk tea here was pretty smooth and fragrant with a strong tea flavor. 

Milk Tea ($13) - the regular milk tea was lighter in color with the addition of evaporated milk. While it was smooth with an apparent tea fragrance and flavor, I thought it could have used slightly more milk so it can be thicker and creamier. Otherwise, it was a solid cup of mik tea as well. 

Pork Chop Instant Noodles with Spam ($26) - the pork chop was nicely marinated and sliced into small pieces for easier consumption. It was definitely more flavorful and moist than the usual pork chop. The spam was also nicely pan-fried so it was crispy on the outside. 

The broth was not that flavorful so it was good that there were different kinds of condiments on the table like sesame oil, chili peppers and chili oil to enhance the noodles. 

Even though the menu stated that they use Nissin instant noodles (出前一丁), I don't think they used Nissin noodles though as the noodles were quite limp and soft so they weren't as chewy to eat. Nissin noodles tends to be firmer and curlier as well.

Pork Chop Instant Noodles with Egg ($26) - this bowl of noodles was pretty much the same as before but with a pan-fried egg instead of spam. The egg was cooked over easy and it was perfectly cooked as the egg yolk was still runny and liquid while the egg white was nice and crispy. 

Verdict - while the pork chop here was pretty good, I actually prefer the food at 順興 more as there are more variety and options to choose from like rice plates and cart noodles. The milk tea here was pretty good though, which is something that 順興 does not have. I think part of the charm of 炳記 is in the nostalgia of dai pai dong so while the milk tea here is probably not the best in HK, it is still a good place to visit and reminisce while you can before they all disappear.

炳記茶檔
Next to 5 Shepherd Street, Tai Hang
2577 3117

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