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2013-03-22
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Some friends of mine decided to be adventurous and try snake soup in HK. The place we first intended to go in Sheung Wan was closed, and the place in central I heard is expensive and mediocre. So we traveled to Wan Chai, and though this place is a short walk from the MTR, it felt like miles away from my customary haunts.There's no English menu, and no one there speaks any English. I doubt many Westerners ever show up there. People walking down the street ogled us. The owner (?) exclaimed "ten wh
There's no English menu, and no one there speaks any English. I doubt many Westerners ever show up there. People walking down the street ogled us. The owner (?) exclaimed "ten white people!" (in Cantonese; I don't speak Cantonese, but I know that much). Luckily one of my friends knew enough Chinese to read the menu.
We were five. A group of Dutch tourists walked by a couple times looking for something to eat. They decided to stop here, cuz I guess they saw us and assumed it was Westerner-friendly. I feel bad for them, they didn't even realize it was a snake place. First they asked for an English menu, then they asked for "seafood." Finally one of the other patrons explained the nature of the place to them and the menu. Anyway, so that's why there were "ten white people!" as the owner (?) remarked.
They have different sets. Sets A and B have two kinds of soup, one with two snake soups, the other with snake and (we guessed) turtle. In addition you get a choice of rice dishes. Sets C and D are similar, but you only get one soup, some greens, and a glutinous rice dish with nuts. If you can't speak any Chinese, just show up and say "C." I got set B with the snake and turtle (?) soups.
Snake soup: Quite a bit of snake meat in thin strips w/ mostly mushrooms as the other ingredient. The broth is very chicken-broth tasting (it could well have been chicken broth). Quite filling, given how meaty it is, and well-seasoned and aromatic. The snake was sometimes a little on the chewy side, but having never had snake before, I can't say that's not how it always is. A
Frog rice: They seemed a little miffed when we ordered four of the frog rice; it must take effort to prepare. Hey, it was the only rice dish we could figure out! (What is slippery chicken, by the way?) Anyway, the frog rice was delicious. Quite salty, but in a good way, very gingery (also in a good way), and with a really quite juicy frog. Careful with the bones! A+
Turtle (?) soup: This was just broth. Deep brown and aromatic, I couldn't place any of the flavors, but it was a nice palate-cleansing end to the meal. A
There's no beer at the place, but they don't mind if you walk to the 7-11 and bring bottles there. They'll even open them for you and give you glasses. The price is totally reasonable, with none of the sets running higher than $70, iirc. I can't compare it to other snake joints, but as far as just food goes, it's well worth the trip. A+
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