樂香園咖啡室 (已結業)

Item: 樂香園咖啡室
Rating: 4
Author: TheWongEatsHK

Lok Heung Yuen Coffee Shop

3.5

177 食记

味道

环境

服务

卫生

抵食

5761

中环

$50以下

港式茶餐厅/冰室

113

TheWongEatsHK

等级2

I was Ahab, and learning how to cook eggs the way Lok Heung Yuen does for their Char Siew Scrambled Egg Rice
was my metaphorical White Whale. Do you remember the last thing you obsessed over, something you needed so bad that it would drive you insane otherwise? It could be small and irrelevant, yet you know you will never have peace of mind until the situation is resolved. I have been dining at Lok Heung Yuen for the better part of three years, and for the past three years, I have been totally fixated on learning how to cook eggs the way they do in their char siew scrambled egg rice (HK$38). Over the years, I have added a variety of ingredients (From corn starch to chicken stock) in my scrambled eggs in hopes of achieving the same results; and for three years straight, I have failed.

Every chef worth his pinch of salt has a signature egg dish. Jean Georges serves scrambled eggs with vodka cream and a heap of caviar; Alain Passard serves his poached egg yolks in a shell with maple and vinegar, and Dave Chang water smokes his and serves it with potato chips. For me, the eggs in this humble coffee shop may be the verybest in Hong Kong, better than the numerous Michelin starred establishments and hipster friendly coffee brunch restaurants. Brave the Central lunchtime queues and you will be rewarded with one of the most exquisite one-plate meals in the city.

The eggs are flash cooked (literally no more than a minute) until they are just set, the tender ribbony wisps of cooked egg giving way to succulent pieces of char siew, while the spring onions give the whole plate a bit of sharpness and colour. But most incredibly, the eggs curds remain gooey and runny enough to gently coat and lubricate every single grain of rice. There is no other way to put this, but this plate of char siew egg rice hits the spot The rest of the menu, consisting of various pastries and other classic teahouse dishes, is well-executed, but remain non-events. Still, when nine out of ten people in a restaurant orders the same dish each time, it makes littlesense to deviate from the norm.

I have a tumultuous love-hate relationship with the place - I love, wholeheartedly love how it cooks the humble egg so perfectly, but I detest the fact that it seemingly refuses to share its secrets on cooking the perfect egg. Try to peer into the open kitchen from your seat and there is a 5 foot tall counter obstructing your view; ask the friendly familyin charge for a recipe and all you get is a mute toothy grinand a shake of the head in return. Even now, I have no clue what goes in the egg mix, other than the fact that it must contain some form of liquid to thin out and smoothen the mixture. I still continue to pry around, hopefully to learn a clue or two, but I have the sinking feeling that the onlyway to get these perfect eggs is to visit the restaurant and brave the long queues.