Last night on a whim I headed over to the Java Road Cooked Food Centre for the first time in a few years. Located in North Point, it’s similar to the Wong Nai Chung Cooked Food Centre in Happy Valley. Situated above a live market, it feels as though you’re dining seaside at an outdoor restaurant. To summarize briefly, good food, reasonable prices and unique market ambiance make the place a Hong Kong classic.
The Java Road Cooked Food Centre in North Point is home to several notable restaurants. Each restaurant has a wide menu but specializes in particular dishes. The place we chose was Tung Po, the largest of the stalls. Eyeing the categories on the menu, it says “Nothing Special” as one of the headings for typical home-cooked fare. That’s my kind of place!
Tung Po seemed to be the most crowded of all the restaurants in the cooked food center. Arriving with no reservation at prime time on a Saturday night, it wasn’t the smartest time to go. After about a thirty minute wait, we secured a table (they give you a number which they call when there’s something available.) The place is popular all the time, but weekdays and off prime time should be less hectic. (See the phone number below to make a reservation.)
Tung Po had several specialties including white-sand chicken, black squid-ink pasta, and a certain kind of marinated fried pig’s feet that my friend Jimmy loves!
[photopress:Java_Road_market_Hong_Kong.jpg,full,pp_image]Our order was mostly seafood (deep fried squid, fried fish with corn sauce, clam soup with noodles and white pepper,) and also included some tasty broccoli in XO sauce. The menu had several photos and was in Chinese and English.
We had a table all to ourselves. There are smaller tables against the wall for groups of four, or larger tables to accommodate big parties. It’s sort of a raucous environment where people celebrate birthdays and have a good time. It didn’t strike me as particularly noisy, though perhaps I’m desensitized!
During the humid Summer if you’re looking for great food with outdoor atmosphere but air-conditioned comfort, the Java Road cooked food centre is worth a trip!
Java Road Cooked Food Centre address:
2/F, 99 Java Road, North Point
Hong Kong
Tung Po Seafood Restaurant
(located in the middle of the 2nd floor)
For reservations: 2880-9399
If you’ve ever watched Travel Channel’s Anthony Bourdain, he also introduced the cooked food centre on his show No Reservations when he went to Hpng Kong.
Wow, the pig feet look tasty!
CI’m headed to HK in a few days, can anybody tell me how to get there from Kowloon? MTR or Taxi?
Take Exit A1 from the North Point MTR station and you’ll be just across the street from the building where the market is.
Remember it’s up an escalator on the second floor.
Enjoy!
😉
Try typhoon shelter crab, medium hot.