A common difficulty most avid foodies come across when hunting for a specific restaurant in Hong Kong is that the eatery isn't where it's supposed to be.
Due to the island's ever-increasing rental fees (Hong Kong ranks among the top five cities in the world with the most expensive rent), it is not unusual for one's favourite food joints, typically small noodle shops and family-run roasted meat restaurants, to have relocated before a diner's next visit.
I myself have, on several occasions during my trips to Hong Kong, been disappointed when trying to find famous small eateries offering good wonton meen (Cantonese-styled dumplings and noodles dish), as they have either moved or closed for good.
So a few months ago, when I drove past by a newly opened place with a signage that read "Hong Kong wonton meen", just a five-minute drive away from my home in Bangkok, I was elated.
The restaurant, Gokfayuen, which is a 40-seater that occupies a small shophouse space in Thong Lor Soi 9, is the brainchild of a young interior designer-cum-restaurateur. Originally from Hong Kong, the owner opened the restaurant eight months ago following his passion to preserve his motherland's time-honoured fare.
Gokfayuen, meaning "chrysanthemum place" in Cantonese, offers typical Hong Kong noodle shop cuisine at a price range very atypical for its prime location.
The menu lists an estimated 20 no-nonsense dishes, namely meen (egg noodles), served dry or in broth; wonton (dumpling filled with prawn and minced pork); char sui (barbecued pork); ngou lam (braised beef stew); steamed kai lan (Chinese kale); chicken rice and congee (Chinese-styled rice porridge).
The noodles, as well as dumpling skins, are made in-house according to authentic Cantonese recipes with carefully sought-after flour imported from Canada. Other elements, whether it be chilli sauce, soup stock or barbecue glaze, are also made from scratch.
On our dinner visit, an order of wonton meen (79 baht) satisfied both my palate and stomach. The dish featured al dente fine egg noodles with plump dumplings in an aromatic clear broth made from dried halibut stock and garnished in an old-fashion style with fragrant white chives, not spring onions.
We also tried dry noodles with stewed beef topping (89 baht). The brisket cut with slight portions of tendon was slow-cooked with herbs and spices for many hours and yielded a flavoursome taste and clingy texture.
Char sui fans can have the noodles topped with barbecued pork. Or it can be ordered as an entrée (139 baht), which scrumptiously showcases the pork loin, marinated and flame broiled, to boast the expected charred aroma and juicy meat.
A meal at a traditional Hong Kong noodle shop wouldn't be wholesomely satisfying without a platter of kai lan (79 baht). The restaurant uses local kale, which might not be as big and sweet as the imported counterpart, but when properly blanched and dressed with good oyster sauce, it more than impressed my taste-buds.
One of my dining companions, who's a connoisseur of chicken rice, testified that Gokfayuen's rendition (79 baht) was one of the city's best.
Presented on top of non-oily, broth-cooked jasmine rice was a generous portion of succulent chicken slices. The chicken, with skin intact, was superbly complemented by green-hue sauce made with ginger and spring onions.
Despite a good number of dishes that arrived at our table, we found the winning fare was the rice congee (79 baht). If you may excuse my gluttonesque remark, Gokfayuen's congee was bowl-licking brilliant!
The rice porridge, arguably the best in Bangkok, was served piping hot with sprinkles of finely sliced ginger and scallion. Dredged in the thick and smooth rice soup were slices of century egg (preserved, quicklime cured egg) and morsels of pork collar meat that proved as juicy and clingy as the minced pork counterpart.
The restaurant offers no desserts, but has a blended milk tea (39 baht) on the menu, which provided a nice sweet ending to our meal. And because of the late opening hours, Gokfayuen proves a good harbour for substantial, no-frills supper.
This Thong Lor eatery offers the cuisine of a typical Hong Kong noodle shop but at a price range very atypical for its prime location.
Boneless chicken rice.
Char-broiled marinated pork.
Kai lan vegetable with oyster sauce.
Wonton noodles.
