Sai Kung Town is a former fishing village in Hong Kong’s New Territories. Famous for their seafood, they even have a street called Hoi Seen Gai, or Seafood Street! I knew I had to go, especially since Michelin recently awarded a star to a local restaurant called Loaf On (worst romanization ever, its called Look Fook in Cantonese).
We jumped on a minibus in Kwun Tong, Kowloon and about 30 minutes later we were there. Loaf On is situated at the very end of the boardwalk, past all the fancy seafood displays and outdoor restaurants. It was torture walking past other diners as they were digging into plates piled high with fresh clams and whole fish. But soon enough we made our way to our destination.
Loaf On is a very small restaurant – only four family-size round tables. They didn’t have any impressive seafood displays so I was a bit confused as to what all the hoopla was about. In my mind, the more impressive the seafood display, the more delicious the food! Right? Well, we flipped through the menu, which was actually the opposite of impressive and very lacking in the seafood department. But how could this be? I had read about the Michelin-worthy fish, which did not make an appearance on the menu. Turns out you can order any type of seafood you like, and Loaf On will run out to the boardwalk to buy your goods. We settled on a whole grouper and three mantis shrimp to start.
The steamed grouper, or sek ban, was well done. Perfectly cooked so the flesh was silky. Although this dish was delicious, can’t really say there was anything special about it. I think my mom makes it better! But then again, I may be biased.
Salt & Pepper mantis shrimp. I’ve had this dish several times now, and this was by far the best rendition. Served on a bed of crunchy bits, the shrimp were well seasoned so that every bite was salty, garlicky, spicy. Yum.
One of the shrimp was filled with roe. Usually I rejoice at the sight of bright orange eggs, but I think mantis shrimp roe is just not that good. Its quite tough and doesn’t have a lot of flavor. It actually ruined the springy, lobster-like texture of the mantis shrimp. In the end, I picked out the roe and chomped down on the shrimp alone.
A lovely dessert of osmanthus flower jelly and goji berries. Very light and refreshing. And pretty!
We only had a few dishes at Loaf On in order to save our stomachs for the rest of our eating adventure. But still the bill was quite expensive – came to $200HKD (~$26USD) a head. It’s a nice restaurant – maybe a good place to take your parents, but there are much better deals to be found around Sai Kung.
$$$$
Loaf On
49 See Cheung Street
Sai Kung Town, Hong Kong
+852 2792 9966
