Finally, a taste of more of the local cuisine in Hong Kong! Okay so it’s not your typical fare but I did find out later that my meal there featured some dishes that are actually really popular in Hong Kong!
Okay but first, some backstory – it was a fine (and chilly) night when I decided to venture out and grab dinner. Islam Food was a restaurant recommended by some of our readers and seemed like it was going to be a good pick! After all, nothing like nice hot meal to keep me company on a cold night right?
I looked at my map and saw that it was about just under 2km away. A relatively short distance right? If not, I had to catch a bus and/or a train then bus and since I wasn’t too familiar, I decided to just try and walk it and perhaps explore a little and see some of the sights. After all, just 2km right? This was the path I took. Literally.
WOW! What a walk it was! And it seemed so much more than 2km lah! 😛 I think the main issue was that because the sunset was early, it got dark pretty fast. This meant quite a boring walk and also some alleys/underpass which may not really be suitable especially if you’re travelling with kids or elderly. It can actually get pretty spooky LOL So my advice is – if you’re not really nearby, go early and take public transport. Or at worse, grab an Uber or something. You can watch a bit of this harrowing journey in the next installment of our vlog series.
Anyways, I finally made it!
So that’s the sign I saw from the distance when I was reaching. And boy oh boy was I happy to see it 😀 Islam Food has been around since 1950 apparently. If you visit their website (which thankfully also has an English version), you’ll see a quote from the owner that “serving customers with the best quality food IS the only way to retain loyal customers”. So I was really looking forward to it lah right.
Their menu is HUGE! You’ve got everything from Noodles to Rice to Curries to Dim Sum to Vegetable dishes to Seafood and don’t even get me started on the side dishes. It’s kinda like a Tzi Char stall to a certain extent ah.
But being alone, I was quite limited in what I could order and since I was saving my first Dim Sum experience for the famed Islamic Centre Canteen later on, I decided to order some stuff that seemed… unique.
When I ordered this dish, the lady (who spoke quite limited English) made it very clear to me that this was a COLD dish. I’m guessing there may have been encounters in the past where people may not have noticed? Well, anyways it kinda made me a bit worried ah 😛
Okay so the best was for me to describe this dish is – like macam Steamed Chicken but then they chill it. I’m taking about really cold chicken. And it’s got a bit of Sesame Oil sauce action going on. But because it’s cold, the sauce also becomes a bit like thick and jelly-like almost.
This is apparently quite a delicacy there but my advice is that if you don’t like cold chicken, don’t order this.
Oh finally some hot food! 😛
And again, it says ‘Veal’ but it’s actually ‘Beef’ LOL look for ‘Pan Fried Beef Pancakes’ on the menu.
So ‘Goulash’ is a really popular snack in Hong Kong and if you see it on the menu, it’s pretty much a must have 😀 I had tried for the first time (earlier that same day) at Ma’s Restaurant and so I had something to compare it to. The meat was packo to the maxo and really flavourful (also thanks to onions and scallions). One of the biggest differences was that this one at Islam Food had more of the ‘soupy’ filling which is apparently a signature feature of Goulash.
Between the two, I’d say I preferred this version at Ma’s Restaurant mainly because that one had a more crisp exterior and although may not have been as ‘soupy’ but still quite wet lah.
DID YOU KNOW – Curry is apparently a REALLY popular dish in Hong Kong. Surprising? I found out at Islam Food (and later on in the trip too) that for some reason, curry is like a big thing here. Specifically Mutton Curry.
And yes, the curry is what you expect – a really heavy on the spices kind of curry which is commonly enjoyed with white rice and some form of veggies on the side.
They’ve got your usual suspects like Beef and Chicken but also more unique ones like Ox Tongue when it comes to curry in Hong Kong but the biggest hit of all seems to be Mutton Curry.
Enjoyed with a serving of white rice seems to be the combination of choice and I can see why it’s such a big hit. Especially when the weather is quite chilly, tucking into a nice, hot and spicy bowl of Mutton Curry really does the trick!
The curry itself had a very nice and bold curry flavour and it’s actually pretty thick. Not quite a dry curry but the meat was not exactly swimming in it if you know what I mean. Just nice!! I have to say that this was my first time trying curry ‘Hong Kong style’ and I was very impressed!
I do wish I had ordered some veggies to go along though… Chicken and Mutton – all meat and no leaves! 😛
That was just a small sample of what’s available on the menu at Islam Food. The menu is really extensive and if you plan on trying more, bring reinforcements! Now that I think about it, this was a great place for large group dining. I saw full tables of people ordering dishes and sharing the food, being merry. I think was the only solo table in the joint lah LOL They even have Set Meals for large groups so that’s something you might want to consider.
They’ve got Dim Sum, meat. seafood and vegetable dishes (ala Tzi Char style) and also plenty of Rice/Noodle dishes. Confession: I REALLY wanted to order the Hot & Sour Soup (which is one of my faves) but there was no way I would be able to finish it there and I didn’t feel like carrying it all the way back (yes, I took the same walk back to the hotel).
Oh and by the way, Islam Food apparently has TWO outlets now. I went to the one at Lung Kong (along Prince Edward Road) in case you were wondering.
If you need the menu, drop us a PM on Facebook or Instagram or maybe drop us an email? 🙂
In the meantime, look out for more of our The Halal Food Blog X Hong Kong series including more posts on the makan and also our vlogs coming soon! Exclusive to our YouTube channel so be sure to subscribe so you won’t miss a thing okay!
ISLAM FOOD
G/F No.1 Lung Kong Road
Kowloon City, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2382 2822
www.islamfood.com.hk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/islamfoodhk2
Operating Hours:
11.00am til 11.00pm DAILY
This meal we visit ourselves (like macam anonymous ah) and pay own money one.
All information (including prices, availability of item on menu and Halal status of establishment) are accurate at the time of posting. All photos used in this site are property of The Halal Food Blog unless stated otherwise.
