I started this day in Hong Kong like I start most days.  Running late.

I knew we had to hustle because the email we got from Hong Kong Foodie Tour said to arrive 15 minutes early because they always leave on time.  Maybe it wasn’t the day for us to take the Metro for the first time in a new city.  We didn’t get lost and the metro was actually really efficient, we just didn’t plan our timing that well.  This meant that we arrived right on time according to my personal watch; which means 15 minutes late.  A quick phone call, my apologies, and a bit of running around later and we managed to unite ourselves with our foodie tour, which luckily was just around the corner from our meeting place.

Fiona was our foodie guide and as soon as I saw her I knew today would be a fun day because I could tell from her massive and contagious smile that she loved her job.

We started the day with a Hong Kong-style breakfast of milk tea (nai cha) and a pineapple bun (bor lo bao) which was my favourite thing we ate that day by far, albeit maybe not the most adventurous.  We saw these sweet buns being made and when they arrived at our table they were hot, fresh and delicious!

With the Hong Kong-style breakfast warm in our tummies we made our way to our next location where we would have a traditional Chinese-style breakfast of rice rolls (ju cneung tunn).
It wasn’t my regular breakfast of PB&J toast, that’s for sure.  But we were in China and I already came to realize that “real” Chinese food did not consist of the chicken balls in red sauce and egg rolls that my friends and I used to pick up after the bar in university.  I set my preconceived notions of Chinese food aside and embraced the traditional Chinese breakfast, letting the slippery little suckers make there was into my belly for breakfast #2.
After two different breakfasts we weren’t in need of more food just yet, so Fiona led us on a walk through some very local neighbourhoods that we probably never would have found on our own.  She pointed out historical and current facts about places we passed by as we worked up an appetite for our next stop where we got our soy on!

We walked into this tiny little shop where we chose between a soybean milk or tofu dessert.  I went with the tofu dessert because, well, it’s dessert!!  This was also one of my favourites.  We got to dress up the dessert however we liked.  I doused mine in ginger and sugary syrup, while my husband held the ginger; but I think mine was better!  As we ate we were shown the process of how they turned the soy beans into milk and then to tofu, which my inner hippy found really interesting.Our group did a little window shopping between the soy shop and the braised meat shop where we headed next.  Everyone shuffled into the tiny restaurant where we sat elbow to elbow at a long table and enjoyed braised goose(o shui ngor) and pork knuckle(tun tae) with rice.
You’d think we would be full by now, but there’s always room for cookies!  A traditional Chinese bakery was awaiting our arrival with walnut cookies(hap tou so) and almond cookies(heng yan bang) wrapped up for each of us so those that were full could easily take them to-go.  But we had two kids with us, so our cookies disappeared before Fiona could even finish telling us what kind of cookies she was passing out.Full yet?

I hope not because there’s one more stop on our food tour.  With the top button on my jeans holding on for dear life, we made our way into the back of a tiny noodle shop filled with locals slurping up their lunch.  Having lived off Mr. Noodles for several years in my early 20’s I feel that I can call myself somewhat of a noodle connoisseur. I’ll tell you right now, the noodles at this place were fab-u-lous! There was some shrimpy stuff sprinkled on top and I can’t say that I really enjoyed that part, but that’s just my personal taste because everyone else loved them.  If I become more well versed in Cantonese, next time I’ll ask them to hold the fishiness.A few things I came away with from the Hong Kong Foodie Tour.

*Chinese food in China is not the same as Chinese food in North America.

*It is possible to eat at 6 different restaurants in one given morning.

*My jeans have a bit of stretch to them.

We chose this specific tour because it was more stroller friendly than the other tour offered and we had our kids with us.  But it’s not the only food tour offered by this company; they have different tours for different tastes.  If you’re in Hong Kong go check them out, stretch your taste-buds, surprise your appetite and learn a bit about real Chinese food!

Thank you to Hong Kong Foodie Tour for having us as guests.  All opinions are my own.