You can imagine my joy when I finally spotted the shop signage that read Australian Dairy Company. Sadly, my elation quickly turned into frustration when I saw the long queue waiting to get in. I kid you not, it was 11-ish in the morning and there were at least 15 people ahead of us!!The Australian Dairy Company is housed in quite a sizeable shop lot (for Hong Kong standards). There must be something special about this place because it was packed to overflowing. We also couldn’t figure out why it is called the Australian Dairy Company when the milk they use seemed to come from the Kowloon Dairy!??
Being unable to read most of the menu, we figured it would be safest to order the items just about everyone in the shop seem to be merrily scoffing down: the tea set (cha charn) which includes eggs – scrambled or fried; 2 slices of ham; buttered toast; spaghetti or macaroni with cha siew; and a choice of tea or coffee.
The eggs were perfectly cooked – not too dry but not mushy, and with just the right amount of seasoning. Goes really well with the toast. Unfortunately the spaghetti was nothing to shout about (sorry guys, pasta just ain’t meant to be cooked this way).Can’t come all the way out here and not have desserts right? The “auntie” sharing our tiny table (evidently a regular) recommended the double-boiled steam milk (dun lai) and egg (dun daan). We absolutely loved the silky smooth dun lai but could not stomach the dun daan (waaaaaay too sweet!). We each tried a spoonful, and politely left the rest of the bowl untouched. So we are not dun daan people. Mr Sooky Waiter really didn’t have to give us the “do-you-know-how-many-children-are-dying-of-starvation-in-Africa” look!!
Hubby’s been calling this the Asian Bills all day (Bill Granger’s probably having a mild coronary at this suggestion). I guess there is a degree of truth in that:(1) Hand to heart, after being here for 5 months, we believe THIS is Hong Kong’s answer to Bills’ scrambled eggs (minus the atmosphere, presentation, service and price tag, of course).
(2) This is, in a way, communal dining – hey, what would you call getting acquainted with strangers across a 1mx1m table?!
For all it’s inequities, the Australian Dairy Company offers value for money. The scrambled eggs and the dun lai are definitely must-haves. If you are a dun daan fan, the locals seem to swear by it. We think the pasta’s a waste of time – "speg cha siew"??! Come on…
Oh, and for the “star gazers” out there, we bumped into Maggie Siu Mei Kei here. The food must be pretty good though, ‘cos everyone seemed to be too busy stuffing their faces to care.
Where: Parkes Road, Jordan (use exit A)
Style of food: Cha Charn Teng
Price guide: $
1 comment:
Husband here. It's true - I know it's a big claim, but this was possibly the best scrambled eggs I've had since Bills in Sydney. And, like most categories of foods, I've been thru a lot of scrambled eggs in a lot of joints, putting my health at risk in order to promote the collective knowledge of fellow foodies. No need to thank me.
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