While in Hong Kong recently for four days, I spent most of my time visiting with friends. Interestingly, I didn’t revisit many of the restaurants from my last trip there, which was a watershed trip in terms of food quality. Instead, I tried some new places. First stop was Jin Luo Bao, a Korean restaurant in Causeway Bay located in the building behind the Sogo department store.
Assorted kim chi, pickled vegetables. Did you know there is a shortage of Napa cabbage in Korean right now, driving the prices higher than the price of meat?
A stir fried dish with a moderately spicy sauce. The tubes are made of rice, basically like mochi. Very tasty and fun to eat.
Bi bim bap – rice, meat, and garnishings in a super heated stone bowl. Add chili sauce and stir as the heat from the bowl finishes cooking the meat.
I always enjoy Korean food and had a fun time catching up with my university friend Tehlin, who graciously (and unnecessarily) paid for lunch.
More soon. For a complete listing of my Hong Kong recommendations, visit my Google Map.
christao408 
Don’t be silly Chris, I think you ended paying for lunch! I should have paid! Hmmm, I think I’ll take my parents there for lunch again next week. Oh and by the way, the restaurant is in the building next to Sogo, not in it. Glad you enjoyed eating at one of my favorite restaurants!
@tehls – Oh, did I pay? =S Well, it was such a pleasure to visit with you!
Ahhh kimchi! My Korean foreign exchange friends here at my college made for me various types of it and it was so tasty! It’s definitely an interesting thing to try. And I also enjoy those rice tube-things 🙂
They’re not cheap. hehehe….
Oh, nice Korean lunch. I always enjoyed those little side dishes, so fun trying out each one!
Why Korean food not Chinese one? Four days in Hong Kong can do a lots as here is so small. Hope you enjoyed it anyway. Happy Friday 🙂 btw, Singapore is more or less as expensive as Hong Kong.
@MichellelyNg – My experience in buying airplane tickets from Bangkok to Singapore versus Hong Kong has found Singapore to be consistently less expensive, probably because there are so many low cost carriers on the route, such as Air Asia, Tiger Air, and JetStar. The reason for Korean food was that the friend who took me out suggested the restaurant. Rest assured, I ate plenty of Chinese food while in Hong Kong.@CurryPuffy – Yeah, the kim chi and other pickled items are a treasure trove of interesting flavors and textures.@foggysunnymorning – Smuggle cabbage into Korea and sell it on the black market! =D@puella_sapiens216 – And that’s what is so great about exchange students.
I would love to do some traveling but have to limit myself to the national or international restaurants in the area. There are many. I have found that when I enter one where no one is speaking English I have chosen wisely.. Yummy food porn you have.
@christao408 – hahahaha…. perfect transition from my forgetfulness post.
well. you are right if you were talking about price for air ticket. Fare is a bit expensive flying to HK. Glad that you ate lots of Chinese food. Sure it tasted different from you home country. Lots of different kind of food in Hong Kong. Just pick those you like. Cheers
Food glorious food… lalalala. I remember going to one Korean restaurant and the waitress just mothered me. She practically stirred the food in the bowl for me to make sure it was well mixed with the hot sauce.
Love Korean food. We have Kim-chi in the fridge my husband loves the stuff. me not so much but I love kimchi cucumbers. Bi Bim Bap is one of my favorite dishes and spicy rice cakes MMM but Kalbi has to be the best food ever, with lettuce wraps, to die for! We go to a Koren restaurant in DE here that has traditional food. My dream is to visit Korea someday. I am a fan of Korean daily drama out of Philadelphia,a local station, dubbed in English becasue I don’t know the language. hehe!
any spicy Korean food? from pic looks much mild……….
This might sound kind of crazy, but I have yet to try Korean food! Looking at these pictures make me want to go out and get some right now.
good eats!
@MichellelyNg – Stay tuned and I’ll write about the Shanghainese place I went to while in HKG. Thanks for reading and commenting!@ElusiveWords – They seem to not trust non-Koreans to adequately stir their own food, I’ve discovered. There was one K place in BKK I was forbidden to cook my own food at after I mistakenly put pieces of a steak tartar-like dish onto the grill and it promptly fell through the grate into the coals, burning and causing a lot of flame and smoke. How was I supposed to know that was the only raw meat dish that you weren’t supposed to grill?!@agmhkg – Moderately spicy. I was heading off to meet you next and didn’t want to have a drippy nose! Bad first impressions and all! LOL@Ikwa – A friend of a friend just wrote about kim chi pizza on her blog recently.@Southeast_Beauty – It is really tasty, although if you aren’t a fan of grilled meats, you may find some parts of the cuisine to be off-putting.@ThePrince – Tru ‘dat. Ha ha… can’t believe I wrote that. =P
@christao408 – Oh I can def. tolerate me some grilled meats. Now, I really want to go out and try some Korean food. Lol. Thanks for the inspiration!
@christao408 – hahaha….I do not think so because Korean people eat their own kimchi only.
Oh, I love Korean food, and bi bim bap is an all time favorite!
@foggysunnymorning – I read, though, that Korea is actually easing its duties on imported cabbage, both from China and the US, to help with this shortage. In fact, the president of Korea had announced that he had purchased a supply for himself from California.@Southeast_Beauty – Fantastic! I hope you enjoy it. Please write about your experience.@icapillas – I like that they serve bi bim bap on Asiana Airlines, minus the hot stone bowl. It comes with little cartoon instructions explaining how to mix and eat the food. Very cute.
@christao408 – I will definitely try!
Hahaha…I doubt.
I loved the idea of serving the food in that super hot stone bowl, and pouring the spicy sauce to allow the heat to finish the cooking. I have a Korean friend here who makes kimchee for me. BTW, I was wondering, do you want to come to India early or mid December and travel around with us a little? or do you think I should come visit you? If I have to come there, it will be around the middle of Dec. Would that be a convenient time for you? When are your parents coming for the visit there? Let me know please.
Good photos! I love mochi! I had it twice while in Atlanta – once wrapped around taro ice cream balls and a second time as little balls coated in bean powder?? Good stuff – I like the chewy texture…
My favourite part of Korean food is the kimchi! You almost get full just from eating all of them!
AWESOME!!! We’re having Korean soon too. 😀
bibimpap is my fave! ya i read a little bit ago in the new york times that koreans are freaking out because kimchi prices have skyrocketed due to a shortage of cabbage. i can’t believe that the prices are higher than that of meats. time to eat some galbi hahathat rice cake looks goooood… the best i’ve ever had was from an ex’s mom (korean), i could eat a tub of them! otherwise they do really fill you up quickly 🙂
thanks for sharing … I’ll add this to my list as its right near my hotel
@ZSA_MD – Hi Zakiah, I think it would be difficult for Tawn and me to get away in December as he’ll be finishing up classes and we’ll likely have some other guests into town. If it isn’t inconvenient, I would love for you and M to make a stop here. We would be honored to show you around and have you for dinner. Or brunch. Or both! =D@brooklyn2028 – Exactly! And I never account for that when I’m ordering.@murisopsis – The chewy texture is my favorite part. I considered buying a mochi-making machine from the Japanese department store but, really, do I need that much mochi in my life?
looks delicious! i love bi bim bap… and kim chee, of course. that’s sad to hear about the cabbage shortage!
once again i’m hungry by simply looking at your food porn. i’m off to early lunch now.