I was craving some “fast food” Hong Kong style and my brother and I stopped by Maxim’s to get some cha siu (barbecue pork) and my favorite rice plate of soy sauce chicken and braised octopus over steamed rice.
There is a Maxim’s pretty much anywhere you go in Hong Kong. You can dine in or take out and it serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and the menu entails a Western style breakfast of ham and eggs to noodle soups, rice plates and Western style meals such as pork chops over rice.
You order off a board and go to the respective pick-up window to get your food. There is a window for the siu mei (barbecued items or “hanging window” as I like to call it), as well as one for the noodles.
The cha siu was so succulent and moist with that beautiful caramelized coating so important to give it that glazed look and taste. It was so delicious I couldn’t stop eating it.
Unfortunately, the soy sauce chicken they gave me was all bones and no meat which was a shame because it was well-seasoned. The orange-hued octopus is my all time favorite, very tender but a little overly salty. I also like to get half a salted duck egg to round off my meal.
This is the ubiquitous Hong Kong lunch. It is fast, cheap — about US$5-$6 a pop — and comes with a little bit of vegetables to round off a high carb, high protein meal.
Maxim’s is one of those places where the meals are consistent and you know you won’t be disappointed. Fast food it is but it definitely doesn’t taste like fast food the way we know it!
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