"Da Lang" Late Night Snack....Roadside Food Stall in Hong Kong

By Angeline - September 15, 2011

Teochew cuisine is also known for a late night dinner known as "meh siao" (夜宵) locally, or "da lang" (打冷) among the Cantonese. Teochew people enjoy eating out in restaurants or at roadside food stalls close to midnight before they go to bed. Some dai pai dong-like restaurants stay open till dawn. They are known for their 老水tofu and duck. The tofu melted in your mouth and piled under all these oranges of goodness, the intestine and kidney.

Shared by Gengta Tan

Dai pai dongs used to be synonymous with good cheap eats in Hong Kong, but the no frills eateries have been an increasingly rare sight on our streets in recent years. This is the list of city’s remaining dai pai dongs:

Sing Kee 盛記
9-10 Stanley St, Central, Tel: 2541 5678, 11am-3pm and 5pm-11pm. Around HK$40-100 per person.
Sing Kee represents the essence of dai pai dong street-food culture among the numerous stalls on Stanley Street, it is the most packed, with a wonderful diversity of clientele. Hygiene is lacking, so look away from the kitchen, throw back a couple of beers under HK$20 per bottle, and enjoy what you can. Food are extremely flavourful. Try the salt-and-pepper pork, crispy and juicy their famous crab and clams.

Sing Heung Yuen 胜香园
2 Mee Lun St (near Gough St), Central, Tel: 2544 8368, 8am-5.30pm. Around HK$40 per person.
Tucked away on secluded Mee Lun Street, Sing Heung Yuen is Central’s most famous dai pai dong. Businessmen, tourists and day labourers line up during lunch hour for the stall’s well-known macaroni-and-tomato soup. Naturally you have the option of adding pork chop, beef or fried egg on top, and substituting the macaroni for ramen.

Leaf Dessert 玉葉甜品
2 Elgin St, Central, Tel: 2544 3795, 12:30pm-12.30am. Around HK$30 per person.
Up on steep Elgin Street, Leaf Dessert sits next to the once-famous, now-defunct Man Yuen Noodle. Desserts include the usual sweet soups and rice balls, and unusually, a seaweed dish.

Ball Kee 波記
Staveley St, Central, Tel: 2544 5923, 11am-3am. Around HK$40 per person.
Ball Kee is a classic wok-and-toss joint, serving up fried rice and fried noodles with various meat-veg-soy-sauce combinations. Situated on the narrow passageway of Staveley Street, the shop is usually filled more with passersby than patrons. At lunchtime it’s popular with local businessmen, who come in their suited droves for the tasty noodle dishes.

Ping Kee 炳記
5 Shepherd St, Tai Hang, Tel: 2577 3117, 7am-5.30pm. Around HK$40 per person.
The working-class neighbourhood of Tai Hang is a mishmash of narrow streets, old-style five-storey buildings, and monolithic slabs blotting out the sun for all pedestrians. Just like the neighbourhood it’s in, Ping Kee has a casual air. Come here to find workers from the nearby car shops plus a spattering of Hong Kong hipsters ordering the stall’s best-known dish: pork ramen.

Keung Kee 強記
219 Ki Lung St, Sham Shui Po, Tel: 2394 0894, 7.30am-9.30pm. Under HK$100 per person.
As with most Sham Shui Po dai pai dongs, Keung Kee is as authentic as they come, with local workers and neighbourhood families making up most of the clientele. Just off bustling Apliu Market, the stall takes up half the pavement with its six tables and roaring wok. And since the tables face the kitchen, you get a clear view of the restaurant’s two middle-aged, short-shorts-wearing chefs. If that doesn’t put you off, go for the Hainan chicken, chicken’s feet, and tasty seafood dishes.

Cheung Fat 長發麵家
1 Yiu Tung St, Sham Shui Po, Tel: 2777 2400, 11am-4am. Around HK$40 per person.
The large colourful menu on the wall shows but a few options: noodles, noodles with pork knuckle, fish balls, and fish balls with noodles. Cheung Fat is famous for these classic dishes. Middle-aged locals and the odd Filipino maid pack into this pavement stall to enjoy the toothsome noodles made with special soy sauce and yummy pork fat.

So Kee 蘇記
6 Yiu Tung St, Sham Shui Po, Tel: 2779 1182, 24 hours. Around HK$40 per person.
The Hong Kong tradition of serving yuenyeung (a mixture of coffee and Hong Kong-style milk tea) probably originated in joints like this one. And while tea and coffee drinks can be found across the city, stalls like So Kee are still some of the best café around. Patrons of the café/noodle shop mostly order the pork ramen with an egg on top. For a real treat, order the French toast and a glass of yuenyeung. The French toast was excellent and fried to perfection. Noodles are of the standard dai pai dong variety.

Hung Fat 烘發
15 Yiu Tung St, Sham Shui Po, Tel: 2784 6389, 24 hours. Around HK$40 per person.
Hung Fat serves up classic congee with a variety of traditional goodies: intestines, meat chunks, scallions. Ever popular fried dough is also on the menu. With over 50 years’ history, the stall is a Sham Shui Po institution, with all the laidback atmosphere you would expect from one of the city’s best dai pai dongs.