Dai Pai Dong in Tai O

February 21, 2024

by See-ming Lee

Food culture in Hong Kong

Dai Pai Dong in Tai O

B likes to say that I “do not appreciating the local cultures”. He likes to try to “convince” me that what makes Hong Kong special are the random “Dai Pai Dong”s (大牌檔) that are made for “regular people” (LOL). And I often have to tell him — I do appreciate the local cultures. I do sometimes go to local places. It’s exceptionally strange that he would have the opinion that I’m not “local” enough.

I don’t go to them often — not because I “have” to go to nice places. But if I go out at all, I want to have a decent time — i.e. I don’t want to have to self-serve, be yelled at by the waiters, and is it so bad to want seats that have a back?! But would I go to local places from time to time — absolutely!

There’s this place close to my home where you could find construction workers visit during lunch time, and it’s actually quite the experience to enjoy dim sum while having some “delay no more” (very vulgar Cantonese slang that I would never write or say) going on in the background continuously. You can’t get more local than that!

This photo was taken at a local “food area” near the Mui Wo ferry, where we had dinner. It’s literally one of the four restaurants that serve local seafood by the pier. I don’t remember the name of the restaurant — it’s not the type of place you would really care what they’re called, but referencing the map, it’s called Ke Ho Restaurant 幾好餐廳. It’s actually a funny name now that I realize it. “Ke Ho 幾好” literally means “pretty good”. There’s some humor in it because it’s odd to say “pretty good” — i.e. it’s not exceptionally good, just decently consumable. It’s Chinese humility yo. It’s funny — and the food? Actually pretty good.

B took the photo with my camera. I post-processed it. I kept the chaos in the background mainly to show what the place is like. Happy? Me in a random place. No more sh!t about me not being local, please. If you know me, I rarely care where I eat. I am a picky eater, but truly I will eat anything. I care more about the company I share.