Cart noodles for under US$11 at Peony Garden in West Kowloon – create your own dinner with a harbour view

At Peony Garden, one broth type, sauces and chicken are free – you pay for other broths and for the ingredients you pick to add to your bowl. Ours came to HK$85

Seafood broth and Chaozhou beef balls were winners, but noodles were disappointing. You can also choose dishes such as sauteed pork neck, which was excellent

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Cart noodles with lettuce, boiled egg, squid tentacles, braised beef brisket and Chaozhou handmade beef tendon balls at Peony Garden in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Oasis Li

Published: 4:30pm, 11 Sep 2019Updated: 7:56pm, 12 Sep 2019

I have been to Xiqu Centre a few times, but I had never noticed Peony Garden – a Hong Kong-style restaurant named after classical Kunqu Chinese opera The Peony Pavilion.

There were only a few diners there when we arrived one day after work. The elegant interior echoes the nostalgic atmosphere of the Xiqu Centre, a venue for Chinese opera performance in the burgeoning West Kowloon Cultural District.

My friend and I were seated by a window, where we could enjoy a view of Victoria Harbour.

Peony Garden is known for its cart noodles, so called because they are based on dishes once served from pushcarts on the city’s streets. The menu features a variety of broths, sauces, noodles and dozens of optional ingredients. The sauces, chicken and coriander broth are free – you pay for everything else you add to the bowl, with prices ranging from HK$8 to HK$30.

The exterior of Peony Garden in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Oasis Li

I noticed many customers order the restaurant’s signature coriander broth, which was topped with a handful of the fresh herb. As both my friend and I are coriander haters, we paid HK$10 for seafood broth, which was delicious, with a rich taste of crab roe and shrimp. The spicy beef brisket sauce that we ordered was not spicy at all.