‘One of the best ramens in the world’, reasonably priced Michelin-star food: where a gym, restaurant and bar owner eats in Hong Kong
- Charlz Ng wears many hats, being involved in multiple businesses including a gym, an events company, and a restaurant and bar in Central
- He prefers nostalgic local foods, and shares his top spots for fishball skewers, fishball noodle soup and good value Shanghainese cuisine in Hong Kong
Charlz Ng is co-founder of events company Hybrid Group, co-owner of House Of Fitness gym, part owner of restaurant and bar Carbon, and also the events director for the Gay Games HK this November. He spoke to Andrew Sun.
I grew up in Hong Kong so I’m a big local food person. My food memories are of fishballs and siu mai. I think my favourite Western food when I was young was KFC and McDonald’s, so they are guilty pleasures.
A favourite place of mine is called Nam Kee (Shop 5, Cooked Food Plaza, Sam Shing Estate, Tuen Mun. Tel: 2451 1698). I’ve been coming here for a long time with my mother and for family meals. They offer a lot of simple dishes.
Their speciality is seafood – you can bring your own – but my favourite is the salted egg steamed meat patty. I’ve tried a lot of places and none can match Nam Kee.
There’s an interesting fishball stall that’s really nostalgic for me. It’s in an alley next to Kwai Fong MTR called Keung Kee Snacks (Exit D, Kwai Fong MTR station). They sell all the standard street foods and it’s a favourite. Obviously, I’m not a fine-dining person.
You haven’t had Hong Kong food if you haven’t had a good fishball noodle soup. either. Wong Lam Kee Chiu Chow Fish Ball Noodles (Shop A, 10 Shau Kei Wan Main Street East, Shau Kei Wan. Tel: 2886 0068) is the place to try it. It’s very springy, not artificial tasting.
