Ladies Street Sik Fan Co

New age Dai Pai Dong

Deep fried mango prawns with caviar

Located in the busy tourist district of Mong Kok in Hong Kong, where the popular "Lady Street" market is at, Ladies Street Sik Fan Co is a new restaurant only launched back in late 2018 but already created a massive buzz within the local communities. The concept of the venue is all about tracking back to the "Dai Pai Dong" era. Popular back in the 70s-80s, Dai Pai Dong is a type of open-air food stall in Hong Kong, dishing up classic Cantonese dishes in a casual environment. Sadly, due to government regulation and hygiene concerns, there are hardly any Dai Pai Dong left. The founder of Ladies Street Sik Fan Co committed to recreating the Dai Pai Dong atmosphere but within a restaurant space.

Ladies Street Sik Fan Co

Squid cooked in classic Chinese curry

Aubergine in a dried fish and vinegar dressing

You can find many old school Cantonese dishes on Ladies Street Sik Fan Co's menu. We opted for some snacks before the mains but the snacks sizes were extremely big to my surprise. The deep fried salt and peppered tofu was decent, with a nice crispy surface and finely seasoned. The most enjoyable dish was the egg omelet with black truffle and crab, it was cooked to perfection with a lovely runny egg texture. The earthiness of the truffle was well balanced off with the sweetness of the crab meat, this dish could be a very high-level dish if gets a refine treatment and predestination by a western trained chef. The giant razor clams were steamed with plenty of garlic and soy, but I felt the clams was a touch overcooked, but the classic Cantonese shellfish and soy flavour were greatly executed.  

Crispy salt and peppered tofu

Pan fried crab and black truffle omelet

Steamed razor clams in soy and garlic

To sum it up, the quality of the cooking was decent enough with the exception of the omelet (really great). I would not consider it to be any better than many of the Chinese restaurants across Hong Kong, The biggest selling point of Ladies Street Sik Fan Co is the traditional Dai Pai Dong decor and reasonably priced food, the nostalgia factor is making it a very trendy restaurant right now. On top of that, it is very affordable with most dishes would only cost you under the £15 mark, not a bad spot if you are seeking to experience what Dai Pai Dong dinning is all about. Just be aware that the restaurant also carried the service quality from Dai Pai Dong, which mean is China Town standard and you will only be given 75 minutes to dine in the dinner setting.


Food 2.5/5

What I paid: 
£25 per head 

Average cost without drinks and services :
£20

Mong Kok, Tung Choi St, 1A-1L, Hong Kong

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