Chung Shing Thai Restaurant

Came by for lunch the other day in this relatively touristy spot. Our table was in the «outdoor» section that was air sealed using vinyl and had a fan…
Good:
— Spicy Beef Chow Fun — Noodles were fresh and flavoring was strong. This dish was spicy.
— Satay Beef — Flavorful and tender beef.
— Curry Beef Brisket — Tender chunks of beef brisket in a flavorful curry.
Okay:
— Fried Curry Puff — On the bland side and the puff didn’t have much filling on the inside.
Miss:
— Paper wrapped chicken — Bland, dry, and over-​cooked…
— Baked Naan — Flavorless and dry…
Service from the staff was good… although we didn’t see much waitstaff coming by our table throughout the meal…
The bathrooms are primitive…

Very nice & authentic Thai! The clay pot soups are my fav. Espcieally nice to be able to sit at the semi-​outdoor area~ Very chill-​laxing.

Tai Mei Tuk has plenty of activities in the day, but by sundown, you know where everyone’s heading — it’s Chung Shing Thai for dinner, nowhere else comes close. To be fair, I’ve never really bothered venturing to any other Southeast Asian restaurant down this street because, in the last 10 years I’ve been frequenting this restaurant, it has never failed me. Although it’s very much a Chinese interpretation of Thai food, Chung Shing Thai has still got the classics like fishcakes and pomelo salad. In every Thai market, you’re sure to find a satay stand — the pork, chicken, and beef satays here are similarly aromatic, charred on the grill, served with a standard peanut sauce. The pork is quite fatty here, as seen in the pork neck salad with a crunchy chili sauce. The morning glory or tung choi, is another classic Thai dish, and cooked extremely well — the stems still have a bite, not overcooked which is an apparently difficult thing to do for some eateries, and the flavours are overwhelming with fish sauce, garlic, and soy beans. I’m currently obsessed with their stir-​fried baby cabbage with salted fish, the super salty chunks of fish mingling with the superbly crunchy veg.
Thai classics aside, we go for the deep-​fried Goby fish every time, the fish curled up from an intense, high flame, and soft, white flesh dipped in a sweet soy sauce with raw chilis and coriander. It is a must have, as I’ve yet to find anywhere else in Hong Kong that can deep fry the goby as well as this. Other seafood dishes, like the grilled squid and crab curry, are good picks too.
Instead of pad thai, there are a number of other noodle dishes that resemble your typical chaan teng stir-​fried rice noodles, embellished perhaps with a few Southeast Asian eccentricities like fish sauce or coriander.
As for soups, of course there’s tom yum, but we recently got the tom kha gai, or coconut chicken soup, which A and I have been fantasizing over since our last trip to Phuket. The variation at Chung Shing Thai was commendable, although slightly creamier than we had had before. The curries are also creamier than the curry dishes we tried in Thailand, but some people prefer it this way. I’m on the fence.
To sum — go for the deep-​fried Goby fish and don’t forget your veggies. The best part about all this is that a fat meal for two (three or four dishes with rice) usually comes under $ 400.

Hong Kong plays hosts to a huge number of Thai restaurants, not to mention the ones concentrated in Kowloon City, there always seems to be one around the corner in every neighborhood. You may then ask, why would I travel all the way out to Tai Mei Tuk for this place? The answer is in two folds.
The location– this is a perfect place as a family /​weekend activity. Set beside the Plover Cove reservoir, this sea side village that is at the end of the Tai Wai– Shatin– Tai Po bike trail. You may choose to bike in all the way from Tai Wai or simply choose to bike around the immediate area, which has a rocky beach (rare in HK), a fishing pound (paid) and the reservoir itself which is a sight to behold. Drivers will also welcome the number of parking spaces around (some of them are free); though be warned as spaces do fill up quite quickly and heated scenes over a parking space are not uncommon. Those travelling on public transport may take a bus or minibus from Taipo market.
The food– Needless to say this is the more important of the two parts. The curry crab is a favourite here, the curry sauce itself well worth praising time and time again and will warrant heavy carbs (in the form of rice or nans) to compliment it. Other notable items include the hot Tom Yam Kung soup which is spicy but delicious; delivering a welcome kick to your taste buds on a hot day. Prices are fair and portions will leave you in no doubt that you are getting your moneys’ worth. Although this may be a less trodden path for some– this is certainly worth the effort for coming over to the «dark side» and beyond!