Stall Review: Meat Ball noodles in Haiphong Road Temporary Market

When I first arrived in Hong Kong I was bemused. I expected it to be just like Blade Runner but it wasn't. I am not saying it is a clean or pristine city but the street food and hawking scene which I thought would be omnipresent is not really there.

Apparently the reason for this is that the Hong Kong government has put a concerted effort into clearing away street food and dai pai dong over the years and dumping them in places which are called "Cooked Food Centres". If you haven't been to Hong Kong you won't be familiar with what they are but think communist, think concrete, think 60s. Generally several floors are dedicated to produce and the smell of raw meat and fish and one floor is dedicated to street stalls who now live in 1960's civic centre-esque surroundings.

So I thought I would go and find something authentic, something without a/c or floor tiles and I ended up in Haiphong Road Temporary Market in Kowloon. Apparently its been temporary for about 20+ years. Out the front is a halal meat market which you walk through to get to the food section. The speciality is meat ball noodles (the bovine equivalent to Hong Kong's fish version) and there are tens of stalls strewn out under tin roofs selling them.

I picked a stall which looked less squalid than the others and pointed at my neighbour's bowl. What I got was something wonderful. Something with a dark meaty broth and cuts of flank and reprocessed meat balls that was thrillingly good. A touch of sauce then made them spicy, so spicy that I could have melted ice flows. I am a convert but does anyone know where to get them closer to home in Sheung Wan or Central?

Price - 25hkd or £2.20
By the leftover piece of land next to Kowloon Park Drive

PS to my eternal shame the one food picture I took was out of focus as I was dying from the spice and didn't check properly.