Address: 15 Nelson Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Specialty: Fish balls, meat balls & wontons

Cost: $22 HKD a bowl (~$3 USD)

This store has a little bit of history and it’s tucked just besides the notoriously packed streets of Sai Yeung Choi Street and the Ladies Market. I must have passed by this place so many times and never noticed it until my mom brought us here. You can order quite a lot of things here but the fish balls really stood out. They were light, almost airy, and full of taste. I didn’t realize how good they were until we had some store bought ones the next day and the difference was incredibly noticeable.

I think I ended up coming here to eat 3 separate times over the span of a few days. It was glorious on each occasion.

HUGE CAVEAT: don’t eat here if cleanliness and a relaxed atmosphere is what you’re looking for. You won’t find it. There are only a few tables and nearly everyone shares. There’s little to no customer service but if you sit down and are vocal with your order, you’ll get exactly what you want. If you do have the heart and the stomach to try it out, don’t look down. just…trust me.

As I said at the top, this store has a little bit of history relating to my family. My mom said this store’s been open since she was here in HK. Right across the store is a used book store and right underneath the large yellow sign was where my dad used to sell used books 40+ years ago! He’d buy used text books from students, carry them from their homes to their store front and resell them when the next quarter came around. My dad was quite the book worm so it was a great job while he was a kid. I have no idea if this is the same store he once worked for or if there was even a store back then, but it’s a trip to see that connection.