Veteran chef, restaurateur and television personality Anthony Bourdain has released a list of his dream vendors for an upcoming New York food market.
Pier 57, which is expected to house over 100 vendors, reportedly won’t open for at least another year and a half. In the meantime, Bourdain’s team has been busy diligently scouring the world for potential vendors… though eating your way around the globe doesn’t sound like the worst job to us.
Yesterday, Bourdain himself shared a list of 10 dishes that he wants “badly” for the eventual market, pulled from his team’s envy-inducing official Instagram page. Three of the dishes featured are from Hong Kong restaurants that the man himself has visited for his various TV programmes.
The first local item on Bourdain’s list of market-must-haves is noodle soup with brisket and shrimp wontons from Mak’s Noodle in Central.
Regulars at Mak’s probably won’t be surprised, given that Bourdain’s glowing review of the tiny family-run joint has been proudly displayed under the restaurant’s glass tabletops for years.
Mak’s Noodle, 77 Wellington Street, Central
Second on the list is an enormous plate of char siu and roast goose from Wan Chai siu mei shop Joy Hing, which, F.Y.I., dates back to the late Qing Dynasty (pretty fu-Qing crazy, considering how cutthroat the Hong Kong F&B industry is!).
The shop’s classical Cantonese roastmeats have won legions of fans over the years, and has famously maintained pre-war cooking techniques, which require chefs to use check the temperature of its old school oven with their bare hands.
Joy Hing Roasted Meat, 265-267 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai
Last, but certainly not least is delicious dim sum from Tim Ho Wan. Established in 2009, the yum cha establishment is the youngest (or newest?) Hong Kong restaurant on the list – but it’s definitely not messing around. Tim Ho Wan has already made a name for itself as the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant in the world in the last 7 years.
Tim Ho Wan, 9-11 Fuk Wing Street, Sham Shui Po
Geylang Claypot Rice from Singapore and La Guerrerense from Mexico have already signed on to join Bourdain in New York, although whether these three no-frills HK eateries will ink similar deals remains to be seen. We can only hope!
Got a tip? Send it to us at hongkong@coconuts.co
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