However, tried-and-true options still rule the menu, including the appetising shrimp cocktail. Bubba Gump does its shrimp cocktail big; ten jumbo shrimp are served in a martini-like glass on ice with cocktail sauce topped with extra horseradish. Another signature dish is the ’Shrimper’s Heaven’, four kinds of shrimp (coconut shrimp, chili shrimp, fried shrimp and tempura shrimp) served in cones with fries and dipping sauces. We recommend you share this one with fellow shrimp-lovers at the table.
This is definitely a place where no one leaves hungry. We sampled two one-pound dishes. The first was a hearty pound of beautifully red and tasty Alaskan crab legs, simply poached, stacked high and served with fries and coleslaw. The second was one of the restaurant’s signature desserts, the one-pound Alabama mud pie, made up of luscious, cool layers of Oreo, chocolate and vanilla ice-cream with chunks of Snickers and topped with caramel, streams of chocolate syrup and peanuts.
In addition to the menu, it would be a travesty not to mention the setting at Bubba Gump. Set at the top of The Peak Tower, it’s the highest restaurant in Hong Kong and has sweeping views over the island. Inside, Bubba Gump is all about fun. From the moment you walk in the door there are Forrest Gump memorabilia, upbeat music, smiling staff, and amusing table settings with “Run, Forrest, Run” and “Stop, Forrest, Stop” license-plate signs to call the servers. This is a great place to go for the simple things in life: a good time and enjoyable food. And the incredible views don’t hurt, either.
 
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Chuk Yuen Seafood Restaurant
Address: B/F, HK Pacific Centre, 28 Hankow Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: 2722 0633
One of the staples of Cantonese cuisine is fresh seafood, and in Hong Kong, there is one place you must go for a truly local seafood lover’s experience – Chuk Yuen. The Tsim Sha Tsui branch of the restaurant screams seafood from the moment you enter, with tanks full of the latest catch to choose your meal from. The restaurant has everything that Hong Kong residents love – private rooms fitted with TVs, service so attentive that diners are never left with an empty cup of tea, and all the seafood utensils you can imagine for breaking open fresh crabs and lobsters. Chuk Yuen also caters to visitors with a menu in four languages and pictures, and locations near popular tourist destinations. |
On a hot summer’s day, a good start to the meal is the seafood platter, which comes with abalone on top of their beautiful shells, large shrimp with tails on, and New Zealand clams of the highest quality, all served cold on ice, with a delightful Thai-style dipping sauce on the side. After whetting the palate for fish, a great seasonal dish to try is the steamed yellow oily crab from China, available only from July to September every year. What makes this crab special is its exceptionally crispy shell and soft, creamy meat. (Insider’s tip: If you need help opening the crab or any seafood delicacy at Chuk Yuen, just ask the staff for assistance. Not only will they do it much more quickly, they’ll also render more meat – and you’ll stay clean.)
Those two seafood dishes are just the beginning of what’s on offer. The steamed clam with mashed garlic is a Chuk Yuen signature dish. You can order each clam individually, and they taste incredibly fresh, mostly because they are prepared simply with just garlic, spring onions, and served on a bed of cellophane noodles. The massive baked lobster, made up of huge chunks of lobster meat covered in butter and cheese, blows comfort food out of the water. (The staff recommends that you order a side of bread or noodles so that none of the rich sauce goes to waste.) Finally, the deep-fried grafish, served with fried garlic and bright red chilies, is perfectly spicy and is a must-try dish because of its unique flavours and preparation.
End the meal with fresh lychee on ice, another Hong Kong favourite, and you’ll almost feel like a local after a meal of this calibre.
  
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