Bill Kee Noodles

51 Kin Yip St, Yuen Long
Visited 3rd July 2008
The end of the school year approaches. The hectic marking of exams (the counter productive foundation of Hong Kong education) is at least balanced by the chance for lunch with colleagues. On this occasion I asked a friend to take me somewhere I hadn't been in Yuen Long before. We ended up at Bill Kee Noodles; a place apparently renowned for its beef brisket noodles. So renowned in fact that there's always a line out front and they don't have to worry about opening in the evenings. It's very much a 'local' style Chinese restaurant with shared communal tables, little plastic stools and scribbled bills slapped down onto tea stained surfaces.

There's no English menu at Bill Kee, but that's not a huge problem as there's only a couple of options. A bowl of 'fei lam mai' or beef brisket noodle soup was ordered for each of us along with a shared plate of vegetables. With my first bite I knew why people get excited about this place; the hunks of fatty beef were truly mouth wateringly tender. The soup itself was rather plain, though when enhanced by a touch of chilli oil it went well with the simple noodles. We accompanied our meal with a glass of iced lemon tea and a second plate of that tasty, tasty beef.

If you're in Yuen Long and want a change from the New York Cafe or Indian my suggestion is to seek this little local restaurant out for a truly delicious lunch. My mate wouldn't let me touch the bill, but it certainly wasn't expensive; delicious, authentic and cheap, what more can I say.