It's the last day of the Easter holidays and naturally my family and I slept in. Upon awaking, to the sound of taxi honks, us peckish lot decided to go downstairs to grab a cheap, hot, meal.

Cha chaan teng's (literally "Food Halls") are perfect for their local-flavor in terms of people, food options and where they are situated. In our case the food hall was in the courtyard of a 60s-style block of flats.

Rough-on-the-outside waiters with rat-tails read the afternoon specials out for us with the sort of salesmanship that you would mistake for being rude. My brother went for a Hong Kong style steak in black pepper sauce and a hot milk tea. I on the other hand had to have my dry stir-fried beef noodles!

Each time I come back from an extended trip abroad it's the first, albeit heavy, meal I have. I love the shape of the flat, rice noodle and its capacity to absorb and retain so much flavor from the sauce - a mixture of oyster and soya.

The crunchy bean sprouts provide, in my opinion, the perfect contrast to the slimy noodle.

To complement the meal, I usually sip on a cold Hong Kong-style milk tea which is unique as it's sweetened with evaporated milk and not sugar.

The prefect roundup of a visit to a local food hall is the local variation of French toast, literally called "Western Toast". A sweet peanut filling is often added between the layers of deep fried, egg-soaked bread. Today's crisp toast wasn't as good as what grandma used to fry up in the tiny home kitchen but a close second!

As a Hong Konger, I love all the influences the territory has had in terms of Architecture, Culture, and particularly Cuisine. Fusion kitchens with recipes finessed serve up the best dishes in my opinion!