Chen Fu Ji, Food Court, HK Airport

This eatery is part of the food court at the transit terminal in HK airport. Seating as in any food court is in the common area. You are given a token number when you place the order and pay which you display @ your table. The food, when ready, is served @ the table.

This restaurant is said to be part of a popular Singapore based chain of restaurants.

Going For

+ Freshly made noodles

+ Tasty noodles and noodle soups - the seafood in the laksa was quite fresh and the quantity was good too.

Going Against

- Limited menu like most restaurants in food courts

- Typical of express quick Chinese food, most meat / vegetables are pre-boiled / pre-cooked and mixed and matched depending on the order.

- The iced tea was very ordinary - but iced teas are never 'special'.

- Certainly not value for money.

1 seafood laksa (coconut infused spicy clear noodle soup) + 1 Chinese pepper chicken bun + 1 iced tea came to around HKD 130/-.

Reco - Limited choice in this terminal, hence either you go here for South East Asian fare or go to one of the lounges!

Eating @ HongKong Airport

There are two airports in HK.
One is the main airport where one checks in and disembarks if one is going into HK. The other is the transit airport where one gets off the plane and waits if one is transiting.

The main airport is huge and has a number of eateries. If you are going via HK and have more than a few hours at hand, just go to the main airport, finish immigration and just wait out there. You might get lost in the huge airport but would certainly not get bored and you would have more than enough options to choose from when it comes to pleasing your taste buds. Note that visa is mostly on arrival in HK and you may not need a prior visa to clear immigration and wait out in this airport.

The transit airport is relatively small. Has but one food court with a handful of eateries and is not the best place to wait - especially when you are transiting.

Palomar Cafe, Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok

This is a small cafe' with the kitchen in the center and the service area placed all around the kitchen. Seats around 20 persons at a time. An ideal place for a quick bite - if your flight timings are such that you need to catch a bite @ the airport.

Serves various types of sandwiches and bakes, quick fix Thai food (red curries with select meat and served with rice), coffee and packaged drinks. The Thai red curry with rice was as good as I have had on the streets of Thailand. The Parma Ham Baguette was quite filling and the espresso was fresh and aromatic.

As is to be expected in a restaurant in an airport, the prices are on the higher side and the aforementioned items would cost around THB 700/-.

Reco - nice place for a quick bit @ Suvarnabhumi airport.

Zara Tapas Bar, Chennai Airport

I had landed in the Chennai Airport and had to wait there as I had gone to Chennai to see off a relative of mine who was flying to Australia.

What better way to spend time than have a few rounds in a bar.

The bar is not stacked with the best foreign liquor.  The interiors are dark and the service was not the best I have seen.  However, I must admit that the service was way better than what one would get in the lounges in Chennai Airport.

The bar, as the name suggests, serves Tapas - Spanish snacks.  The main courses vary between Indian and Spanish and I did not have the time for these.

I had a few rounds of RC Whiskey and a few snacks to go with it.

You are welcomed with some warm bread topped with a variation of Salsa sauce - not bad as it was complementary.  (Unlike most bars in India, the complementary snacks stop with this)

The 'Gambas Al Ajilo' - stir fried prawns (deviened with tail intact) was tasty.  The prawns were nice and juicy and had a lot of garlic flavour.  Was indeed a good cocktail snack.

'Spicy Squid' was rings of squid cooked in a very thick gravy of tomato, garlic and chilli - also made for a good cocktail snack.

Finally, the 'Berenjinas Gartinadas' - Chopped brinjal baked with cheese was a disappointment.  Although they tried to throw in 'one' leaf of basil, and baked it with a tomato gravy and cheese, it was flavourless.  Probably if it had been layered with more basil, it might have tasted better.

These food items cost a bit more than INR 500/-

The cost of 1 large RC was (I think) INR 160/-

Certainly a place to visit @ the airport when you have nothing else to do.