March 18, 2010 | Hong Kong

Weather: No significant clouds, 25 °C

Issue #827: Second Act
Hiking Book

Café Locomotive

The place: Café Locomotive

  • 11 Wun Sha St., Kowloon
  • Phone: 2882-8227
  • Daily 11:30am-11pm

We love Vietnamese food. It’s fast, simple and you know what to expect. Any Vietnamese place worth its salt has to be able to make curry, chicken wings, a soup base and steamed rice rolls. Just as fish ball noodles don’t go with chandeliers, Vietnamese dishes seldom work with fancy décor. Locomotive has grasped the principle, with a modern yet practical design. We ordered the four signature Vietnamese dishes: The curry beef brisket, with soft onions in curry sauce, was delicious, and tender enough that toothpicks were unnecessary at the end of the meal. Chicken wings, fresh from a sea of oil, never fail – although bigger and meatier wings would have been better. The beef vermicelli and the spring rolls were adequate, if nothing special, with a fairly unremarkable soup base. The steamed rice rolls? Tasty, but slightly overcooked.