We started with a "crab meat" and sweet corn thick soup.

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Some restaurants, like the Ning Po Residents Association, require a nominal annual fee (around 200 Hong Kong dollars), but in return you gain access to excellent food (in this case, recipes from the city of Ningbo, near Shanghai, such as delicate, juicy soup dumplings and sweet-and-sour fish), in an exclusive but usually unpretentious setting.

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His current pick, the buttery polenta soup, is redolent of sweet Maine shrimp.

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Best bets: heirloom squash and chestnut soup, coriander-seared duck breast with roasted parsnip and sweet potato sauce, pan-seared trout with sweet pea and corn pancakes.

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Fortunately four to five meals per day of char kwey tiaw (fried noodles in soy sauce with egg and various additions), asam laksa (Penang's famous, indescribably good curry noodle soup), rojak (fruit and veggie salad in a sweet dark shrimp paste) and much, much more, goes down a lot easier than heavier Western foods.

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