Hottest 86

Only a few months ago when New World Mall was still getting its Asian food court lined up, the lines were piling up here at Hottest 86. Then in a blink of an eye, all of the food stalls have a flurry of activity, but somehow it’s died down for this place and has become one of the lonelier spots in this epic food court.
Hottest 86 specializes in Hong Kong style cuisine, a mixture of western and eastern foods as a result of its rich multicultural history. I’ve tried a good number of items here and I’m pleased to report that things are pretty solid if not fairly decent. To be on the safe side, I’m always under the impression it’s good to order A) multiple things B) things they do well. I’m still puzzled as to why borscht is on the menu though.
One thing worth ordering? The HK style peanut butter toast. It’s basically a French toast sandwich with a thin layer of peanut butter drizzled with syrup with a pad of butter slowly melting in the middle. It sounds rather revolting, but it’s pretty solid. The zha jiang mian (Chinese spaghetti bolognese) is no match for cross hall rival Lanzhou Handpulled Noodle (
) but a decent option for noodles nonetheless. Beef over rice can be a solid pick just beware of some inconsistencies. Beware of the pork chops over rice and the curry balls, both are just subpar and a tad overpriced
Service isn’t exactly stellar but one thing they do well over other stalls is speak English relatively well. Canto still rules here otherwise. Prices are somewhere in the middle — not too expensive but by no means a deal. There are many things I’d like to try on Hottest 86’s menu, which seems to be changing each time I’m there. Fingers crossed they get their food court act together.

2 of 3 places visited in New World Mall
Sauteed beef with onions over rice.
For the price of $ 6 not to bad.
The beef was very seasoned and marinated.
Hmmmm 7 out of 10 for the meal.

I had their double skin ginger milk pudding and it was crap. No skins. No ginger flavor.

It was a crowded food court on a Saturday afternoon and the only seating available was in front of Hottest 86 (or in Chinese, Old Place). So we decided to grab food from there.
— Beef over rice: over-​salted and oily. Otherwise, cooked well.
— Cabbage soup: way over-​salted. Like swallowed gulps of ocean water. Not Recommended.
I have yet to try other things here but it’s two strikes for me already.