Reports on Hong Kong dining

[threestars]

The food in the photo looks really great! I am going to visit there for a month this October and I hope I can eat all in those restaurants and check all those foods! I am going to start making a list now of what I should visit and try. Wonderful photos!

[annachan]

Time to browse through the thread again to start making plans. Can't wait to get back there in December to feast!

[hzrt8w]

...I hope I can eat all in those restaurants and check all those foods! I am going to start making a list now of what I should visit and try. Wonderful photos!

There are too many restaurants to choose from. Going from one corner to another to taste the food for visitors is just not practical, because the commuting time can be a bit. Perhaps let us know what styles of food you would like to eat and where you will be... that can short-list some suggestions.

[hzrt8w]

Time to browse through the thread again to start making plans. Can't wait to get back there in December to feast!

Indeed there is a great collection of info here in this thread.

I just came back from a 4 week trip to Hong Kong. Streets are quite crowded, as always.

Din Tai Fung in Causeway Bay is now opened. (In fact they now have 2 locations in Hong Kong.) We have tried it. Didn't disappoint. I think the best is their porkchop fried rice. Really nicely done.

[annachan]

Time to browse through the thread again to start making plans. Can't wait to get back there in December to feast!

Indeed there is a great collection of info here in this thread.

I just came back from a 4 week trip to Hong Kong. Streets are quite crowded, as always.

Din Tai Fung in Causeway Bay is now opened. (In fact they now have 2 locations in Hong Kong.) We have tried it. Didn't disappoint. I think the best is their porkchop fried rice. Really nicely done.

I hope we'll hear some highlights. Din Tai Fung in Causeway Bay? YEAH!!!! We didn't make it to the one in Kowloon last time and we always stay in Causeway Bay when we visit. No doubt we'll make our way to this branch.

[KennethT]

hzrt8w, I'd love to hear your "short list" of recommendations for chinese (primarily cantonese/seafood, but I'd like to try others as well) food and dim sum... my wife and I will be in hong kong for about 7-8 days in the beginning of July. Thanks!

[hzrt8w]

hzrt8w, I'd love to hear your "short list" of recommendations for chinese (primarily cantonese/seafood, but I'd like to try others as well) food and dim sum... my wife and I will be in hong kong for about 7-8 days in the beginning of July. Thanks!

Sure Kenneth. I am a sucker for dim sum myself. When I have sorted out my pictures I promise to post some reviews.

[hzrt8w]

hzrt8w, I'd love to hear your "short list" of recommendations for chinese (primarily cantonese/seafood, but I'd like to try others as well) food and dim sum... my wife and I will be in hong kong for about 7-8 days in the beginning of July. Thanks!

Because you are making trip soon, and that it will take me a while to sort things out... I am going to provide a Recommended-and-NotRecommended list from my experience.

Not Recommended:

- Hutong Restaurant,Tsimshatsui, Sichuan style: Great view, average food, lousy service, extremely high price

Sort of recommended:

- Maxim's Palace Restaurant, Central (City Hall), Cantonese style + dim sum: Very good dim sum, excellent service. Just a bit pricey.

Recommended:

- Maxim's Serenade Restaurant, Tsimshatsui, Cantonese style + dim sum: Good dim sum (not as good as Maxim's Palace), good service, excellent close-up view of Victoria Harbour. Discounted pricing after 2pm.

- West Villa Restaurant, Central & Tai Koo (plus one other location), Cantonese style + dim sum: Specialty is char siu (Cantonese BBQ pork). Just order char-siu everything... BBQ pork baos (baked ones, steamed ones), BBQ pork cheung fun, etc.

- Din Tai Fung, Causeway Bay and Tsimshatsui, Taiwanese style small eats: great porkchop fried rice - must have. Xiaolongbao - mush have. Many other items good.

- Eight Happiness Restaurant, Wanchai, Taiwanese style small eats: signature items: pepper beef buns (sesame top), fried shrimp rolls. Xiaolongbaos are okay, not the top ones.

http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=23262

- Canton BBQ Restaurant, Tsimshatsui + Jordan + many locations, Cantonese BBQ: Bit hole-in-the-wall setup. Tight seats. But excellent Cantonese BBQ items - roast pork, char siu, etc.

- Yung Kee Restaurant, Central, Cantonese style: Very good food. Specialty - roast goose. Goose everything. Other entres also good. Pricey. Power-lunch place. Service is a mix. I had good experience and really bad experience.

- Metropol Restaurant, Admiralty, Cantonese style + dim sum: Good dim sum. Very convenient location. 4/F United Centre. Discounted prices after 2:30pm or something.

- Chuen Cheung Kui (泉章居), Causeway Bay + Mongkok, Hakka style: great hakka style dishes like salt-baked chicken, beefball stir-fried with vegetables, mui choy braised pork, etc.

http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=437

- Wing Lai Yuen Restaurant, Whampoa + Wong Tai Sin, Sichuan/Shanghai small eats: Signature items: dan dan noodle - you must have it. Wonton chicken in clay pot. The Sichuan style stir-fried dishes (e.g. Kungpao chicken) and noodles and dumplings/baos are all good. Seating is a bit tight and they allow table-sharing (unless you opt not). Excellent value. Only thing is Whampoa (Hung Hom) is a bit out of the way. Taxi there, taxi back, a bit inconvenient. The Wong Tai Sin location may be more convenient.

http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=4014

- Fortune Cuisine Restaurant, Causeway Bay (Tin Hau MTR Station exit), Cantonese style + dim sum: a little gem. Very good dim sums, excellent service, good prices. Great value. The only thing not going for them is they are in a basement, with unremarked entrance. You pass by, blink your eyes, you miss it.

Two more recommended restaurants at Tung Chung (Citygate Mall). If you are transiting through the Hong Kong International Aiport and you have a few hours... they can be good alternatives to the Maxim's at the airport (which is good but limited choices and pricey). Take bus S1 from HKIA to Tung Chung MTR.

- Golden Shanghai Restaurant (金滬庭京川滬菜館), Shop 116, 1/F, CityGate, 20 Tat Tung Road, Tung Chung, Shanghai style (plus some mix of Sichuan styles). Really good food with reasonable prices. Excellent service.

http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=15561

- Federal Palace Restaurant (聯邦皇宮大酒樓), Shop 255&301, 2/F, Citygate Outlets, 20 Tat Tung Road, Tung Chung, Cantonese style + dim sum. This used to be the store front for Easterngate Seafood Restaurant I believe (which is now closed). I had tried both and they are both good. Dim sums and Cantonese stir-fries.

http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=47726

Edited June 18, 2011 by hzrt8w (log)

[hzrt8w]

I am going to post a series of dining reports in Hong Kong. They are visited during two separate trips: Nov/Dec 2009 and recently May/Jun 2011. Hope this will help some of you get some ideas.

[hzrt8w]

Maxim's Palace Restaurant, City Hall, Central

Address: 3/F, City Hall, 5-7 Edinburgh Place, Central

中環愛丁堡廣場5-7號大會堂低座3樓

Style: Guangdong | Dim Sum Restaurant | Dim Sum

Tel: 2521 1303

http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=488

I am a sucker for Cantonese dim sums.

More so, I am a sucker for having dim sums at Maxim's Palace, City Hall, at Central.

Just about every trip to Hong Kong, I went there to have my first local meal. Especially after getting off the plane at 6 am. Hotel checked in a 9 am. Waiting for the room with not much to do...

I said so because Maxim's Palace, while offering very good dim sums and excellent service, is also very pricey in Hong Kong standard. And don't expect them to offer discounted pricing based on time-of-day (a common practice among dim sum restaurants in Hong Kong these days). Between the tourists following recommendations from almost every tour book, power-lunch business people, the newly minted "rich" class mainland Chinese, and the local elites who feel price is no concern... who am I to complain about a HKD300 pp price tag? There is always a long line outside during lunch time.

They roll out dim sum carts with clear labels. Dim sum servers speak enough English to tell you what the items are. If not enough... just ask them to lift the basket lids to see for yourself to decide whether you want to try that dim sum.

Table setting.

Oops... too hungry... my wife chowed down the first piece before I could warm up the camera. "Cotton Chicken". Steamed chicken pieces with fish maw and black mushrooms and Chinese cured hams.

Steamed shredded chick in rice rolls. (Gai See Fun Guen) Very soft and tender.

My benchmark for all dim sum restaurants: Har Gow: shrimp dumplings

Deep-fried squid tentacles. A bit chewy and tough. But the flavor was excellent. I loved how Maxim's Palace made it.

Char Siu Bao. Only two (instead of the customary three) in a basket. The baos were good but the filling was only average.

Ground pork steamed in tofu sheets. (Seen Jook Guen) Soft and tender. Nicely done.

Siu Mai, with crab roe on top (the orange dots).

Steamed cheung fun with shrimp fillings. Soya sauce (diluted).

Mini Nor Mai Gai (steamed sticky rice in lotus leaves). These things got smaller and smaller over the years. The flavor was good but hardly much to eat. Fillings were small shreds of chicken and black mushrooms. No more salted duck eggs to be found. Only gravy.

Fried egg rolls. I only like the Hong Kong version of fried egg rolls. Shredded chicken filling. Very crispy and light. Worchestershire sauce as a dip.

One thing that I really like about Maxim's Palace is that they offer fresh fruit juices and mixed drinks, made to order. Very refreshing. Ordered was a watermelon juice.

Overall eval for Maxim's Palace is: very good dim sum, excellent service, very comfortable seatings. Not much of a view any more. They used to be waterfront with the Queen's Pier. Now the Queen's Pier had been moved and the waterfront outside land-filled (building an expressway and recreational promenade). Only a little pricey. Figure that you are spending about twice the amount at this restaurant than elsewhere in Hong Kong.

Edited June 18, 2011 by hzrt8w (log)

[KennethT]

Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!! This is perfect!!!!!

[hzrt8w]

I am going to jot down some of my miscellaneous thoughts about visiting/dining in Hong Kong:

RE: Syk100

Sky100 is the latest attraction for tourists: observation deck on 100/F in the currently tallest building in Hong Kong - ICC (International Commerce Centre).

Sky100 charges you HKD $150 for admission to the observation deck. Just for sight-seeing on 100/F in the ICC building.

Alternatively: Go to the Ritz Carlton Hotel (same ICC building, different entrance). Take the elevator to the 102/F main lobby. Transfer to the elevator to the 118/F - Ozone lounge. Ozone has some indoor seatings, as well as some semi-outdoor ones (best view). There, you can have the birdeye view of Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong Island from 118/F from the same building. No admission charge. No minimum charge (before 11pm I think). HKD $150 that you would otherwise spend on the admission ticket to Sky100 can buy you just about 2 beers. You can sit down, enjoy the view while you sip on your drinks. (Only draw back is... it is a smoking section.)

[KennethT]

BTW - do I need a reservation for any of the above recommended places?

[hzrt8w]

RE: do I need a reservation for any of the above recommended places?

- Maxim's Palace Restaurant - Reservation recommended

- Maxim's Serenade Restaurant - Reservation recommended

- West Villa Restaurant - Reservation recommended

- Din Tai Fung - not sure if they take reservation. If so, recommended

- Eight Happiness Restaurant - make reservation if you plan to go in peak hours (1pm - 2pm; 6:30pm - 8:30pm)

- Canton BBQ Restaurant - nope... hole in the wall

- Yung Kee Restaurant - Reservation recommended

- Metropol Restaurant - make reservation if you plan to go in peak hours (1pm - 2pm; 6:30pm - 8:30pm)

- Chuen Cheung Kui (泉章居) - Causeway Bay location: go to the 8/F (instead of 7/F). Less crowded (8/F - no rice plate offers I think). Reservation is probably not necessary but you can.

- Wing Lai Yuen Restaurant - not sure if they take reservations

- Fortune Cuisine Restaurant - not sure if they take reservations

- Golden Shanghai Restaurant (金滬庭京川滬菜館) - not sure if they take reservations

- Federal Palace Restaurant (聯邦皇宮大酒樓)- not sure if they take reservations

[hzrt8w]

Din Tai Fung Restaurant, Causeway Bay

Address: G/F, 68 Yee Woo Street , Causeway Bay

銅鑼灣怡和街68號地下

Style: Taiwan | Shanghai | Chinese Restaurant | Dim Sum | Chinese Buns | Business Dining | Group Dining

Tel: 3160 8998

http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=39683

Two locations for this international chain of Taiwanese small eat restaurants in Hong Kong: Tsimshatsui and Causeway Bay. We have been to the Din Tai Fung in Arcadia, California. We went to this branch in Causeway Bay in Hong Kong. They didn't disappoint. We had a nice meal. They manage to keep their quality very consistent among different branches. I recommend dining there.

The giant billboard for Din Tai Fung at the side of the building (next to Regal Hong Kong Hotel).

The order form. They don't carry that many items. Easy. Straight forward.

Some pictures on their menu to entice you.

Braised beef shank, thinly sliced. One of their signature dishes. Very flavorful. Full of the five spices flavor.

A basket of xiaolongbao (6 in an order). This is what Din Tai Fung is famous for. Signature xiaolongbao. Super thin wrapper (and manages to hold up the hot soup inside). Color is almost pure white instead of pale yellow that you are accustomed to seeing. Juicy. Meaty. Must have.

Another signature dish: Porkchop fried rice. You gotta order this and try it. The fried rice is moist, soft. The egg white and egg yolk are separate instead of mixed, and are barely cooked. Taste almost like poached eggs. The porkchop is slightly breaded and deep-fried. Very soft and tender.

Another signature dish: dan dan noodles. Very good peanutty flavor.

Spicy wontons (hung yau chow sou). The Sichuan style kind of wonton with soy sause in chili oil, strong in garlic flavor. Very good too.

The signature "fish bowl" setup looking into the kitchen where their xiaolongbao dumplings are wrapped.

Overall eval for Din Tai Fung is: very good Taiwanese small eats. Too many signature dishes. Too little time to sample them all. They manage to maintain a very good quality in food, service, and attractiveness in dining atmosphere. Highly recommended.

[Kent Wang]

Glad you posted this.

I went to Tim Ho Wan and West Villa. Both good. Was Tim Ho Wan the best dim sum ever? Maybe. I think Crystal Jade in Shanghai (I think they have HK locations too) is just as good, and has a wider menu. But honestly I think dim sum is a very uniform cuisine. At the top range, they are all quite similar. And to throw another shocker out there, dim sum in little ol' Austin, at a restaurant called "Shanghai" was 90% as good as Tim Ho Wan.

Erin: For non-Chinese options, I liked Pastis a lot, French bistro.

Also went to Press Room, a Western seafood restaurant. Fairly pricey, reasonably priced wine. Kinda like McCormick & Schmick.

[mathewr]

Glad you posted this.

I went to Tim Ho Wan and West Villa. Both good. Was Tim Ho Wan the best dim sum ever? Maybe. I think Crystal Jade in Shanghai (I think they have HK locations too) is just as good, and has a wider menu. But honestly I think dim sum is a very uniform cuisine. At the top range, they are all quite similar. And to throw another shocker out there, dim sum in little ol' Austin, at a restaurant called "Shanghai" was 90% as good as Tim Ho Wan.

Erin: For non-Chinese options, I liked Pastis a lot, French bistro.

Also went to Press Room, a Western seafood restaurant. Fairly pricey, reasonably priced wine. Kinda like McCormick & Schmick.

i really enjoyed tim ho wan. the atmosphere was my favorite part.

[KennethT]

RE: do I need a reservation for any of the above recommended places?

- Maxim's Palace Restaurant - Reservation recommended

- Maxim's Serenade Restaurant - Reservation recommended

- West Villa Restaurant - Reservation recommended

- Din Tai Fung - not sure if they take reservation. If so, recommended

- Eight Happiness Restaurant - make reservation if you plan to go in peak hours (1pm - 2pm; 6:30pm - 8:30pm)

- Canton BBQ Restaurant - nope... hole in the wall

- Yung Kee Restaurant - Reservation recommended

- Metropol Restaurant - make reservation if you plan to go in peak hours (1pm - 2pm; 6:30pm - 8:30pm)

- Chuen Cheung Kui (泉章居) - Causeway Bay location: go to the 8/F (instead of 7/F). Less crowded (8/F - no rice plate offers I think). Reservation is probably not necessary but you can.

- Wing Lai Yuen Restaurant - not sure if they take reservations

- Fortune Cuisine Restaurant - not sure if they take reservations

- Golden Shanghai Restaurant (金滬庭京川滬菜館) - not sure if they take reservations

- Federal Palace Restaurant (聯邦皇宮大酒樓)- not sure if they take reservations

Just an update to this list - I emailed Maxim's Group, and they responded that out of their group (Maxim's Palace, Serenade, 8 Happiness), only Serenade and 8 Happiness accept reservations, and only for lunch (W Square and Kai Tin locations)

[raji]

Hi guys, NY egulleter here, mostly focused on Japanese food but certainly other Asian food - staying on Queen's Road East - obviously close enough to the MTR or bus, but are there additional places in Wan Chai I shouldn't be missing? Definitely looking for variety in terms of regional Chinese. Looking for the best Hainan chicken, best roast/peking duck, and obviously following your recomendations here, gonna head to the apex of Eigh Happiness, Lei Garden and 298 today, would love to hear what else I shouldn't miss....got a few days to kill here with the national holiday

[annachan]

Hi guys, NY egulleter here, mostly focused on Japanese food but certainly other Asian food - staying on Queen's Road East - obviously close enough to the MTR or bus, but are there additional places in Wan Chai I shouldn't be missing? Definitely looking for variety in terms of regional Chinese. Looking for the best Hainan chicken, best roast/peking duck, and obviously following your recomendations here, gonna head to the apex of Eigh Happiness, Lei Garden and 298 today, would love to hear what else I shouldn't miss....got a few days to kill here with the national holiday

We went to Rakuen (Causeway Bay) for Japanese when we're there last year. We went with friends who are vegetarian so we had mostly vegetarian dishes, though highlight was the fish roe stuffed chicken wing. It was a nice meal and we would not mind going there for a meal again.

A friend took us to American Restaurant (serves Beijing food) in Wan Chai. He knew the staff and what to order so we had a really good meal there. Peking duck was good. I also love the pastry pockets (sesame on top) that came with minced meat for stuffing. The caramel glazed fried apple (or banana if you prefer) is great.

Hong Kong Old Restaurant (Shanghai food) in Tsim Sha Tsui was really good. Again, we went with my aunt, who's a regular and knows the staff well. If you want to be daring, you can try stinky tofu. Both the fried and steamed version are offered. I say stick with the fried. The smoked eggs are beautiful. There are also these ham sandwiches type thing that was delicious. The ham was sweet and the bread is like very thin steamed bun.

[raji]

Thanks anna!! - the last 2 sound really good. I'll be in Japan next week so I can skip Japanese for the most part, although my friend operates a really good teppan/izakaya style restaurant in Wan Chai -

[hzrt8w]

Looking for the best Hainan chicken, .....

Perhaps you can try the

Koon Thai Hai Nan Chicken Restaurant

In Wan Chai:

G/F., Takan Lodge, 199-201 Johnston Road, Wan Chai

It seems to be their specialty. Though I haven't tried it myself.

There is another hole-in-the-wall outfit who specialized in Hai Nan Chicken Rice in Jordan. They don't have any menu. Because Hai Nan Chicken Rice is the only thing they serve. If you go to Temple Street to do some shopping at night... I don't recall the restaurant's name. But they are one block away from Temple Street. At around the intersection of Woosung Street and Ning-Po Street. Along Woosung Street (west side).

Edited July 2, 2011 by hzrt8w (log)

[KennethT]

so far, went to Maxim's Palace, Peking Garden and Din Tai Fung. Palace was a great experience - excellent service, and good dim sum, for the most part. xiaolinbao ok, char Siu boa just ok, nothing special. Shrimp in rice dough roll was awesome, as were the chicken feet and pork ribs, and steamed chinesebroccoli. Har gau was good

Last night we were exhausted (I had been up for about 24 hours at that point, with a failed nap attempt. But we had to eat, so we went to Peking Garden in the Pacific Place mall. Oddly enough, I figured it would be all tourists since it was in the mall, but it was the opposite - all local families out after shopping, I guess. Almost everyone had a reservation, except us, so we had to wait a few minutes. The shredded chicken/noodle appetizer was very good. I think there was some Szechuan peppercorn or something. The pekingduck was excellent. Almost no fat underneath the skin, which was very tender,bit as crisp as I hadhoped. The meat was not dry as usual though, which was amazing. And the pancakes seems like they were made about 10 minutes ago.

Lunch today at Din Tai Fung. Awesome! Xiaolinbao were so good, we had to get a second round at the end. Also had the version with shrimp which I loved, but my wife not so much. Dan dan noodles were very good, as was the fried rice - which we got with shrimp. The Sauteed Indian greens were amazing, tender yet crisp, full of flavor. We also really enjoyed thesesamebun for dessert, but were getting pretty full.

Edited July 3, 2011 by KennethT (log)

[hzrt8w]

..... so we went to Peking Garden in the Pacific Place mall.

Did you have their beggar chicken too? The one that I saw people mentioned often is the one at Star House, Tsim Sha Tsui.

Pacific Place: Zen restaurant is right there too. Another very good, and high end Cantonese restaurant.

[hzrt8w]

If you like Sichuan style food... Wing Lai Yuen (think dan dan noodle again) has its original restaurant near Wong Tai Sin. So if you plan to visit Wong Tai Sin during your stay, that would be a good place for a meal. It's easier to get to than the one at Whampoa Garden.