6 Nights in HK

[RickBehl]

Hi All,

I have an urgent request !

I'm leaving London for Hong Kong tomorrow and will be spending 6 nights there. I'm there on a business trip but wanted to take the opportunity to try some of the highlights of the Hong Kong culinary world.

So what I need to know is where should I most definitely go to eat ? and what should I eat ? Obviously Chinese food will form the major part of my diet for the week but I'll try pretty much anything once ! My budget is not unlimited but I'm willing to spend anywhere up to £50 or $650 HKD for a meal if it's worth it or even more if it is something which should definitely not be missed.

Thanks in advance

Rick

[harryb]

I am also interested in this! We are going to be in HK over easter (plus a side trip to Shanghai).

We're very interested in good & interesting places to eat in HK. Especially Dim Sum. I'm not too keen on food that relies bits of unusual animals for it's 'wow' factor, more quality and freshness of the cuisine.

Cheers,

Harry

[Ohba]

Sorry to see you didn't get any replies yet. Hoping it's not too late, here are some general ideas, without mentioning much in the way of specific places.

My impression of HK food is that you do okay if you try any of the restaurants of a certain size - those sort of (usuallY) red and gold dragon palaces that you can find just about anywhere - most of these also do dim sum, by the way. Central, Wanchai, Causeway Bay, Kowloon side, they're all over the place. The food is very good, the atmosphere somewhat assembly-line, the service anywhere from awful to excellent. You should definitely eat seafood in Hong Kong, with the proviso that you'd better know what you're getting and what it costs before you order it - by all means eat "seasonal price" menu items, but check the price first and don't feel that you need to eat it just because you asked about it. I'd also warn that in Hong Kong, waiters are all too keen to "guide" customers, whether towards a particular menu item, or just to refill your wine glass. Unless you know your restaurant, advice is, to put it kindly, as likely to be self-interest as anything to do with customer service, so feel free to ignore it, deflect it, or tell (rather than be told) what you want.

Personally, I don't feel Hong Kong's a great place for finding hidden gems on the dining scene. Maybe I'm fussier than others, but it tends towards the formulaic. However, there are so many options that it's easy to find good food, and you're not likely to be disappointed. Just try and avoid the places that are too obviously oriented towards tourists - that's particularly a problem in Tsim Sha Tsui.

For lower end food, Wellington Street's good for a wander, and there's a very famous noodle restaurant downhill on the right - very basic, but it's good. Some of the other places aren't Cantonese, but the jiaozi (dumpling) restaurants are good, simple, and cheap. The wet market nearby (Wellington St/Lyndhurst terrace area) is interesting and atmospheric, if you catch it when it's open.

There's a place in Wanchai called Steam and Stew, which has a slightly different take on the Cantonese food you might be more familiar with - I've been only once, but I think it's worth seeking out. Other than that, I won't mention places, though: there are just too many, and as individuality isn't part of the equation, it's difficult to find true standouts.

[Pan]

Did you look at the Hong Kong Restaurant Recommendations thread pinned at the top of this forum? It's 5 pages long, so you'll probably get some salient information there.

And, here are search results for topics in the China forum with "Shanghai" in the title. Always use the "Search" button at the very top of the page (between "Help" and "Members"), unless you have to search using terms less than four letters long.

Enjoy your trip!

[SDyson]

Rick, we're occasional visitors to Hong Kong and we've had some wonderful meals. We tend to each in Chinese restaurants - it doesn't seem to make sense on short trips to eat European or fusion food and usually when we break our rule we're disappointed. Here's our list of favourites, with a link to a review where we've done one, which has more information. But we're visitors too, so can't give you the same comprehensive view as a local would.

So-called "secret restaurants:

Secret Pantry - our favourite, although I don't know if it's still there. Its website doesn't seem to load properly now. Maybe someone else can advise.

Da Ping Huo

Mum Chau's Sichuan Kitchen, 5th Floor, Winner Building, 37 D'Aguilar Street, Central

Restaurants:

Spring Moon at the Peninsula Hotel. It's also great for its dim sum afternoon tea, much more interesting than the famous high tea downstairs.

Victoria City Seafood Restaurant - great seafood.

Yung Kee - one of Hong Kong's most famous restaurants, especially for roasted poultry. It has a website.

Snacks and noodles:

Tsim Chai Kee Noodle Shop

Maks noodles

Moon Garden Tea House in Causeway Bay (5 Hoi Ping Rd) - good if you want to buy tea as well.

And we enjoy this blog but haven't been to Hong Kong since we discovered it.

[PCL]

I visited Hong Kong a month ago. A new discovery for me anyway is the Hutong restaurant serving refined northern cuisine. It's in the One Peking Rd tower in Tsim Tsa Tsui. Above it, on the top floor with FANTASTIC views is the Acua bar. I'd suggest a pre-dinner drink then chow down then back up for night caps.

The staff at Hutong know their stuff and their recommendations rocked. Especially the smoked lamb ribs. The rice wine selection is also like, WOW.

[annachan]

I don't get to pick and try many restaurants when in Hong Kong since we end up having most meals w/ friends and family who pick the restaurants. When we do get some "free time", we often eat around where we stay, which has been at Causeway Bay the past few times. We end up having street food lots of time, which is really our favorites. From hot waffles w/ peanut butter, condense milk and sugar to fish ball skewers to fried vegetables and dumplings to egg custard tarts, just to name a few. There are enough varieties that you can certainly make a meal out of them. One thing to be mindful of street food is that only go to places that looks very busy and a high turnover. Also, you should skip it if you have a sensitive stomach.

Other than street food, there are also many bakeries around, even inside the department stores. The bake goods are generally good and there are lots sweet and savory choices.

Here's one restuarant I've been going to since I was little (20+ years ago), and the last time I was there was a few years ago. I really do like the food there. As far as I know, the food is authentic. Also, the prices are very good.

Indonesian Restaurant

G/F, 28 Leighton Road

Causeway Bay

Tel 2577 9981

In Kowloon, there's a restaurant call Spring Deer that has great Peking duck and other Northern Chinese dishes. It used to be really famous, even major celebraties would wait for tables there. Since then, the owners has immigrated to the US and now the workers own the place. I haven't been there in a few years so I can't tell you about the quality now. But it was one of our favorites and we spent many celebrations there. As for prices, there are high end items there such as shark fin soup, but there are also decent price dishes.

One thing to keep in mind, go to places where you see lots of people in there. High turnover often speaks to good quality food. Also, I would stay away from raw seafood such as sushi when in Hong Kong, unless you go to high end restaurants.

Have a lot of fun in HK and good eating!

[hzrt8w]

[...] We end up having street food lots of time, which is really our favorites. From hot waffles w/ peanut butter, condense milk and sugar to fish ball skewers to fried vegetables and dumplings to egg custard tarts, just to name a few. There are enough varieties that you can certainly make a meal out of them. [...]

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I resonate whole-heartedly. That would be my kind of trip... munching on street food from one corner to another in Hong Kong. You can find an amazing variety of different food, just the Chinese styles alone. And for a budget of HKD 650, it can last you street food munching for a whole week!

But with a HKD 650 per dinner budget and on a business trip, it looks like Rick is looking for some 5 star restaurants with top notch service, wine and the whole nine yard.

[annachan]

But with a HKD 650 per dinner budget and on a business trip, it looks like Rick is looking for some 5 star restaurants with top notch service, wine and the whole nine yard. 

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HK$650 is actually not a whole lot of money for dinner. At 5 star places, HK $650 may not even get you an entree. My parents have spent more than that getting a stem fish (less than 2 lbs) and they said it was a great deal! To me, it's ridiculous.

So, be mindful of where you're going Rick. It's easier to go over your budget than you think.

But look on the bright side, HK$650 can definitely get you street food for a week!

[hzrt8w]

HK$650 is actually not a whole lot of money for dinner. At 5 star places, HK $650 may not even get you an entree. [...]

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Yikes! I didn't know inflation has caught up with us so quickly.

After the 2000 Dot-Com crash, I spoke to my brother and he said the real estate prices in HK dropped for a few years. And because of the bird flu, all restaurants needed to slash prices on their food.

Maybe that only affects restaurants for the commons and not for the lords. I always eat at the restaurants for the commons.