Hong Kong is a world-renowned gourmet paradise which has the combination of eastern and western culinary delights without losing their local characteristics. From Michelin starred restaurants to street foods, there are just too much delicious foods to choose from. This is why we are always ineffable when it comes to what to eat in Hong Kong. So, we decided to summarize what we have tried in Hong Kong with some of our personal reviews, photos and information to help you guys out in planning your to-eat list.
Note: The numbers are just for numbering purpose and do not represent any rankings.
Before diving into the food details, you might want to take note of some of the common culture in Hong Kong especially if you are travelling there for the first time.
- Sharing a table with strangers is very common if you are dining in the common restaurants such as the typical “cha chaan teng” (tea restaurant), dim sum restaurant, dessert restaurant, etc. You can probably only avoid this if you are dining in the high-end restaurants.
- You may be seated in a stressful environment as some of the restaurant staffs may be rude (rushing you to place your order, etc.) or do not even explain what they are famous for. So, it is better to do some research before visiting the restaurant to avoid taking too much time to order your food. However, we noticed that the politeness of the restaurant staffs have been improving in the recent years especially for the younger generations.
- Avoid sharing a plate of rice/noodle with another person or more because most restaurants strictly impose the minimum order per person. The minimum order is usually a main meal per person.
- The size of most restaurants is relatively small. So, the tables and chairs setting is usually very packed with limited space to walk.
- No sugar is added into hot milk tea. Customers are expected to add the sugar by themselves which is usually provided on the table. However, iced milk tea comes with sugar in it.
#1 Yat Lok Roast Goose (一乐烧鹅)
Earning its Michelin star (1 star) since 2015, Yat Lok is one of the must-visit restaurants for their roast goose. Yat Lok is a small restaurant with no fancy set up and looks just like the local cha chaan teng. You can see people queueing in front of the restaurant even during non-peak hours such as at 3.00pm. We ordered their famous dishes, a plate of Roast Goose Breast Rice and a bowl of Roast Goose Breast Noodle. The skin of the roast goose is so crispy with a perfect meat-to-fat ratio. The meat is so tender and juicy that words couldn’t describe it well. Not forgetting the plain white rice and noodle soup, the oil from the roast goose made every spoon of them yummy and fragrant.
Yat Lok Roast Goose (一乐烧鹅)
Address: G/F, 34-38 Stanley St, Central [中環士丹利街34-38號地舖]
Opening hours: 10.00am - 9.00pm (until 5.30pm on Sundays)
What to order: Roast Goose Rice/Soup Noodle [烧鹅飯, 烧鹅瀨粉]
Price: HKD55 for a Roast Goose Breast Rice/Noodle. Roast Goose Drumstick is more expensive.
Getting there: Take Exit D2 at Central MTR Station [中環站D2出口]
#2 Lan Fong Yuen (蘭芳園)
Hong Kong milk tea is a must-drink if you are in Hong Kong! Lan Fong Yuen is famous for their legendary smooth silky milk tea. It has over 50 years of history and started up as a “dai pai dong” (open-air food stall). They also claimed to be the creator of Hong Kong’s famed pantyhose milk tea.
We knew that they are famous for their iced milk tea but the cold weather made us ordered the hot milk tea to warm our body up. Since we are not tea masters, we didn’t know what kind of tea leaves are being used but from our research, we found out that 5 different types of tea leaves from different countries are used to make a cup of milk tea. Personally, we felt their milk tea to be on the stronger tea side with some slight bitter aftertaste. We also ordered the Pork Chop Bun which looks simple and lightly toasted. But, the deeply marinated and juicy pork chop as well as the thinly sliced tomato complement each other nicely.
Lan Fong Yuen (蘭芳園)
Address: 2 Gage Street, Central [中環結志街2號]
Opening hours: 7.00am - 6.00pm (Monday to Saturday)
What to order: Iced Milk Tea, Pork Chop Bun, Pan Fried Chicken Chop with Instant Noodle [冻奶茶, 香脆奶油猪仔包, 葱油鸡扒捞丁]
Price: HKD20 (Milk Tea), HKD25 (Pork Chop Bun)
Getting there: Take Exit D2 at Central MTR Station [中環站D2出口]
#3 Tai Cheong Bakery (泰昌餅家)
Tai Cheong Bakery sells one of the best egg tarts in Hong Kong. The egg tarts are always hot and freshly baked from the oven. However, we preferred the puff pastry base tarts (Portuguese tart) compared to the cookie base tarts. The taste of Tai Cheong Bakery’s cookie base tart is towards the crumbly and buttery type. The egg content is not good enough to impress us. Mr. J felt that the quality has dropped over the years. In our opinion, we could get better egg tarts in Kuala Lumpur.
Tai Cheong Bakery (泰昌餅家)
Address: G/F, 35 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central [中環擺花街35號地下]
Opening hours: 7.30am - 9.00pm (opens at 8.30am on Sundays)
What to order: Egg Tart [蛋撻]
Price: HKD9
Getting there: Take Exit C at Hong Kong MTR Station [香港站C出口]
#4 Sun Kee Cart Noodle (新记车仔面)
Cart noodles originated from street vendors selling soup noodles with plenty of toppings such as curry fish balls, braised radish, Hong Kong sausage, chicken wings, etc. We tried the braised soup served with yellow noodles as the base. For the toppings, we went for the Hong Kong sausage, beef brisket and Swiss chicken wing since braised radish was sold out. The mix and match toppings with noodles in braised soup turn out to be very tasty. The beef brisket is so soft, tender and flavorful. It also sort of melts in the mouth. If you love spicy food, you can also try their homemade chili sauce. It will definitely spice up the soup, making the braised soup with chili an awesome soup base too!
The hot boiling curry fish balls look so tempting from outside the shop! We bought one stick of spicy flavor fish ball! It is very yummy but extremely spicy!
Sun Kee Cart Noodle (新记车仔面)
Address: Shop B, No. 49 Tang Lung Street, Causeway Bay [銅鑼灣登龍街49號地下B舖]
Opening hours: 12.00pm - 11.30pm
What to order: Cart Noodles [车仔面]
Price: HKD40 for Cart Noodles with 3 toppings, HKD10 for Curry Fish Balls
Getting there: Take Exit C at Causeway Bay MTR Station [銅鑼灣站C出口]
#5 Cong Sao Star Dessert (聰嫂星級甜品)
Hong Kong is definitely the place to satisfy your dessert cravings, no matter if you are looking for traditional “tong sui” or modern sweet treats. We surely missed their desserts with abundance of ingredients when we are back in our home country! Mango Pomelo Sago, durian-related dessert and tofu series dessert are the younger generations’ favorites while old folks will prefer those desserts such as Walnut Sesame Sweet Soup and Papaya With Snow Fungus Sweet Soup.
Mango Pomelo Sago is my all-time favorite dessert and also Hong Kong's signature dessert! A spoon of its sweet fresh mango together with pomelo and sago can easily chill your heart. I do not know what the “water” is made of but it is so creamy, thick and blended with mango taste. Instead of ordering their mango pancake, we decided to try their durian pancake! A bite of the creamy durian pancake and I could tell that the durian type should be D24 or similar from its “aromatic” smell. Never did I expect that Hong Kong will have such fresh durians as pancake ingredients. Their dessert house is definitely worth for its price since their desserts are made with plenty of ingredients of high quality.
Cong Sao Star Dessert (聰嫂星級甜品)
Address: G/F, 11 Yiu Wa Street, Causeway Bay [銅鑼灣耀華街11號地舖]
Opening hours: 12.30pm - 12.30am
What to order: Mango Pomelo Sago, Durian Sorbet with Crystal Seeds, Mango/Durian Pancake, etc. [杨枝甘露, 榴槤水晶珠, 芒果/榴槤班戟]
Price: HKD28 - HKD39
Getting there: Take Exit A at Causeway Bay MTR Station [銅鑼灣站A出口]
#6 Lin Heung Tea House (蓮香樓)
Dim Sum is definitely one of the must-eat food when you are in Hong Kong! There are just too many restaurants in Hong Kong offering tasty and quality dim sum. It seems to be a culture in Hong Kong to occupy a wonderful weekend morning with a pot of Chinese tea and a few baskets of dim sum.
There are many dim sum restaurants in Hong Kong which range from tea houses to Michelin starred restaurants. We chose to dine at Lin Heung Tea House which is one of the locals and tourists favorite with over 90 years of history. You are required to look for your own seats as the restaurant staff will not entertain you for it. Just walk around and search for empty seats without any dim sum card on the table. After getting your seat, the staff will serve tea and provide a card for you to place your order. Now, comes the most interesting and important part of dining here. Once the staff pushes the dim sum cart out from the kitchen, move fast and grab whatever that you wish to eat. If you are not fast enough, you will only end up with dim sums that others do not want. It is very important to always be alert and keep an eye on the incoming dim sum cart. Also, remember to bring along your dim sum card for the staff to tick.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try their “cha siu bao” (barbecue pork bun), “siu mai” (steamed pork and prawn dumplings) and the signature dim sums as the dim sum cart only have limited baskets each time. There is also no way to tell what dim sum is being served next. In our opinion, none of the dim sum is impressive except for the steamed brown colored bean curd wrapped with chicken, mushroom and fish maw. Nevertheless, it was a great experiencing the Hong Kong’s breakfast tea culture.
Lin Heung Tea House (蓮香樓)
Address: G/F, 160-164 Wellington Street, Central [中環威靈頓街160-164號]
Opening hours: 6.00am - 11.00pm
What to order: “Ma Lai Gou” (Steamed Malay Cake), Siu Mai with Pork Liver, Siu Mai, Cha Siu Bao, “Fung Jao” (Phoenix Claws aka Chicken Feet), “Ngau Yuk Yuen” (Steamed Beef Meatballs), etc. [馬拉糕, 豬潤燒賣, 燒賣, 叉烧包, 鳳爪, 牛肉球…]
Price: HKD196 for 6 - 7 baskets of dim sum
Getting there: Take Exit E2 at Sheung Wan MTR Station [上環站E2出口]
#7 Australia Dairy Company (澳洲牛奶公司)
The restaurant name itself will tell you that they serve mainly milk-related food. This restaurant is also well-known for their impolite service yet many tourists still love to visit them for their famous Scrambled Eggs and dairy products. Australian Dairy Company remains as one of the top breakfast restaurants in Hong Kong.
We ordered the breakfast set of Macaroni Soup with Ham and Scrambled Eggs with Toast. The texture and the taste of the scrambled eggs are the best that we have ever tried. It is so smooth and creamy with a bit of juiciness. Even after turning cold, the scrambled eggs is still nice without any weird egg taste. We also heard that their Scrambled Eggs Sandwich, Steamed Milk and other dairy products are delicious too!
Their milk tea has a very balance mix of tea and milk whereby neither one of them will have a stronger taste. It is very smooth with some light creamy taste which might be due to the good quality of milk used. We love the milk tea here compared to other restaurants.
It is advisable to decide what you what to eat before sitting down as the staffs might be rude if you take too much time to place your order. They usually have set meals available or you can also choose from the à la carte menu. Generally, we noticed that the younger staffs have better attitude and service compared to the older ones.
Australia Dairy Company (澳洲牛奶公司)
Address: G/F, 47-49 Parkes Street, Jordan [佐敦白加士街47-49號地下]
Opening hours: 7.30am - 11.00pm (closed on Thursdays)
What to order: Scrambled Eggs with Toast, Steamed Milk, Scramble Eggs Sandwich, etc. [炒蛋多士, 炖奶, 蛋治…]
Price: HKD36 for a set meal
Getting there: Take Exit C2 at Jordan MTR Station [佐敦站C2出口]
#8 Mong Kok Street Foods (旺角街边小吃)
To get to know Hong Kong better, one must always try their street foods! It was a whole new experience buying food from the varieties of shops in Mong Kok selling stinky tofu, siu mai, curry fish balls, fried stuffed treasures, etc. It was definitely interesting and fun as the pace and culture is totally different than in Malaysia.
We tried a few street snack shops and concluded that Kai Kei Snack (佳記小食店) is one of the better ones especially for their stinky tofu. Another shop that we will recommend is Fei Jie (肥姐小食店) for their octopus but they are actually famous for their pig intestines and chicken kidney as well. We spent an entire afternoon in Mong Kok walking around all kind of markets and also trying the street foods from different shops.
Mong Kok Street Foods (旺角街边小吃)
What to order: Curry fish balls, stinky tofu, octopus, siu mai, etc. [咖喱魚蛋, 臭豆腐, 墨魚, 烧卖…]
Price: HKD10 - HKD25 per item
#9 Hing Kee Restaurant (興記菜館)
If you managed to spot some blue canopies in Yau Ma Tei with lots of people, you are at the right place! This is the famous claypot rice or rice pot (cooked on charcoal) in Hong Kong not only for the tourists, but for the locals as well. Within a few years, Hing Kee has expanded to a total of 6 restaurants spreading out along 2 streets.
Looking at their menu, the variety of claypot rice put us in dilemma as there are just too many types to choose. We ended up with Spare Ribs & Chinese Sausage Rice Pot and Deep Fried Oysters Cake. Besides pork, there are other options such as beef, seafood, chicken or any kind of combination. We noticed many locals ordering Beef Rice Pot (牛肉煲仔飯) with raw egg.
The simple and plain looking colour of the rice pot with spare ribs and Chinese sausage doesn’t look attractive at all. But, trust us on this. The rice pot is heavenly tasty with perfect moisture, texture and fragrance of its rice. The spare ribs looks colorless but it is actually marinated and tastes very nice! Don’t forget to add the sauces, one is a black colored sauce while the other is a slightly salty yellowish colored sauce, into your rice pot which are available on the table. The sauces will boost the rice pot to a whole new level of tastiness. The hardened rice crust at the bottom of the pot is so crispy and yummy that we scrapped every single grain of rice possible. We strongly believe that you will love this rice pot once you try it. The Deep Fried Oysters Cake is really yummy too. It is not as starchy as the Taiwanese version and is a little crispy at the side with strong egg taste and generous amount of big, fresh and juicy oysters. To our surprise, it isn’t as oily as we expected since it is deep fried.
Hing Kee Restaurant (興記菜館)
Address: G/F, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei [油麻地廟街12,14,15,17,19號地下]
Opening hours: 6.00pm - 1.00pm
What to order: Rice Pot, Deep Fried Oysters Cake, fried seafood with salt and pepper. [煲仔飯, 煎蠔餅, 椒鹽瀨尿蝦…]
Price: HKD40 (small) and HKD80 (big) for Deep Fried Oysters Cake, HKD29 - HKD48 for Rice Pot. HKD60 and above for seafood dishes.
Getting there: Take Exit C at Yau Ma Tei MTR Station [油麻地站C出口]
#10 Tsim Chai Kee Wonton Noodles (沾仔记雲吞麵)
Wonton noodles is one of the iconic foods which represents Hong Kong! There are many wonton noodles restaurants with good ratings which you can choose from. The wonton noodles in Hong Kong is very simple and doesn’t look fancy at all. But, once you tasted it, the tastiness will let you know that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
Hong Kong’s wonton noodles is quite different compared to those in Malaysia. It is just made up of 3 pieces of wontons, a small portion of springy noodles and clear but tasty soup. The size of the wonton is almost like a table tennis ball and is filled with fresh shrimps and some minced pork. These 3 ingredients are equally important to complement one another.
If you could eat spicy stuffs, don’t forget to add some chili oil which is available on the table. The chili oil will bring some spiciness to your mouth but it makes the wonton noodles tastier.
Tsim Chai Kee Wanton Noodles (沾仔记雲吞麵)
Address: Shop B, G/F Jade Centre, 98 Wellington Street, Central [中環威靈頓街98號地舖]
Opening hours: 9.00am - 10.00pm
What to order: Wonton Noodles and Fish Ball Noodles [雲吞麵, 鮮鯪魚球麵]
Price: HKD30
Getting there: Take Exit D2 at Central MTR Station [中環站D2出口]
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