Half Local Half Tourist Dines in Hong Kong (Part 1)
12:14 PMIn the last post, I talked about the 5 key attractions I’ve visited in the past when I traveled to Hong Kong. In this post, I will talk about the go-to-places to eat. Do keep in mind though, that Hong Kong is a food and beverage heaven 「美食天堂」which means it is difficult to pinpoint what’s good and what’s bad. However, that being said, there are ways to find good food or drinks when in Hong Kong.
Dining in Hong Kong
As a diverse and a multi-cultural city, in terms of food, there are thousands if not millions of restaurants in Hong Kong and trust me everything looks good! While there are some obvious amazing restaurants like the three-Michelin star restaurant, Lung King Heen, there are also other alternatives that are more down-to-earth for the locals. The big question is, however, how on earth do I know what’s good. The answer can be solved by on simple app: OpenRice (available on both Apple and Android devices). I literally use this app every day to find the best food places around the area I am in, and it never disappoints. This app is similar to like Yelp and TripAdvisor, but used by locals, so if the many locals like it, it must be very good! And if not, it’s either getting there, or it may run out of business soon. The F&B industry in Hong Kong is extremely competitive.
In today’s post, I am going to go through a few of the restaurants that I think it’s noteworthy from my recent trip and highlight some other restaurants I always go back to when I’m in town (and it’s STILL there). Hopefully it will make you hungry and kick in that urge for you to travel to Hong Kong for some amazing food.
Restaurants and Food Stands from my Childhood Days
(1) Australia Dairy Company (澳洲牛奶公司)
Let’s start off with breakfast. As a kid, I would go to this place with my family every Sunday before we head to church for a simple breakfast. Options were limited, but it’s the Hong Kong style breakfast cafe (cha chaan teng) which is extremely efficient: you order your food, your food arrives, you eat your food (quickly), you pay for your food, and you leave. Turnaround time at the restaurant per table is probably 20 minutes maximum. Note: Chinese people, especially those in Hong Kong, eat very quickly, so 20 minutes is already too slow!
Today it’s famous. You need to line up if you aren’t there before 7:30AM. And because I got there at around 8AM, I had to lineup for about 10-15 minutes. The breakfast menu is very simple: macaroni in soup with ham, toast with sunny side up, and a milk tea. The milk tea is a must! Their milk tea has been awarded the “BEST HONG KONG STYLE MILK TEA RESTAURANT” from 2008 – 2016. It’s the best one I ever had, and I will drink it cold. Afterall, it’s too hot to drink ANYTHING hot in Hong Kong. And even though it’s breakfast, a must get item is the steam milk pudding. MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE DESSERT. You may have to wait a little longer, because it’s steamed, but it’s total worth it.
Note: this restaurant is very crowded with limited seating space. It is common to share seats with others. Don’t be alarmed, it’s a usual Chinese tradition; just embrace it.
This is definitely a place down memory lane! And the food still taste just as good, and super affordable too!
Address: G/F, 47-49 Parkes Street, Jordan
Operating Hours: 7:30AM-11PM daily, close on Thursdays and Public Holidays
What to Order: Milk Tea, Steamed Milk, Toast with Eggs
Price Range: $
How to get there: 2-min walk from Exit C2, Jordan MTR Station
Operating Hours: 7:30AM-11PM daily, close on Thursdays and Public Holidays
What to Order: Milk Tea, Steamed Milk, Toast with Eggs
Price Range: $
How to get there: 2-min walk from Exit C2, Jordan MTR Station
(2) Lee Keung Kee North Point Egg Waffles (利強記北角雞蛋仔)
My all time favourite snack is probably egg waffles. As a kid, I will get this every Friday after school at a food stand before I head for the bus to go home. Back then it was only $2.50 HKD. But as days and years go by, inflation and standard of living began to kick in. Food stands are now rare in Hong Kong as it’s considered not very hygienic and associates with dirty or unclean.
This “food stand”, located in between Jordon station and Tsim Sha Tsui station, a hole in the wall, was by far one of my favourite place after I discovered it almost over 10 years ago. The cost of these bubble waffles used to be $15 HKD for two; today, it costs $22 HKD for one. And it’s only made from 11AM to 1PM each day. And to make a statement they are also now on the Michelin guide under the Street Food category.
Address: 492 King’s Road, North Point
Operating Hours: 10AM-11PM daily
What to Order: Egg waffles
Cost: $22 HKD
How to get there: 2-min walk from Exit B3, North Point MTR Station
Operating Hours: 10AM-11PM daily
What to Order: Egg waffles
Cost: $22 HKD
How to get there: 2-min walk from Exit B3, North Point MTR Station
Recent Finds
(1) Yum Cha
A contemporary restaurant for a traditional type of meal famous to all Chinese, Yum Cha, was definitely one of the best experience I had while dining in Hong Kong. There are a few locations, but I chose the one in Tsim Sha Tsui as it was relatively closer to my hotel.
If you are looking for a fun way eating dim sum, then this place is for you! The dim sum here are one of a kind and it’s also very very instagram worthy. Don’t trust me? See for yourself!
The dim sum looked so cute, it actually took me some time before I was able to dig into my meal...
Address: 3/F, Attitude on Granville, 20-22 Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Operating Hours: 11:30AM – 4PM, 6PM – 11PM (Weekdays); 11:00AM – 4PM, 6PM – 11PM (Weekends)
What to Order: Dim Sum!
Price Range: $$ – $$$
How to get there: 4-min walk from Exit B2, Tsim Sha Tsui / East Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station
Operating Hours: 11:30AM – 4PM, 6PM – 11PM (Weekdays); 11:00AM – 4PM, 6PM – 11PM (Weekends)
What to Order: Dim Sum!
Price Range: $$ – $$$
How to get there: 4-min walk from Exit B2, Tsim Sha Tsui / East Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station
(2) Thai on 5 Seafood Grill and Bar (泰燒遙)
Found this Thai place using the OpenRice app because my sister and I had no clue what’s good around the area, and it happens that this place has a lot of great ratings, so we decided to make our way in some random alley way behind Mira Place 1. And to our surprise, there were lots of restaurant in this area! But we were determined and focus, and we head to this Thai restaurant.
As we walked in, we saw an assortment of fresh seafood. We were confused, but the waitress sat us down first and began to explain. She told us to look at the menu first and she would come back. Not sure how long it took, but when she came back, we were only able to decide to get the fresh coconut drink. So she wave down her boss, and he came and recommended us a few options.
For one, the Thai Style Shrimp Sashimi was out of this world. He explained the way it is prepared and how it’s been raved upon everywhere online. Then he brought us to the assortment of fresh seafood by the entrance and told us how each type of seafood or meats were prepared. We were sold.
Thankful for the boss’ recommendation, we had a delicious meal and had our face stuffed in all the foods we ordered. Above are just some of the foods we had, and they were all delicious! Highly recommend this place if you are craving for Thai food while in Hong Kong.
Address: 5/F, 1 Knutsford Terrace, Tsim Sha Tsui
Operating Hours: 12PM – 3PM, 6PM – 11PM
What to Order: Thai Style Shrimp Sashimi, Tom Yum Soup, Grilled Clams and Razor Clams, Crab Fried Rice, Beef Skewers, Coconut drink and whatever they have on “Special”
Price Range: $$ – $$$
How to get there: 5-min walk from Exit B1, Tsim Sha Tsui / East Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station
Operating Hours: 12PM – 3PM, 6PM – 11PM
What to Order: Thai Style Shrimp Sashimi, Tom Yum Soup, Grilled Clams and Razor Clams, Crab Fried Rice, Beef Skewers, Coconut drink and whatever they have on “Special”
Price Range: $$ – $$$
How to get there: 5-min walk from Exit B1, Tsim Sha Tsui / East Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station
(3) Snow Garden (雪園飯店)
My family and I really wanted to try this place while we were in Hong Kong this time because they were famous for their Shanghainese fish soup. Thinking of those fish soup noodles that I generally eat back at home, I was like “okay, let’s see how special this is!” To be honest, I was expecting the white creamy looking fish soup, but to my surprise, the fish soup was brown, and had lots of stuff in it!
Other popular Shanghainese food I had include:
Apparently, there used to be multiple Snow Garden restaurants in Hong Kong, at its peak, there were seven! Now it’s down to one, but the food still taste amazing. Definitely recommend this place if you want some authentic Shanghainese food in Hong Kong.
Address: 2/F, China Taiping Tower, 8 Sunning Road, Causeway Bay
Operating Hours: 11:30AM – 3PM, 6PM – 10:30PM
What to Order: Fish Soup
Price Range: $$$
How to get there: 5-min walk from Exit F1, Causeway Bay MTR
(4) Sift
Found this cupcake gem while I was doing my internship in Hong Kong in my university days. Colleagues of one of the Big Four firm knows that every time we get cupcakes from this place, a coworker is leaving among us.
Since I found this place, every time I head back to Hong Kong, I must go to Sift. Previously, I would get the normal size (like a size of a muffin). But then you don’t get to try as many flavours! I was wise this time! I got a dozen of minis, and ate all the flavours I ever wanted to try including my all time favourite: red velvet!
Address: various locations, I got mine at Hysan Place
Operating Hours: 10AM – 10PM
What to Order: Cupcakes
Price Range: $$ – $$$
Operating Hours: 10AM – 10PM
What to Order: Cupcakes
Price Range: $$ – $$$
(5) iCREMERia
Found this ice cream place while walking around in Ocean Terminal / Harbour City. What really caught my attention was the ad. You will see why below.
Final verdict: The Hokkaido Milk Ice Cream wrapped in Pure Gold sounds interesting, but I don’t think I will eat it again. To be quite honest, the sheet gold was just a gimmick thing, and it looks nice on photos! Just getting Hokkaido ice cream would have been sufficient.
Address: various location, I got mine at Ocean Terminal / Harbour City
Operating Hours: 10AM – 10PM
What to Order: Ice cream
Price Range: $$
Operating Hours: 10AM – 10PM
What to Order: Ice cream
Price Range: $$
0 comments