Hong Kong Food Guide

Introduction

Hong Kong is one of the world’s great food cities. Cantonese cuisine at its finest, international restaurants from every country, Michelin-starred restaurants charging $500 and hawker stalls serving equally compelling food for $3. The range is extraordinary.

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Dim Sum

Hong Kong’s most important meal. Yum cha (drinking tea) with dim sum is the traditional Sunday morning activity — families gathering for hours over endless rounds of small plates.

Classic dishes:

• Har gow (shrimp dumplings): The benchmark dish — translucent rice flour wrapper, plump shrimp inside
• Siu mai (pork and shrimp dumplings): Open-topped, yellow wrapper
• Char siu bao (BBQ pork bun): Steamed or baked. Fluffy, sweet, excellent
• Cheung fun (rice noodle rolls): Silky flat rice noodle rolled around shrimp, beef or BBQ pork
• Lo mai gai (sticky rice in lotus leaf): Glutinous rice with chicken, mushroom, wrapped in lotus leaf
• Egg tart (dan tat): Custard in pastry shell. Hong Kong’s signature sweet

Best dim sum: Tim Ho Wan (Michelin star, budget-friendly, queue expected), Dim Sum Square, Luk Yu Tea House (1933 traditional).

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Roast Meats

Char siu (BBQ pork): Red-glazed pork belly or shoulder, sweet and sticky

Roast goose: Hong Kong’s most celebrated dish. Crispy skin, juicy meat. Yung Kee is the famous name.

Roast duck: Similar to Peking duck but Cantonese style.

Find at roast meat restaurants (siu mei shops) throughout Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.

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Wonton Noodles

Shrimp-filled wontons in clear broth with thin egg noodles. A perfect simple bowl. Mak’s Noodle (Central) is the most famous, Wonton Noodle Shop in Jordan (Kowloon) is excellent.

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Cha Chaan Teng (Hong Kong Café)

Uniquely Hong Kong institution. Cheap, fast, Cantonese-Western fusion menu — milk tea, pineapple buns with butter, egg tarts, French toast, wonton soup.

Must order: Hong Kong-style milk tea (rich, creamy), pineapple bun with butter (the bun has no pineapple).

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Egg Waffles (Gai Daan Jai)

Street food unique to Hong Kong. Egg batter cooked in a waffle iron creating bubble-shaped balls. Usually plain or flavored (chocolate, matcha). Eat fresh from the cart.

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