Top 10 Places to Eat in Hong Kong

Hong Kong offers a variety of restaurants and eateries. In fact, there are over 11,000 of them in this densely populated city. In this guide, you’ll find the best places to eat in Hong Kong, starting with the top 10 recommended places tried and tested by me.

You see, I have a theory.

There are two wildly different kinds of travellers out there.

Type A has a list of things they would like to see for their destination and proceeds to check them off one-by-one as they transit from sight to sight.

And then there is Type B, who actually meticulously marks down where they would like to eat and plans the whole trip around this list of eating must-haves.

I fall into this Type B category, because I consider eating as much as a travel experience as sight seeing.

For Hong Kong, I consulted with renowned local food blogger That Food Cray and sourced the golden list from her of HK’s best and tastiest. Then, I did some digging of my own with friends from Hong Kong to come up with the below New Yorker Meets London’s HK food spotting 2015 edition (most of which were tried and tested). You can also find the Pinterest list here if you prefer it that way.

Top 10 Places to Eat in Hong Kong

Wonton Noodles

Mak’s Noodle (麥奀雲吞麵世家) –  77 Wellington St / Central

Locals often said that Mak’s has a small portion (the bowl was literally the size of my hand), but good things come in small packages here. Noodles were al-dente with the tender bite-sized wontons nestled comfortably next to each other. Hey, it’s so good that it has it’s own Wikipedia page! Yep.

(正斗粥麵專家) – Shop 3016-3018 IFC Mall / Central

Conveniently situated at Hong Kong International airport and the IFC Mall, this places serves up food exactly as its name suggests. However, friends gave mixed reviews of Tasty even through Simon and I happily ate the beef brisket noodles here. I was so happy about the tender beef and the aromatic broth I returned for a second time. Oh and we were ecstatic about the overstuffed char-siu cheung-fun (rice rolls) too.

Dim Sum

One Dim Sum (一點心) – Shop 1 & 2, G/F, No.15 Playing Field Road / Prince Edward

After working our way through the streets of Mongkok’s endless outdoor markets, we ended up at One Dim Sum where the queues were packed full of locals and tourists at 3pm. Once awarded with one Michelin star, they must be doing something right! We ordered an endless bamboo skyscraper of dim sum goodies including the star dishes of curry squid and baked char siu buns. To be honest, the dishes were good but not the best I ever had. Great value for some solid dim sum numbers though. Go on weekdays for your best bet to bag a seat before h-angry kicks in.

Tim Ho Wan (添好運) – G/F & M/F, 9 Fuk Wing Street / Sham Shui Po

The best valued one Michelin star restaurant in the world? I was sceptical with all the hype. However, after my initial experience with One Dim Sum, I realised that dim sum in Hong Kong is a household meal, and perhaps my expectation was too high for such a local’s favourite. Just expect good dim sum at very reasonable prices. Nothing more, nothing less. Make sure to get the baked char siu bun, it started a cult following apparently!

Roast Goose and Char Siu

Yat Lok Barbecue Restaurant (一樂燒臘飯店) – 34-38 Stanley Street / Central

No trip is complete without visiting one of HK’s local BBQ eateries and sample its roast goose. Yat Lok is such a famed institution. There are no smiles here and service is choppy at best. I was emotional, not because of the service, but because the bowl of roast goose and char siu over rice is just so simply tasty. A life changing experience for me, and the fact that I wanted to return for a second, third, and fourth time, says it all. Not sure if London’s Four Seasons roast duck will ever live up to this.

Dumplings

Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) – 30 Canton Road / Tsim Sha Tsui

I last tried Din Tai Fung when meeting up with a friend in Singapore. This time in Hong Kong, it was my first and most important stop to get this in my belly. Thin soft skins bursted open with aromatic soup, before I experienced the most tender bite into the pork and crab filling. Solid dumpling fare at this well-established institution so expect long queues as this is loved by locals and tourists.

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao (翡翠拉麵小籠包) – IFC Mall, 8 Finance Street / Central

A serious contender for Xiao Long Bao in Hong Kong. Although not as good as Din Tai Fung, it maintains all of the top qualities required to be in the big league of dumplings, pillowy texture, abundance of tasty soup and that tender filling.

Hong Kong Desserts

Yuen Kee Dessert (庙街源記喳咋) – 64 Temple Street / Jordan

Simon and I loved the Temple Street Night Market near Jordan. A must see if you visit Hong Kong! The sound and smells of food stalls alongside street after street of open air market vendors selling everything imaginable to mankind happens here in the evening until 11pm. Hong Kong locals love to stay out late in the nice balmy evenings. While we were looking around, we found this little gem tucked away with quite a few customers outside. We ordered an almond sago and papaya silver fungus soup, both tasted delicious and rounded off our sweet tooth really well.

Tai Cheong Egg Tarts (泰昌餅家) – Various locations over Hong Kong

Is it possible to drink an egg tart because it is so soft and gooey? Well, I think quite a few people did just that. I didn’t get a chance to sample this little spot in Central but have seen quite a few happy eaters slurping down the egg tart as if it was liquid gold. Egg-cellent buy!

Ice Cream

Cha Cha – Food Court, Harbour City Mall / Tsim Sha Tsui

I don’t usually recommend ice cream places unless they were seriously good. This place makes them out of Hokkaido milk and matcha, which results in the creamiest and smoothest texture to die for. Warning: just make sure to come back for a second time to have it again, otherwise you’ll be craving it like me by the time I arrived back in London.

Unfortunately, due to a limited time in the city, I could only physically fit in as many meals as I can. This resulted in a lot of overeating and indulgence, and I still haven’t covered all of them.

Oh well, more for next time I suppose? 🙂