Cantonese restaurants in Hong Kong
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A
Tung Po Seafood Restaurant
Tung Po has revolutionised dai pai dong and it’s not hard to see why. Beer is served in chilled blue-and-white porcelain bowls. The staff strut around in rubber boots and Madonna mics. Boss ‘Ruby’ taps into his experience (in Western cuisine) and talent (a nominee for Best Supporting Actor in the Hong Kong Film Awards) to create Cantonese dishes at once unusual and unusually good. Try the prawn sautéed with egg yolk, squid-ink noodles, and fried rice wrapped in lotus leaf.
reviewed
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B
Victoria City
This banquet hall–style restaurant is a great option for sampling ‘yellow oil’ crabs or wong yau hai (female crabs with creamy yellowish fat permeating their body as a result of the sun’s heat causing the fat in their livers to break down). From June to August, fans of the delicacy flock here for their fix (from $328 per crab). The restaurant’s roasted beef brisket ($68) and rice rolls pan-fried with XO sauce (a spicy seafood-based condiment; $55) are vivid reminders that Victoria City was once one of the top Cantonese restaurants in Hong Kong.
reviewed
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Sha Tin 18
When done right, the Peking duck (whole $398, half $218, 24-hour advance booking required) here – with skin airy like a kiss – is excellent, but sometimes the birds aren’t rescued from the heat in time, and they taste burnt. However, that is a kink this just-opened restaurant may be able to iron out, given time. The pot-stickers ($68), mustard greens ($78) and Chinese-themed desserts are quite delicious. Take a ringside seat at the show kitchen and see if you agree with us. The Hyatt Regency is a five-minute walk from University MTR station.
reviewed
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Fung Shing Restaurant
Dear old Fung Shing may try to hide its wrinkles, but the green-eyed, gilt phoenix reveals its age. It’s a traditional Cantonese restaurant that specialises in the cuisine of the Shunde district, which was formerly known as ‘Fung Shing’ (Phoenix City). Naturally the must-tries here are Shunde classics, such as fried prawn on toast ($100 for 10 pieces), stir-fried milk ($80) and minced quail meat wrapped in lettuce ($98).
reviewed
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Fung Shing Restaurant
Dear old Fung Shing may try to hide its wrinkles, but the green-eyed, gilt phoenix reveals its age. It’s a traditional Cantonese restaurant that specialises in the cuisine of the Shunde district, which was formerly known as ‘Fung Shing’ (Phoenix City). Naturally the must-tries here are Shunde classics, such as fried prawn on toast ($100 for 10 pieces), stir-fried milk ($80) and minced quail meat wrapped in lettuce ($98).
reviewed
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Lung Wah Hotel Restaurant
This former holiday home was turned into a hotel in 1951, where Bruce Lee was supposed to have stayed during the filming of The Big Boss. It’s now a restaurant, frequented by nostalgic adults and history lovers. You’ll find a small playground out front where peacocks are kept in cages, and an outdoor area where old men come to play mah-jong. Food-wise, stick with the roast pigeon ($68).
reviewed
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C
Gi Kee Seafood Restaurant
Reserve a table or expect to queue for a plastic stool at this dai pai dong (open-air cooked-food stall) perched above a wet market. Chan Chung-fai, the man in the kitchen who turns out tantalising dishes such as chicken with fried garlic and shark’s fin soup, is an award-winning Cordon Bleu chef with a huge fan following that includes the likes of Zhang Ziyi and Jacky Chan.
reviewed
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D
Kwun Kee Restaurant
Hong Kong’s top brass make pilgrimages to this very local place for its claypot rice ($38 to $50, available only at dinner) – a meal-in-one in which rice and toppings such as Chinese sausage and chicken are cooked in claypots over charcoal stoves until the grains are infused with the juices of the meat and a layer of rice crackle is formed at the bottom of the pot.
reviewed
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E
Tim’s Kitchen
This restaurant, with one Michelin star, was started by the former chef of a banking tycoon. Expect well-executed Cantonese dishes in unpretentious surrounds. Popular dishes, such as stir-fried prawn ($110), crab claw poached with wintermelon ($160) and braised pomelo skin ($55), need to be pre-ordered. A minimum charge of $200 per person applies to lunch reservations.
reviewed
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F
Kin’s Kitchen
Opened by art critic–turned-gourmand Lau Kin-wai, this understated restaurant mentioned in the Michelin guide touts its Cantonese classics with a modern spin. The owner, looking quite the bon vivant with silver hair and rosy cheeks, is sometimes seen explaining dishes such as the delicious signature smoked chicken (half/whole $268/134) to customers.
reviewed
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Jumbo Kingdom Floating Restaurant
The larger of two floating restaurants moored in Aberdeen Harbour, the Jumbo has interiors that look like Beijing’s Imperial Palace crossbred with Macau’s Casino Lisboa – a flamboyant spectacle so kitsch it’s fun. The food is overpriced but fairly good. There’s free transport for diners from the pier on Aberdeen Promenade.
reviewed
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Ser Wong Fun
This snake speciality shop always looks a little festive – it has red tablecloths and it’s packed. In the cooler months, diners flock here for the snake soup ($65), which is eaten with lemon leaves and fritters. Non-snake eaters come for the duck’s liver sausage and chicken claypot rice ($32), and a plethora of simple and tasty dishes.
reviewed
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I
Veggie Palace
The 10-course meals that Buddhist owner and chef Mrs Fung whips up here are as fabulously funky as her well-coiffed, bespectacled self. With creations like sea coconut and papaya soup, mixed mushroom tart, seaweed and pomelo salad with peanut sauce, who needs meat? It’s packed at the weekends, so book a few days in advance. Extra helpings free.
reviewed
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J
Golden Valley
The Cantonese-Sichuanese restaurant at this hotel owned by controversial entertainment mogul Albert Yeung whips up the best spicy Sichuanese hotpot in town (soup base $120, dishes from $30). The standard of the dim sum is also high. Canto-pop fans may even catch a glimpse of Mr Yeung’s protégés – we certainly did.
reviewed
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K
Chan Kun Kee
Located below a public housing estate, this 30-year-old dai pai dong has improvised a tin roof, ceiling fans and a TV, so its customers can bask in homely luxury while they dine. The hand-shredded chicken ($52) and steamed eel with black-bean sauce ($58) are perfect with beer.
reviewed
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Vbest Tea House
Tucked away on a steep street off Soho, this subdued family-run establishment serves MSG-free comfort food. The owners’ children grew up on this, so you can’t go too wrong. The prawns with rice vermicelli and the pork-and-chive wontons are divine.
reviewed
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Tai Woo
If you're anxious to try old-style Cantonese cooking at its finest, look no further than the 'Great Lake'. The large crab dumplings are out of this world and you might also try the stewed grouper fin and roast pigeon. There's also a branch in Causeway Bay.
reviewed
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Lung Moon Restaurant
The dining experience at this very basic (and friendly) Cantonese restaurant has not changed a great deal since the 1950s, and the prices, while not quite at 1950s levels, are still reasonable. Dim sum is available daily from opening until 17:00.
reviewed
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Toby Inn
This modest eatery is the neighbourhood restaurant of Stanley, with elderly people dropping in for dim sum at the crack of dawn, dragon boaters stopping by for seafood after practice, and families coming in for simple dishes throughout the day.
reviewed
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Grand Stage
This wonderful place, with balcony and booth seating overlooking a huge dance floor in Western Market, features ballroom music and dancing at high tea (14:30 to 18:15) and dinner. The food is fine but come here primarily to kick your heels up.
reviewed
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Ngau Kee Food Cafe
The beef brisket with turnip ($80) and the stuffed eggplant ($55) are famed at this crowded eatery. The boss, a skinny fellow with a perm, will be happy to recommend dishes when he’s not doubling as the delivery boy.
reviewed
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Nang Kee Goose Restaurant
Sham Tseng has long been famous for roast goose, and this 50-year-old place is the most-visited restaurant in the area. Savour the crispy skin and succulent meat with some beer, and there can be no complaint.
reviewed
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R
Hing Kee Restaurant
Previously a roadside stall that started out by whipping up hearty claypot rice and oyster omelettes ($20) for night revellers and Triads, Hing Kee now serves the same under a roof but without the atmosphere.
reviewed
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Tsui Wah
Anyone who spends any length of time in Hong Kong ends up slurping noodles at the territory's favourite late-night eatery at least once. Added bonus: it's something of a pulling place for every persuasion.
reviewed
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Dong
It's the classic hotel restaurant interior right down to the Muzak, but the menu at 'East' does offer adventurous Cantonese dishes, including seafood soups and a forest of fungus.
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