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Man Fung Seafood Restaurant
You can't judge a book by its cover, but you can certainly judge a seafood restaurant by its tanks. The live seafood is displayed outside, all seemingly having a good life in what looks like pristine water, until you end it by sending it to the kitchen. Don't be surprised to see your fellow diners diving into basketball-size spider crabs.
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Min Nan Restaurant
This authentic Fujian restaurant is famous for its specialised noodles, porridge and snacks, which, starting from around HK$10 per serving, are an absolute bargain.
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Ming Court
This hotel restaurant serves excellent modern Cantonese fare in a lovely dining room surrounded by replicas of ancient pottery unearthed in the area. Dim sum is served at lunchtime daily.
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Nang Kee Goose Restaurant
Sham Tseng has long been famous for roast goose, and this place is the most-visited restaurant in the area. Savour the crispy skin and succulent meat of the bird with some cold beer and there can be no complaint. The San Miguel brewery is just across the street.
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New Baccarat
This place has been around for so long you have to believe that it's doing something right. Seafood-wise it serves everything from a steamed fish served with soy sauce, ginger and scallion to mantis shrimp cooked with peppered salt.
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New Hon Kee
This seafood restaurant, popular with islanders and visitors alike, is a short walk northeast of the ferry pier on the way to the Tin Hau temple. The grilled prawns and squid are very good.
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Pak Loh Chiu Chow Restaurant
This is one of the best Chiu Chow restaurants on Hong Kong Island, turning out the most perfect shrimp and crab balls and delectable sek-làu-gài (steamed egg-white pouches filled with minced chicken).
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Rainbow Seafood Restaurant
The Rainbow, with its waterfront location, specialises in seafood, especially steamed grouper, lobster and abalone. A plus is that when you book a table, you have the option of being transported by small ferry from Queen's Pier in Central (up to seven sailings on weekdays from to , and up to a dozen on weekends from to ) or from Aberdeen (three optional sailings at , and ).
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Shan Loon Tse Kee Fish Ball
This place started from a nearby cave ( shan loon ) decades ago and has since grown into a busy restaurant with two jointed shops. The signature fish balls are al dente and they are great eaten with ho fan (flat rice noodles). The jyu zaat (dumplings made with fish meat, minced pork, carrot and celery) are usually sold out by noon.
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Shu Zhai
Modelled to resemble a school in ancient China, this breezy new restaurant off Stanley's waterfront serves an assortment of Chinese dishes as nice to look at as they are to eat. Braised Mandarin fish with vermicelli in salty sauce (around HK$150 ) is a must-try. There is a door connecting the restaurant to a branch of Dymocks book shops.
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Spring Deer
This is probably Hong Kong's most famous (though not best) Peking restaurant, and it serves some of the crispiest Peking duck (around HK$280 for the whole bird) in town. The place is extremely popular, so book several days in advance.
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Spring Moon
The Peninsula's flagship Chinese restaurant, Spring Moon is Japanese minimalist with bits of Art Deco thrown in. The Cantonese food is excellently prepared, and the surrounds and ambience are stunning.
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Tai Ping Koon
This place has been around since 1860 and offers an incredible mix of Western and Chinese flavours - what Hong Kong people called 'soy sauce restaurants' in pre-fusion days. Try the borscht and the smoked pomfret or roast pigeon, all specialities of the house.
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Tim's Kitchen
When as many Hong Kong Chinese queue up outside a restaurant at lunch time as they do at Tim's every day, you can be sure that the food is both inexpensive and of good quality. It's a mix of Cantonese staples (fried rice, noodles) with some Hong Kong-style additions (such as fried pasta).
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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 and family diners coming in for cheap and cheery food throughout the day.
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Wang Jia Sha
Another mainland import to cash in on the affluent Hong Kong market, this household name from Shanghai offers delectable siú lùng bàau (steamed pork dumplings; around HK$32 for four), daam daam min (noodles in savoury sauce; HK$28 ) and more.
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Wu Kong Shanghai Restaurant
The specialities at this Shanghainese restaurant - cold pigeon in wine sauce and crispy fried eels - are worth a trip across town. Dim sum (around HK$20 to around HK$48 ) is served all day.
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Yun Fu
No other place does Chinese food in such a fun way. Entering the restaurant through the stone staircase feels like travelling back to the time of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon . After an exotic cocktail garnished with dry seahorses or lizards, your appetite should be whetted for goose liver soaked in dark soy sauce and sliced duck fillet wrapped in tofu paper. For veggie, why not a whole roasted bamboo shoot served in the bark?
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Yung Kee Restaurant
This long-standing institution is probably the most famous Cantonese restaurant in Central. Its signature roast goose has been the talk of the town since 1942 (the restaurant farms its own geese for quality control), and its dim sum ( to Monday to Saturday, to Sunday) is excellent. Set meals around HK$300 - HK$550 per person.
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