Restaurants in Hong Kong
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City Hall Maxim’s Palace
Noisy, gaudy and cheery, this is the kind of restaurant that formed the earliest memories of yum cha for many Hong Kongers. The dim sum (11am to 4pm Monday to Saturday, 9am to 4pm Sunday) comes in infinite varieties and is paraded on trolleys. A table by the window will let you watch land reclamation in progress where the old Queen’s Pier used to be.
reviewed
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La Kasbah
La Kasbah is a Frenchified Maghreb caravanserai serving dishes from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, which effectively means meze and tajine or couscous. It's good stuff but expensive for what it is. The bar, Medina, is open til 02:00.
reviewed
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Wu Kong Shanghai Restaurant
If you don’t mind the staff looking daggers when you dawdle over your banana fritters, the specialities at this pleasant Shanghainese restaurant – cold pigeon in wine and Shanghainese pot-au-feu – are worth a trip across town. The four-course hairy crab meal (from $400, October to December) is also divine.
reviewed
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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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Yung Kee Restaurant
The roast goose (from $120) here has been the talk of the town since 1942, and it’s not the only thing that justifies the Michelin star. According to an urban myth, a bowl of sweet red-bean soup here sells for $500 because it’s made with century-old orange peel prized for its medicinal value. But while the owner does own some vintage peel, none of it is likely to pop up in your bowl ($22). Dim sum is available from 2pm to 5pm Monday to Saturday, and 11am to 5pm Sunday.
reviewed
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Tai Ping Koon
'Soy sauce Western' (a mix of Western and Chinese flavours) is believed to have been invented in the kitchen of the first Tai Ping Koon, founded in 1860 in Guangzhou. Today tasty classics such as smoked pomfret and roast pigeon are still served in neat, if a little worn, surrounds by the waiters who have been around for decades. The restaurant is also famous for its soufflé, which is sized like a hen and comes in a casserole.
reviewed
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Man Fai
Any time of day you can see people squeezed together here at the few communal tables, slurping up noodles. It’s not a heaven for hygienists, but it is for Chiu Chow squid-ball lovers. The signature balls, desired for their al dente texture, are served with a variety of noodles ($20) and with other ingredients such as beef balls and crispy fish skin (assorted $23).
reviewed
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American Restaurant
The friendly American (which chose its name to attract Yank sailors cruising the Wanch for sustenance while on R&R during the Vietnam War) has been serving decent Northern Chinese cuisine for well over half a century, including a rarely seen Northern delicacy – pig’s throat stir-fried with parsley.
reviewed
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Woodlands
In its latest location above a department store, good old Woodlands continues to offer excellent-value Indian vegetarian food to compatriots and the odd local. Dithering gluttons should order the thali meals ($70 to $75), which arrive on a round metal plate with 10 tiny dishes, a dessert and bread.
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Sushi Hiro
This glorified restaurant is one of the many authentic sushi bars tucked away in commercial buildings, much like the way it is in Tokyo. Like other sushi bars of this grade, it offers a seasonal choice of fish that changes on a weekly basis, and the chef will happily pick the best for you.
reviewed
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China Beach Club
This pleasant bar-restaurant has a 185-sq-metre rooftop and an open-air balcony overlooking Silvermine Bay Beach. Staff are friendly and helpful, and the food is good as well. The two-for-one cocktail ‘hour’ can go on well into the night.
reviewed
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Life Cafe
Life is a vegetarian’s dream, serving organic vegan food and dishes free of gluten, wheat, onion and garlic. Delicious take-away salads from the deli counter cost $50 to $75, and the large one can feed a small family.
reviewed
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Asian Kitchen
A number of foodies on the quest for the best Hainan chicken rice in town have found themselves ending up here in this far-flung place. The bak kut teh (herbal pork-rib soup) has also won quite a few fans.
reviewed
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Kowloon City Thai Restaurants
Kai Tak airport may have shut down in 1998, but the neighbourhood of Kowloon City to the northeast of Tsim Sha Tsui is still worth a journey. This is Hong Kong's Thai quarter, and the area's restaurants are the place for a tom yum and green-curry fix. Kowloon City, packed with herbalists, jewellers, tea merchants and bird shops, is worth a postprandial look around.
One of the most authentic Thai restaurants in the area, Friendship Thai Food (2382 8671; 38 Kai Tak Rd; dishes around HK$32-138; ;10:30-15:00 & 18:00-24:30) is always full of Thai domestics. Golden Orchid Thai (2716 1269, 2383 3076; 12 Lung Kong Rd; dishes around HK$35-65; ;noon-01:00) is slightly more expensiv…
reviewed
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Dah Wing Wah
The walled villages in the New Territories are traditionally homes to the Hakka, a roaming and hardworking people who moved to Hong Kong, among many other places, from the Central Plains of China. Their lifestyle spawned a unique cuisine featuring the liberal use of salt, preserved ingredients and fatty meat. Established in 1950, Dah Wing Wah is the most famous restaurant in Hong Kong for walled-village dishes. Its head chef and managing partner, Hugo Leung Man-to, is famous for his efforts at enhancing and preserving traditional dishes. Hugo sources local ingredients from small farms and food producers whenever possible, and complements them with his insightful experienc…
reviewed
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Yin Yang
Margaret Xu, the soft-spoken chef of Yin Yang, calls her cooking New Hong Kong. A former ad-agency owner who taught herself how to cook, Margaret grows organic vegetables and fruits in Yuen Long and uses ancient preparation methods, such as stone-grinding and roasting in terracotta ovens. Chinese cooking at its absolute, rarefied best this is not. But what Margaret sometimes lacks in technique, she compensates for with passion and originality. Nowhere is this more apparent than in her award-winning ‘waterless’ soup and in condiments such as the galangal dip with extra-virgin olive oil that lends wings to her famed roast chicken. Margaret also gives her own take on local c…
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Crown Wine Cellars
Wine lovers and fans of military history should make a trip to this former ammo depot constructed by the British military just before WWII. You can tour the site and have a meal (dinner from $350) there by subscribing to the one-time ‘silver’ membership free of charge. Take minibus 5 on Lockhart Rd, right behind Sogo department store in Causeway Bay. Minibuses leave roughly every 10 minutes and make a stop at the top of Deep Water Bay Drive. If you don’t feel like making the 5- to 10-minute trek down Deep Water Bay Drive, there are a few minibuses that take you to the doorstep of Crown Wine Cellars. On weekdays, they leave Causeway Bay on the hour until 3pm, and on Saturd…
reviewed
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Lei Garden
Military-like quality control (which obviously doesn’t extend to the decor) has earned two of nine Lei Garden branches, including this one, a Michelin star. Don’t miss its award-winning creation: sweet sago soup with mango and pomelo ($25 a bowl). There are branches in Central (2295 0238; Shop 3007-3011, 3rd fl, International Finance Centre; 11.30am-2.30pm, 6-10pm; MTR Hong Kong, exit E1), Wan Chai (2892 0333; 1st fl, CNT Tower, 338 Hennessy Rd; 11am-3pm, 6-10.30pm; MTR Causeway Bay, exit A), West Kowloon (2196 8133; Shop 2068-70, 2nd Level, Elements, 1 Austin Rd West; 11.30am-2.30pm Mon-Sat, 11am-2.45pm Sun, 6-10.30pm Mon-Sun; MTR Kowloon, exit A1), and Mong Kok (2392 51…
reviewed
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Ap Lei Chau Market Cooked Food Centre
Sharing a building with a market, six dai pai dong operators cook up a storm in sleepy Ap Lei Chau. Pak Kee (6-11.30pm) and Chu Kee (6pm-midnight) both offer simple but tasty dishes in the $40 to $60 range, and affordable seafood selections. You can also buy seafood from the wet market downstairs and pay them to cook it for you the way you want. Every evening, fishermen and dragon boaters come here for the cheap beer (large bottle $12 to $22) and the food. If you don’t mind plastic stools and alpha males trying to out-talk each other, this is the place to go for local flair. It’s a stone’s throw from the Hung Shing shrine.
reviewed
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Lan Fong Yuen
Don’t be fooled by the rickety facade. It hides an entire cha chaan tang. Lan Fong Yuen (1952) is largely believed to be the inventor of ‘pantyhose’ milk tea - a strong brew made from a blend of several types of black tea with crushed egg shells thrown in for silkiness. It’s filtered through a fabric that hangs like a stocking, hence the name, and drunk with evaporated milk. Over a thousand cups of the silky brew ($13) are sold per day. Watch staff work their magic while you wait for a table. A cover charge ($20 per head) applies. The new branch (4A-6 Gage St; 8am-8pm), practically next door, is open on Sundays.
reviewed
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Afternoon Tea at the Peninsula Hotel
More than a Hong Kong landmark, the Peninsula is one of the world’s great hotels. Though it was being called ‘the finest hotel east of Suez’ just a few years after opening in 1928, the Peninsula was in fact one of several prestigious hostelries across Asia where everybody who was anybody stayed, lining up with (but not behind) the likes of the Raffles in Singapore, the Peace (then the Cathay) in Shanghai and the Strand in Rangoon (now Yangon). Taking afternoon tea at the Peninsula is one of the best experiences in town – dress neatly and be prepared to queue for a table.
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Little Egret Restaurant
The Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve is a thickly forested 460-hectare ‘special area’ and is Hong Kong’s most extensive woodlands. It is home to many species of butterflies, amphibians, birds, dragonflies and trees, and is a superb place in which to enjoy a quiet walk. The reserve is supposed to emphasise conservation and education rather than recreation, and about 1km northwest of the reserve entrance and down steep Hung Lam Drive is the Kerry Lake Egret Nature Park and the much-touted, over-priced Museum of Ethnology. In the same complex is the delightful, multicuisine Little Egret Restaurant.
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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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Fook Lam Moon
One of the top Cantonese restaurants in town, FLM is dubbed ‘celeb canteen’ by the local tabloids. But even if you’re not a tycoon, FLM takes care of you from the minute you walk out of the lifts, with cheongsam-clad hostesses waiting to escort you to your table. The huge menu contains expensive items such as shark’s fin and abalone, which would shoot your bill up to at least $1000 per head. Dim sum (from $50) is available till 3pm. The branch in Wan Chai (Shop 3, Newman House, 35-45 Johnson Rd) has a one-star Michelin rating.
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