Hong Kong Food

When it comes to Chinese food, there certainly is a good variety to choose from - Szechuen (spicy), Beijing (e.g. Peking duck), Guangdong (plenty of that since Hong Kong is in Guangdong, most famous kind would be "dim sum"), Teochew / Swatow (e.g. marinated duck), Shanghai (spicy noodles, small dumplings), just to name a few.

Above: seafood display outside a restaurant on Lamma Island If you're a seafood lover, it is plentiful in Hong Kong. Countless restaurants have fish tanks outside (and in) displaying the goods, which not only includes fish, shrimps, crabs, lobsters, and eels, you might even see stingrays and creatures unnamed. And you can point and choose your dinner.

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what to order]

Above: Egg tarts - they smell good and taste good!

Egg tarts

- You must try these. They are my favorite. Available at most bakeries (the cake shop at just about every MTR station usually has them in the morning), they smell great and taste great! In Cantonese, it is "daan tard". You can find them in dim sum restaurants as well. more about egg tarts

Above: "Cha siu" - roast pork, available at most Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong.

Roast Pork

- Roast pork is also a must! Available at Chinese fast food restaurants and local restaurants. If you see naked cooked chickens and slices of cooked meat hanging in the window, you can probably find it there. You can get roast pork with rice for US$3 or so. Roast pork in Cantonese is "char siu".

Roast Pork Bun

- "Cha Siu Bao" in Cantonese. Yum, yum! There are two kinds, steamed and baked. The baked ones are available at just about all the little cake shops in the MTR stations.

The steamed ones are available at Chinese dim sum restaurants that sell "dim sum" (i.e. snacks) during morning and lunch hours. (Many also have the baked ones.)

Without the need to go on Fear Factor, these are there for you to try, take a picture or video, and post on your Facebook to tell your friends about it!

• Stinky tofu

  - fermented tofu deep-fried. The smell is horrendous. They can be found in some Shanghaiese restaurants, I think. (One store on the "goldfish street" in Mongkok is spotted selling it. 2008.9)

• Jelly fish

  - known as "hoi jit" in Chinese restaurants

• Thousand-year egg

  - eggs black inside, but not really that old! more on 1000-year eggs

• Pork brains

  - kind of like tofu, with slightly more gooey and less body.

• Fish "cloud"

  - this probably stretches the imagination of many. Often listed as a steamed dim sum dish and its host is a big fish head. Fish brains! Hmm, is that where they got the idea of cloud computing?

• Frog

  - often cooked together with rice, tastes and feels like chicken.

• Snake

  - a delicacy, very rich, not recommended in large amount unless you know what you are doing. Also tastes and feels like chicken (what does not?) - well, the skin doesn't feel like chicken when you hold it alive.

• Ox whip

  - you can guess what this is! (hint: it is in the same category as mountain oysters) (It does not taste like chicken!)

• Chicken "forget"

  - you might call them molehill oysters! They don't taste like chicken either!

• Duck's feet / Chicken feet

  - quite common and you can always find them in dim-sum restaurants. more...
  
  

• Intestines and Inerds

  - prepared in many different ways, they come from chickens, geese, pork, beef; you name it, they have it.
  

• Dog

  - in Hong Kong, they usually come hot. There is no specific restaurant that sell them, but you can find the raw material in any bigger supermarkets, canned or refrigerated. Now of course I am talking about hotdogs, since dog eating had been made illegal years ago! So if you want to eat man's best friend, you will have to go to Korea!

"cheung fun"

- steamed rolled up pasta, usually eaten with soy sauce, sweet sauce, peanut sauce, and sesames. One of the favorite breakfast foods.

claypot rice

- steamy hot, a favorite in winter months. Some favorites include: Chinese sausages and preserved duck, minced pork, chicken and mushrooms.

French toast Hong Kong style

- they put peanut butter in between two slices. Try it, you may like it even though I don't!

There're all kinds of fruits available in Hong Kong mostly imported from southeast Asia and other regions, including some you might have never heard of. Lychee, longan, durians, you name it, HK has it. more about HK fruits

Chinese or western desserts, you can take your pick - or both! There're a number of dessert cafes / restaurants in various areas. Most famous would be those offering steamed milk custard and steamed egg custard. more about HK desserts

Foreign to the locals, that is. After having Chinese dim sum lunch a few times, you will probably crave for something familiar - if not, your kids will. Fear not, these are there waiting for you:

• McDonald's - there are hundreds of them
• KFC
• Burger King
• Pizza Hut - dine-in & delivery both; but the pizzas taste slightly different
• Spagetti House
• Pizza Box (formerly Domino's Pizza) - no dine-in I know of, delivery only
• Oliver's - sandwiches and baked potatoes; there are a number of them
• Deli France - breads, sandwiches, soup, etc.

See also: fast food in Hong Kong.

These are foreign to both the locals and westerners. Hong Kong is such an international metropolis that you can find just about any kind of restaurants here. French, Italian, Singaporean, Japanese, Greek, Indonesian, Spanish, Thai, Indian, Korean, Mongolian, German, ... just to name a few. But how authentic they are, you'll be the judge!

Pictured below is what sometimes known as the SOHO district (South of Hollywood - Hollywood Road, that is). Close to the financial district, it is crowded with restaurants of all kinds. You can easily reach it via the escalators going up from Central to Mid-Levels.

Above: SOHO and Lan Kwai Fong are known for its many restaurants.

Floating restaurants

- Located in Aberdeen of Hong Kong Island, they are big ornate boats that look like palaces. You can count on finding seafood there since they have been serving that for decades. Left: the Jumbo floating restaurant in the Aberdeen typhoon shelter.

A bowl of food served at the Modern Toilet Restaurant.

Modern Toilet restaurants

- Yes, you read it right. Another place to try out and blog about! (Unfortunately, it seems that they may not no longer be in business. You may have to go to Taipei to try it out. more about Modern Toilet restaurants

Above: view from the R66 revolving restaurant.

Rotating restaurant

- Enjoy a meal and the great view from a skyscraper. more about the rotating restaurant