Hong Kong for Families
DINING
Hong Kong – The World Wide Wok
You’ll be spoilt for choice with a smorgasbord of dining options
in Hong Kong, with traditional Cantonese cuisine, European fare and even
a burger and fries.
Where to Eat? The choice of restaurants in Hong Kong is overwhelming
– there are over 9,000. You can choose any number of ethnic flavours
and standards from world-class five star Michelin to delightful and authentic
street vendors. Depending on how adventurous your family is, you can make
your visit to Hong Kong a complete culinary experience.
Like shopping and retail, Hong Kong’s dining options are divided
into districts. Although it is still possible to obtain a range of foods
in any one district, each has become famous for particular styles and
regional menus:
Causeway Bay serves traditional Hong Kong fare in abundance
Lan Kwai Fong and Soho serve cosmopolitan dishes and are great for late
night revelling
Stanley features alfresco with an international flavour
In Kowloon you’ll find reasonably priced and authentic Chinese
Lei Yue Mun, Sai Kung and Lamma Island serve fresh seafood treats
Hung Hom has numerous specialty restaurants for a great choice under one
roof
CANTONESE CUISINE
When
people talk about Chinese food outside of China, it’s most likely
Cantonese. Because most of the Chinese who travelled the world came from
Guangdong (Canton), the international ‘Chinese’ meal stems
from their incredibly varied and delicate recipes. It’s easy to
find ‘Chinese’ meals in any big city, but you won’t
find Cantonese anywhere like in Hong Kong.
Authentic Cantonese cooking is performed like an art. Ingredients and
spices like ginger and soy sauces are chosen with great care and cooked
with precision. Cantonese kitchens are always hot, noisy and steamy because
the process of preparation will always take precedence over the comfort
of the cook. To observe a Cantonese master chef in action is almost theatrical.
The freshest ingredients are added at precisely the right moment, tossed
stirred and served with all the aplomb of a true creative genius. Hong
Kong chefs, like rock stars, are very creative and competitive and cultivate
followings wherever they go. Hong Kong’s own style of Cantonese
is considered a refined and artistically enhanced form of the traditional
style.
The Discovery Channel’s celebrity chef, Anthony Bourdain, believes
“the most impressive thing about Chinese cooking is how much there
is of it, and how much more there is. There’s so much unfinished
business …”
HOT PICKS
Fook Yuen Seafood Restaurant, Houston Center, Tsim Sha Tsui East (Kowloon)
Recently opened, this new Cantonese restaurant is a little pricey but
offers a wonderfully authentic and visually exciting menu. With such alluringly
named dishes – almond cream sweet soup, snake soup and bamboo fungus
with double boiled essence of toad – you know you’re in for
a treat. The signature dish (translated), ‘drunken shrimp on fire’,
is served as a marvellous tableside show.
Open daily 8am-11pm, 4/5 stars. Dishes in the mid-HK$300s (AU$50)
Ph +852 2117 2333
Green Island, 16a Possession St Sheung Wan (near Ferry
terminals, Hong Kong Island)
Green Island is also recently opened and places more emphasis on funky
décor and hip staff than award-winning cuisine. Sure to impress
any teens in your family, the English menu is a bonus and includes such
creations as deep-fried peanut butter sandwich doused in syrup. Mmmm!
Traditionalists, don’t worry, can still enjoy decent local fare
and be sure to try the <geung mutt>, or ginger honey tea.
Open daily 7am – 11.30pm 3/5 stars. Dishes under HK$200 (AU$33)
Ph +852 2986 8886
Ngau Kee Food Café, 3 Gough St Central (recently
relocated)
Authentic and a bit rough around the edges, Ngau Kee’s diner is
a great example of a traditional dai pai dong (open air food stall). Not
everything will appeal, so choose carefully. Dishes are often experimental,
using familiar ingredients in unusual ways – a wonderful trait in
Hong Kong. The beef is better than the pork, but don’t be put off,
this café is a true Hong Kong experience.
Open Mon-Sat 11am – midnight. 3/5 stars. Dishes under HK$200 (AU$33)
Ph +852 2546 2584
***
DIM SUM
The traditional and internationally popular form of Chinese fast food,
most people have experienced <dim sum> at home. If you haven’t,
then Hong Kong is a great place to start.
Steamed pork buns, shrimp dumplings, beef balls and pan-fried squid with
spicy salt are just some of the local favourites. But extend yourself
and try some of the more exotic varieties like fried water chestnut cake,
lotus paste bun and steamed turnip cake.
A perfect family activity, the eating of <dim sum> is called <yum
cha>, in reference to the great quantity of tea that is drunk with
the meal. Dishes, usually steamed, are served in little bamboo baskets.
You just stop the waiter and take one. You are then billed per basket
at the end. Great fun!
Sunday is the usual day for <dim sum>, but you’ll need to
compete with everyone else in Hong Kong.
For a primer on the mind-boggling varieties of dim sum, visit the dim sum guide at: www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/gourmet/dimsum
HOT PICK
Super Star Seafood Restaurant, Wilson House, 19-27 Wyndham
St, Central (with branches in Tsim Sha Tsui's Harbour City, Causeway and
Wan Chai)
This much talked-about restaurant is a dim sum place with a twist. Hugely
popular, it’s always lively and full of action. Crazy dishes like
shrimp har gau, deep-fried stuffed crab claws and poisonous stone fish
are popular with locals, but the dim sum (served until 5pm) are the drawcard.
Ask about the dim sum in animal shapes!
Open Daily 11am-11pm. 3/5 stars. Most dishes under AU$50 (HK$300)
Ph +852 2628 0339
Dong, Arcade 2, Hotel Miramar, Tsim Sha Tsui
A favourite with food critics, Dong combines an imaginative, mainly Cantonese
menu, with upbeat décor and exemplary service. A great dim sum
range with much interest in the roast goose and birds nest soup with minced
partridge.
Open Mon-Sat 11.30-2.30, 6pm-10.30 Sunday and holidays 10.30-3.30, 6-10.30.
4/5 stars. Dishes under AU$50 (HK$300)
Ph: +852 2315-5166
House of Tang, Metropole Hotel, 75 Waterloo Rd, Ho Man
Tin (Kowloon)
Not far from the famous Ladies’ Market and bustling Nathan Road,
this is one of the most famous and authentic <dim sum> restaurants.
Outside of the <yum cha> crush, there’s the much talked about
barbequed eel fillets or crispy smoked duck.
Open daily 11.30am – 2.30pm, 5.30pm-11.00pm 4/5 stars. Dishes under
AU$50 (HK$300)
Ph +852 2761 1711
***
WESTERN AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL CUISINE
It might seem a long way to go for a burger and fries, but be assured every conceivable style of western food is available throughout Hong Kong and Kowloon. In particular Italian, French, ‘Fusion’, Japanese and Thai proliferate with a quality that rivals their home countries.
HOT PICK
Why not combine an excursion to The Peak with a non-Chinese meal? At the top you will find a broad range of quality familiar take-aways, cafes and family-style restaurants with such names as Bubba Gump, Kyo Hachi, Tien Yi, Pearl on the Peak, (good ol’) Burger King and Eating Plus, all of which will complement a great day out.
Café Deco, Peak Galleria, The Peak, Ph +852 2849
5111
A great al fresco dining experience, Café Deco would have to be
the pick of the Peak. With expansive seating, it’s easy to get a
table for a large family and the comprehensive menu is sure to please
everyone. If you get tired of the expansive view of Victoria Harbour,
check out Hong Kong’s largest collection of art deco artefacts hanging
from the walls. Book well in advance for the best tables.
Café Deco is open 365 days a year.
Monday to Thursday: 1.30am to 12 midnight
Friday & Saturday: 11.30am to 1.00am
Sunday & Public Holidays: 9.30am to 12 midnight
4/5 stars. Dishes under AU$50 (HK$300)
More info: www.cafedeco.com
Mandarin Grill, 5 Connaught Road, Central
If you fancy a treat for yourself and the kids, then head to this upscale
hotel for Sunday brunch when kids under 1m tall eat free. Kids under 12
are not permitted Monday-Saturday. Great for top shelf western cuisine
like Wagyu beef, sashimi and oysters.
Daily 7-11am; noon-3pm; and 6:30-11pm 4.5/5 stars. Dishes over AU$50 (HK$300)
Ph: +852 2522 0111
Al's Diner, 39 D'Aguilar St, Central
You’re on holidays, right? When you’re done dim summing and
the kids are ready to revolt, head for Al’s Diner in Central where
they can indulge themselves in Al’s all-American menu. Burgers,
hot dogs, sandwiches, chilli, meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, milk shakes,
ice-cream floats, banana splits – it’s all here. Do it for
the kids.
Open Mon-Sat 11:30am-1am, Sun 11:30am-midnight. 2/5 stars. Dishes under
AU$50 (HK$300) Ph: +852 2869 1869
TABLE MANNERS
Mainland Chinese sometimes stick their chopsticks into a communal bowl.
This is frowned upon in Hong Kong. Look for special serving sticks or
spoon.
Flipping a half-eaten fish over on the plate is bad luck. You’ll
capsize the fisherman’s boat. Remove the bones instead.
Don’t worry if people put their fish bones on the tablecloth next
to their bowl. It’s normal. Just don’t do it at home!
It’s polite to accept tea during a meal and make a point of thanking
the waiter with a light tap on the table and a quick smile. Hang the lid
on the handle for a refill.
Chinese love toothpicks and its good form to use one after a meal. Shield
your mouth with your other hand while doing so.
Don’t leave chopsticks poking upright out of your rice. It’s
bad luck.
TOP
TIP
Merchants and Restaurateurs who display the Quality Tourism Services (QTS)
logo on their premises have passed a stringent quality assurance entry
test to deliver a superior level of service. A listing of these businesses
can be found at the HKTB website: www.discoverhongkong.com
Star ratings are provided by HK Magazine’s
2006 Restaurant Guide, Hong Kong’s most respected independent dining
guide.
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