Hong Kong is a foodie destination. No doubt about it.

Living in Central Coast California, I was really missing authentic and delicious Asian food. I’ve had a sad share of bad rice, a staple that isn’t even reliable here. So the food I was after in Hong Kong is Asian – Japanese, Shanghainese, dim sum, local delights. Oh, and chestnut cake.

Nostalgia food – pineapple bun, yin yang tea (鴛鴦-coffee and tea with milk), butter toast and french toast, egg sandwich, egg tart, Portuguese tart, coffee with condensed milk, ice lemon tea. The offerings of Hong Kong’s iconic coffee shop. 茶餐廳 or cha chaan teng. Tea houses. East meets West that is uniquely Hong Kong. The cha chaan teng is a culture, with its own language. I just point at pictures.

(For the coffee or kopi culture in Singapore and how to order)

Tai Hang and Sai Ying Pun

On this trip, I stayed in two areas in Hong Kong – Tai Hang and Sai Ying Pun.

My mom and sister were in town for a month plus and booked a monthly service apartment in Tai Hang, close to my brother’s place. Equipped with a kitchen and laundry, the apartment comes with weekly cleaning service and a doorman, which is common in Hong Kong. The apartment is close to a bus stop and is on a mini bus route to Causeway Bay. One of the bus routes goes to Repulse Bay.

Walking distance from the apartment are also some great local restaurants including the one Micheline-star Teochew restaurant, Chiu Chow Gourmet.

My friend from Singapore flew in for a few days and together, we stayed at Jen Shangri-La. She came with a plan and lots of suggestions for our nights out. Jen is an easy walk to a couple of MTR stops, the tram lines, and a lot of food. Breakfast at Jen was a delicious buffet. It has a roof-top pool, where my little niece came to swim. Its restaurant, Café Malacca, was listed as a Bib Gourmand restaurant in Michelin Guide 2014.

And so on this trip to Hong Kong, I got to eat a lot of different food including Shanghainese, congee, Teochew, herbal jelly, and home-cooked meals which were among my favourites. At my brother’s, we had borscht and beef stew. For our groceries, we went to a Japanese supermarket and the wet market in Causeway Bay.

Chinese Cuisine | Coffee & Afternoon Tea | Hong Kong After Dark

Chinese Cuisine in Hong Kong

Much to my delight, I ate all kinds of Chinese food. You can’t really go wrong with food in Hong Kong. Okay, except Din Tai Fung.

Chau Kee

Shop H1, G/F, Tung Lee Mansion, 1C-1K Water Street, Sai Ying Pun, Western District, Hong Kong. A five-minute walk from HKU MTR Station, Exit B1. Tuesday to Friday 10 AM-8 PM and Saturdays and Sundays 9 AM-8 PM.

Let’s start with the Hong Kong style French Toast.

The French Toast came to Hong Kong by way of the British. Hawker stalls adapted it using sliced white bread instead of French baguettes. This is a beloved staple at tea houses in Hong Kong.

My friend and I stumbled onto Chau Kee walking back to the hotel. We were so hungry and this looked good. Most of the tables were already taken up. It wasn’t until we saw how many tourists in there photographing their food, that we realized this place may be known for something. Yep, the French toast. Here, you can have it the traditional way or choose fillings like sweet potato, black sesame, chocolate, and lava custard with salted egg.

Soon our little table, which we shared with a guy was filled with dishes. I was craving simple veggies with mushrooms and shrimp dumplings. We also got the shrimp toast, spring beans, rice rolls, Golden Lava French Toast… we were hungry!

Chi Lin Vegetarian

Nan Lian Garden, 60 Fung Tak Road, Diamond Hill, Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon. Take the Kwung Tong (Green) line to Diamond Hill Station and it’s 5 minutes from Exit C2 Plaza Hollywood (old shopping mall). Follow the signs from the train station. Free entrance 7AM – 9PM. Chi Lin Nunnery, 5 Chi Lin Drive, 9AM – 4:30PM.

Located at the Silver Strands Falls at Nan Lian Garden, Chi Lin Vegetarian is a popular restaurant that requires reservations. When you do, try for a table with the view of the falls. We arrived at a busy and full restaurant. Service was quick with so many wait staff. In addition to a set meal, we also chose additional dishes for the three of us. What we ordered was delicious. It’s not imitation meats (tofu-based), which is often the case.

Note: There is no photography allowed.

Chiu Chow Gourmet

Chiu Chow Gourmet, 7 King Street, Tai Hang, Hong Kong. Less than a 8-minute walk from Tin Hau MTR Station, Exit B.

Located at 7 King Street in Tai Hang is this tucked away gem. One of many restaurants in this local neighbourhood, Chiu Chow Gourmet has earned one Michelin star several years running. This was my last meal in Hong Kong, before heading to the airport. The cuisine here is from southern China. Chiu Chow (Cantonese pronounciation) or Teochew (Mandarin pronounciation). My mom ordered fish ball soup, a steamed fish, veggies, porridge, and goose.

Chiu Chow Gourmet is a very small restaurant and reservations are recommended.

A few days before, I had walked over for some congee and Chinese donut. Just a few storefronts down from Chiu Chow at 9 King Street is the reopened former Kang Kee Congee (新康記粥店). This eatery is even smaller than Chiu Chow. When I got there, a group of three Asian-Canadian girls were already there photographing their food.

Between Wun Sha Street and Warren Street, from 3rd Lane to School Street (one over from Tung Lo Wan Road), there are all kinds of restaurants to choose from.

Ning Bo Residents Association 

4/F Yip Fung Building, 10 D’aguilar Street, Central, Hong Kong

This was the spot I most looked forward to on this trip. Authentic Shanghainese cuisine. I’ve never seen this place not crowded. This restaurant is part of the private club, Hong Kong Ningbo Hometown Association. Founded in 1967, it first supported and helped integrate the continuing flood of people coming from Shanghai to Hong Kong in the 50s. As the city fell to communism, people started to leave, if they could, until the border closed. This is a story familiar to me as this is the story of my parents and family.

The menu is extensive. If you’re new to Shanghainese cuisine, try some classic dishes. Xiaolongbao (steamed pork dumplings), fried dumpling, Marinated Wheat Gluten, Malantou and 5-Spice Bean Curd Salad, Drunken Chicken, rice cakes, 8 Treasure Rice, Sweet and Sour Fish, fried pancake with scallion, and Soy Beans, Tofu Ribbons, and Salted Mustard Greens.

Din Tai Fung

Shop G3-G11, Ground Floor, 68 Yee Woo Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. 11:30 AM to 10:00 PM.

Din Tai Fung is a world-famous Taiwanese restaurant that you can find in many countries, including Hong Kong. Founded in 1958, this dynasty began as a shop selling oil. Their signature Xiao Long Bao or steamed pork dumpling came into being in 1972. Now Din Tai Fung has over 170 restaurants worldwide. They are in five states in the US, the newest opening in Arizona, USA and one downtown Vancouver, Canada. The flagship restaurant in Taipei may still be the best or so they say. For this one, you really do need a reservation. We went without one and the line was way too long. Pass. It was only 11AM.

So when I was in Hong Kong, we went to the one in Causeway Bay. Since these restaurants are franchises, quality and menu vary. The Causeway Bay location? It’s not great. I’d skip it and save it for your trips to Taipei and Singapore.

There are over twenty locations in Singapore. I probably went to the ones at Parkway Parade and Paragon the most. I loved the Earl Grey Lemon ice tea with the ice tea ice ball, egg fried rice, century egg, duck pastry, beancurd cubes, prawn pancake, steamed chicken soup, plain noodles, steamed red bean buns or dumplings…I don’t eat pork. If you’re in Din Tai Fun, try these.

Kung Wo Tong

G/F 87 Percival Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. 5 minutes from Causeway Bay MTR Station, Exit A.

Kung Wo Tong specializes in herbal jelly and teas. It is also known for its Herbal Tortoise Jelly. Dating back to the Qing Dynasty, its Herbal Tortoise Jelly (guilinggao) is a Cantonese medicinal jelly taken to clear “heatiness” and toxins. Some swear by it for glowing skin. Because it’s bitter, people enjoy it with honey or syrup. The original recipe uses the bottom shell of the Cuora trifasciata, the Three-banded Box Turtle. Nowadays, plant-based versions are available.

In 2006, herbal tea formulas became part of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

With a sore throat, I had grabbed a few pear teas a few days back. While I was in Causeway Bay with my brother and sister, I suggested we go for herbal jelly. We were headed home after a massage, another must if you’re in town. If you want to don’t want tortoise jelly, try Ganoerma and Fig Jelly (high blood pressure and diabetes) or Loquat and Fritallary Jelly (cough and heat), which is what I had. It was cool and delicious. My favourite is still pear tea.

The jellies range from 58 to 72 HKD, which is less than $10 USD. The teas from from 19 to 32 HKD for eat-in to 45 to 76 HKD for a bottle.

Kung Wo Tong is just a few minutes from Times Square and worth a stop.

The story behind Kung Wo Tong is that the recipe came to Hong Kong by way of the imperial physician’s descendants, who opened the shop in 1904. Each day, the tortoise jelly is prepared fresh and kept warm in copper vessels as per tradition.

Coffee Shop and Afternoon Tea

Halfway Coffee

26 Upper Lascar Row, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong.

Halfway Coffee, opened since 2016, has several locations on the Hong Kong side. We were walking to Man Mo Temple when we passed by. Shops and stalls line that narrow street, with lots to browse. My friend negotiated a few purchases, including an abacus. Bartering is part of the fun, if you find it fun. I looked through old photos and postcards.

Parched from a hot day, we both opted for juice. We had to wait a few minutes as it was packed. Some people were parked at tables with their laptops, most in a single seat along the wall. A family squeezed together at a table near the back. This is not an ideal spot to sit because of the line up for the bathroom.

The menu at Halfway Coffee is super cute with hand drawings. They serve a few food options like avocado and smoked salmon sourdough. Aside from a long list of drinks, dessert may tempt you. Before landing on the juice, I briefly pondered the longan date tea, one of my favourite beverages.

Their motto is Coffee, Community, and Memory...though it’s unclear from their website what this is about.

Cafe Landmark

Shop 107-108, 1/F, Landmark Atrium, 15 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong

Central is the heart of Hong Kong and its central business district. It’s also where a lot of shopping is, like the Landmark and IFC.

For nostalgia, I suggested tea at Café Landmark. I was running late on an errand and everyone had already eaten by the time I arrived. They were seated at a booth which was child-friendly. I was hungry and wanted something quick so I ordered a soup and then shared a dessert with my sister. Sitting beneath skylights, Café Landmark always felt like a bright spot for me. It’s been more than a decade since the last time I was in Hong Kong. While this spot is less glamourous than I remember, it is still a great choice.

High tea is a holdover from the British colonial days and in Asia, while there is still the traditional tea and scones, it’s morphed into a delectable buffet. In Hong Kong, you can find afternoon tea in many hotels, such as the famous Peninsula Hotel, Ritz Carlton for the view, the Butterfly Room at Rosewood Hotel (which books two months ahead), and Fortnum & Mason for a traditional afternoon tea. Island Shangri-la in Hong Kong and Singapore may be my favourite.

Fortnum & Mason 181 Hong Kong Shop 022, G/F, K11 Atelier, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon 12 – 5:30 PM

Island Shangri-La Level 6, Pacific Place, Supreme Court Road, Central, Hong Kong 3 – 5 PM Monday to Friday with two seatings on the weekend and holidays (2-3:45 PM and 4 – 5:30 PM)

Peninsula Hotel The Lobby Classic Afternoon Tea and Annual “Teas of Hope” Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon 2 – 5:30 PM

Ritz-Carlton Café 103, 103Fl, International Commerce Centre, 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon 3:15 PM – 5:15 PM

Rosewood Hong Kong, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. 2:30 – 7 PM Monday to Friday and noon to 7PM (weekend and holidays).

Hong Kong After Dark

Maggie Choo’s

G/F Chinachem Hollywood Centre, 1 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong. 6 PM – 2 AM.

Maggie Choo’s was the first stop on our first night together. After catching up in the hotel room, my friend and I headed to Central with a quick taxi ride. Hidden behind a bookshelf is the nightclub. We went on the early side, not yet 7:30, catching people just starting their night crawl and ending their work day. The musicians were still setting up.

We found ourselves in their plush velvet seats, looking up and around the 1930s-inspired bank theme design. Vault doors and a “teller station”. We sat close to their cast iron spiral staircase. Shanghai in the 1930s was called Paris of the Orient. The hayday of colonialism, before the Japanese and the second world war, and before its fall.

The mythos behind Maggie Choo is the fictional character of an intrepid Shanghainese orphan who laughed at fate and said no. Starting with the antique shop left by her parents, she opened a cabaret in an old 19th century English bank. It became a refuge from post-WWII prohibition era and an iconic speakeasy.

This cocktail bar is actually the creation of Australian-born designer Ashley Sutton who first started with The Iron Fairies in Bangkok. This in turn was seeded by his children’s book, The Iron Fairies, which first led to building a “fairy-making” factory. Maggie Choo’s design, Ashley Sutton revealed in a Tattler Asia article, was inspired by the banks the East India Company built in the 1800s and then abandoned.

The menu has cocktails called Driven by Her Dreams, Unfinished Business, Visitor from West, Delusion, Her Inspiration, and Remains of Mystery, which is what my friend had. I went with Visitor from West. Hers was Butterfly Pea gin, house-infused salted plum syrup, black tea, and citrus. Mine was bourbon, ginger, passionfruit, Fino Sherry, and citrus. A delicious start to our evening out.

The Iron Fairies

LG Floor, 1-13 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong

After Maggie Choo’s, we headed to The Iron Fairies around the corner.

Ashley Sutton’s time in mining led to his trilogy of children’s books published between 2006 and 2009. These books were about the adventures of a miner making fairies from iron.

Other locations include Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Bali, Indonesia. Previous locations – Bangkok, Tokyo, and New York.

In the underground club, beneath bottles of fairy dust that hang from the ceiling, we found some seats at the bar. To start, I stayed with bourbon and ordered the Fairy Cobbler. My friend had the Midnight Butterfly. Before we left, she also bought a few iron fairies.

The night really got going with the live band. The dance floor was packed.

The Foreign Correspondents Club

North Block, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central, Hong Kong

As my friend belonged to a few clubs in Singapore, she has club privileges in Hong Kong. One of these is the Foreign Correspondents Club. Singapore actually has seven reciprocal clubs.

The Foreign Correspondents Club was founded in Chungking, China in 1943, when it was occupied by the Japanese. Before relocating in 1949, its base was Shanghai and like many people who could escape and flee, Hong Kong became its new home.

The current premises of FCC was an old ice house, used as storage. It was opened by then governor, Sir Edward Youde in November, 1982. He was given the No. 1 member slot, which went to all subsequent Governor and Chief Execuive, except for Tung Chee-Hwa. He was given the membership number his father had.

Dubbed “one of the best bars on the planet”, FCC has been a favoured watering hole and continues to be a meeting place for the media, financial, and political community in Hong Kong. It’s very colonial-feeling. Still, it was interesting to see the inside of this historic building.

I wasn’t quite hungry yet and we had drinks. The three different menus, Chinese, Indian, and Western, remain largely unchanged over the decades. As I looked around, I saw an array of dishes and a general lively mood. If you’re in for dessert, check out FCC’s many flavours of soufflé.