With around 15,000 registered restaurants in Hong Kong alone there is so much to choose from. Because Hong Kong is an international city with lots of people from various backgrounds coming together just the different types of cuisine can be overwhelming. I was in Hong Kong for a week with a quick day trip over to Macau and these are my favorite foods from this trip.
Dim Sum
While I was in Hong Kong I had dim sum in two very different restaurants and both had Michelin Stars. The first place was Tim Ho Wan, one of the cheapest Michelin starred restaurants in the world. They now have multiple locations all over the world. My favorite dish that I tried was the shrimp dumplings.
The second dim sum meal I had was at Tin Lung Heen, a two star Michelin restaurant located on the 102nd floor of the Ritz-Carlton. This was one of the most memorable meals of my life. I quite literally started to cry about halfway through my two and a half hour lunch, the amazing food with the beautiful view of Hong Kong was just too much! The lunch was five courses but each course had three to four different pieces so by the end of the meal I was totally stuffed. I don’t even think I bothered with dinner that evening!
Afternoon Tea
Hong Kong was once a British colony so there are some distinctly British traditions that have stuck around, one of these is afternoon tea. I indulged in afternoon tea at the InterContinental Hotel Lobby Lounge overlooking Victoria Harbour. While the idea of afternoon tea may have come over from England, the items on the menu have a distinct asian flair, think flavors that include ginger, yuzu, and wasabi.
Skewers on the Street
While I was in Macau I wanted to try street food and one of the things I had seen in researching this trip was skewers of meat, fish, and veggies being cooked in a hot broth then served covered in curry sauce. So when I came across one such street stall I had to try it for myself. The process is fairly simple, you are given a large bowl to select the items you want cooked. There was a bit of a language barrier between me and the woman who was running the shop but they had a menu with english translations. Through some pointing I picked out two skewers and had her select one surprise one for me. That one ended up being filled with cheese – so good!
Egg Tarts
Another item that was influenced by European colonization is the egg tart. You can find these in both Hong Kong and Macau. In fact, as part of the dessert course at Tin Lung Heen there was an adorable mini egg tart. There are multiple versions of the egg tart in Asia but the one that is most well known in Macau is the Portuguese version. I tried one from Lord Stow’s Bakery the most famous place to procure an egg tart in Macau. It is hard to describe, it’s not quite a quiche not quite a mousse, but it is all around delicious.
Noodles
I couldn’t leave Hong Kong without getting to eat some noodles. Kwan Kee Bamboo Noodles is one of the few places that still makes noodles the traditional way using a bamboo pole to roll out the dough. I was lucky enough to see them making noodles when I stopped in for lunch. I ordered the wonton noodles with shrimp dumplings and a lemon tea.
