Remember those Choose Your Own Adventure books you had as a kid? The ones where you had a story-altering decision to make at the end of every chapter? Dining out in Hong Kong is like that. The culinary options are so varied and plentiful (it’s famous for its cuisine, after all) that at the end of one meal, you’ll be planning the next!
In some destinations, you plan your day around the landmarks first. In Hong Kong, it’s food + landmarks, with the cuisine feeling like as much a part of your sightseeing agenda as the Big Buddha and riding the Peak Tram.
From local street food to decadent fine dining, every meal leaves you yearning for more.
Choose Your Own Adventure: breakfast
The beginning of any food adventure is breakfast, of course!
Yum cha, congee, and porridge are traditional breakfasts you’ll find on Hong Kong locals’ plates. Ho Wah Restaurant is great for a casual brekkie or enjoy a delectable brunch when popular Hoi Won Teen opens at 11 am.
Most Hong Kong hotels offer traditional foods at their buffet breakfast, making it ideal to sample several local treats. The Clipper Lounge at the Mandarin Oriental and the Classic Hong Kong Breakfast at the Four Seasons Lounge are top picks.
Once your breakfast chapter is complete, will you head to Street Food Snacks or Local Legends? The choice is yours…
Choose Your Own Adventure: street food
Experience Hong Kong flavours at affordable prices when you sample the city’s tasty street food. Exploring Hong Kong’s ample attractions requires fuel. With street food stalls everywhere, this is sustenance on-the-go.
Enjoying cheung fun at Tai Po Market, sampling egg waffle yumminess as you wander Kowloon or following the waft of roasting chestnuts down a side alley all impress the palate.
Choose Your Own Adventure to either Local Legends or Award-winning Restaurants from here.
Choose Your Own Adventure: local legends
Your Hong Kong visit is not complete without trying a local legend. And there are two standouts: cha chaan teng and dim sum.
Cha chaan teng are tea restaurants dating to the ’50s. They serve Hong Kong’s famous milk tea, along with bite-sized treats like flaky egg tarts and delectable pineapple buns. Lan Fong Yuen in Central is an OG spot; try their stocking milk tea.
Also bite-sized and as delish, dim sum is a Hong Kong must-eat meal. Served at yum cha restaurants, these savoury and sweet treats are perfect to share with friends and family. There are excellent traditional and fusion dim sum restaurants across the city.
Will you head to Award-winning Restaurants next or jump to Michelin-starred Meals?
Choose Your Own Adventure: award-winning restaurants
With over 15,000 restaurants in Hong Kong, it can be a little overwhelming to choose. Thankfully, Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants did the hard work for you, placing five lip-smacking Hong Kong restaurants in their 50. Plus, eight secured a place on the 51-100 (rising star) list.
The steamed flowery crab at The Chairman, salt-baked chicken rice at Neighborhood, and the beauty of Caprice’s meals had us drooling onto our keyboards.
If there’s still room, skip to Dessert or Street Food for a final bite before bed.
Choose Your Own Adventure: Michelin-starred restaurants
There are now 78 Michelin-starred restaurants in Hong Kong, with an additional 12 restaurants placed (or promoted) in 2023! Many are affordable, too, like Yat Lok for Cantonese BBQ or Yardbird’s addictive yakitori skewers.
For sophisticated fine dining, head to Ta Vie. This innovative Japanese-French restaurant received three Michelin stars this year. The Peking Duck at T’ang Court and Ah Yat braised abalone at the Forum are drool-worthy, too.
Choose Your Own Adventure to bed with a full tummy or can you fit in Dessert?
Choose Your Own Adventure: dessert
If you have a sweet tooth, you’ll be glad of that extra ‘dessert pocket’ in your stomach for Hong Kong’s traditional desserts. Leave space for tofu pudding, a silken delight, or creamy mango sago pomelo pudding.
In Kowloon, visit Kung Wo Beancurd Factory and Kai Kai Dessert. For the perfectly fluffy egg tart snack, visit Tai Cheong Bakery in Central.
Don’t want the story to end? Head to the bonus chapter, Taste Around Town!
Bonus chapter: Taste Around Town
If you used to binge-read books as a kid, you’ll love the Taste Around Town foodie-focused event. This November, you can cram in the best of Hong Kong’s flavours at around 400 locations on an exciting culinary journey.
Experience limited-time discounts, exclusive tasting menus, Hong Kong-inspired cocktails, and more. And it’s not too late to get there as Cathay just added extra capacity from Australia!
Epilogue (the deets)
While a Choose Your Own Adventure book comes to an end, Hong Kong’s culinary version is only just beginning.
To bring each chapter to life, visit Discover Hong Kong to plan your Hong Kong getaway.
Psst: did you read that the Regent Hong Kong has just opened?
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