Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong are not just about “eating snacks”.
From Michelin star-rated Cantonese cuisine to late-night Hot Pot, Hong Kong’s Chinese restaurants offer eight major cuisines in a city, so that foreign tourists who come to Hong Kong for the first time can also eat Chinese food at one time.
This guide selects 10 restaurants recognized by local people and tourists according to the cuisine, scene, and budget, and includes booking skills, payment methods, and a “no mistake” ordering formula to help you save on price comparison and queuing time.
Why are Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong worth making a special trip to?
Hong Kong is one of the cities with the highest density of Chinese food in the world. In the 2,023 TripAdvisor list, 7 of the top 10 Chinese food restaurants were located in Hong Kong (TripAdvisor, 2,023). The Chinese chef here makes ancient barbecue in the kitchen during the day, and flies to Chengdu at night to learn from the spicy proportion. Tradition and innovation are harmonized under the same roof.
For foreign Retainer, the language is friendly (most restaurants have English / picture menus), and the payment convenience (Visa/Apple Pay/AlipayHK is universal), which makes it easy to use chopsticks for the first time.
Michelin Cantonese cuisine: the summit of Lijingxuan and Wenhua Hall
Li Jingxuan (Lai Ching Heen) has won the second star of Michelin for 12 years in a row. Her honeyed barbecue is made of 300-day Spanish black hair pigs, with 5 times of hanging roasts and 5 times of brushing sauce. The entrance is filled with licorice (Hong Kong Tourism Board, 2,023). It is located in Tsimshatsui, and the window is Weigang. The table at 6:30 in the evening can watch the sunset at the same time.
The same two-star Wenhua hall mainly focuses on the “old Hong Kong flavor”, steaming the flower crab with 40 years of orange peel, and the wine flavor permeates the crab meat without covering the freshness. Both companies need to book on the official website 30 days in advance, and the cancellation needs to be completed 24 hours before; otherwise, the credit card will deduct 50% of the meal as a penalty.
Authentic Sichuan flavor: “Chengdu level” spicy in Hong Kong
The Sichuan House is set up by the Chengdu chef, and the pepper is airlifted from Hanyuan. The spicy degree is divided into 5 levels. Foreign Retainer can order “Level 2 boiled fish” to test the temperature. 2,023 Black Pearl guide listed it as “one drill”, and the comment is “spicy clean, fragrant lasting”.
If you are afraid of spicy, you can add Almond curd to reduce the spiciness, and the free added jasmine tea can also buffer the heat. The restaurant is located next to the handrail elevator in the middle of Central. After drinking the hawthorn juice, you can go to the SoHo bar on the way.
Cheap Dim sum Paradise: 4 US dollars, Michelin with good luck, and a dessert
Tim Ho Wan is famous for “the cheapest Michelin in the world”. 1,500 pieces of crispy baked Cha Siu Bao are sold every day. The crispy layer is mixed with Hong Kong lard and butter 1:1 (Time Out Hong Kong, 2,023). After One Dim Sum was recommended by Michelin, it still insisted on 60 Hong Kong dollars per capita, 28 g of shrimp dumplings, and 2 whole river shrimp.
There is no reservation in either of the two countries. It is recommended to arrive at the shop before 10:30 am on a weekday, and the travel group bus arrives after 11 o’clock, with a queue of at least 40 minutes. It supports Apple Pay and Octopus cards, and Alipay needs the Hong Kong version of AlipayHK.
Foreigners’ friendly payment & Etiquette 5 moves
- swipe card: Visa/Master is almost universal, but the tea restaurant may set a minimum consumption of HK$100.
- Tips: the bill already includes 10% of the service fee, and an additional 5% of cash can be given.
- sharing: Cantonese food is used to “public chopsticks”, and the waiter will take the initiative to provide them.
- Take photos: most Michelin restaurants allow food to take photos, and flash lights are forbidden.
- packaging: the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Agency has controlled disposable plastic since 2,024. It is recommended that you bring your own lunch box, and the restaurant should reduce 2 Hong Kong dollars.
Vegetarianism and the choice of Muslim Chinese food
Vegetarians can lock in the “Kung Fu Dim Sum”, whose black truffle and vegetable dumplings are made with vegetable butter, which does not contain five spices, and has been certified by the Asian Vegetarian Association.
The Muslim certified restaurant “Islamic Central Restaurant” provides Beef Chow fun of Muslim beef. The beef is slaughtered daily by the local Muslim slaughterhouse, which meets the UAE Halal standard (Islamic Cultural Association, 2,023). Both provide English menus and prayer rooms for tourists from the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Conclusion: add Hong Kong’s Chinese restaurants to your “first stop in China.”
Eating authentic Chinese food in Hong Kong is the most relaxing way to open up Chinese culture. Whether you are an international student studying in a city or a digital vagrant looking for 24 hours of delicious rice, Hong Kong’s Chinese restaurants can use multilingual menus, safe payments, and services familiar with international etiquette, so that you can safely tune your taste buds to the “China channel.”
Next time you book a ticket, set Hong Kong as a transfer station, eat eight major cuisines with 3 meals, and then go north to the mainland, you will find that the taste has been integrated into China in advance.
References
Hong Kong Tourism Board. (2023). Quality Tourism Scheme award-winning Chinese restaurants. https://www.discoverhongkong.com/hk-tc/plan/qts/qts-award-winning-chinese-restaurants.html
Islamic Cultural Association. (2023). Halal certification directory. https://www.icahongkong.org
Time Out Hong Kong. (2023). Best Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong. https://www.timeout.com.hk/hong-kong/hk/restaurants
TripAdvisor. (2023). Top 10 Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong. https://cn.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g294217-c11-Hong_Kong.html
