HONESTLY SPEAKING ABOUT FOOD IN HK..

I have been there many times and each time I have been disappointed by the food on offer.. I've been to many different places:

street foods,
street restaurants,
fancy restaurants..
travel magazine recommended restaurants,
others..

Since I'm not local I guess I dont' know where to go for the really good places..

I would really like to proved wrong about HK beening a foodies paradise.. because up til now I have not been impressed at all.. I find better canton style food in Australia, New Zealand, and other places....

Maybe I need a local guide next time i stop over..

Hmmmm...in Western societies, Canton style cuisine is usually cooked to the taste of Westerners which is not really authentic. Classic example is sweet and sour pork which is designed for western mouths.

Yeah, you would probably a local to take you to the best places to eat which are not normally mentioned in tourist publications...

well how the system works in chinese restaurants in western countries like in AUST is this..

as a waitress or waiter... when you get an order for westerners.. you will have already written:

sweet and sour pork
black bean beef
fried rice
etc etc..

and I gaurantee you that 99% of the time 2 or three of those dishes will come up.. I have seen it too many times.

sooo... yes definitely catered to the westners.. (so is the menu) however for chinese/hk'ers we can get different sets of menus which are usually in chinese and has about 3 times more dishes than the western one

this is the menu i like as its more authentic and catered to 'locals' and by this.. I also mean it taste better than the stuff in HK..

but regardless... I would love to have a local foody guide next time in HK (and have some desert afterwards )

Desert...? Are we talking about food or girls

how come no one likes cafe du coral? i love the $49HKD hotpot... enough to feed 3 people lol

Yeh, I've seen it in the streets around MK Ladies Market.

I agree but it's not just the dishes and flavours that is different. Chinese Restaurants in Western countries like Australia often prepare and "dress"the food in a Western way. ie. In the west there is a strong preference for chicken breast, no bone, no skin, no fat. In an Authentic Chinese restaurant they may prefer the thigh or back because it has more taste. Same way with beef, pork etc. Another obvious difference is way fish is usually served (whole) in an authentic Chinese restaurant compared to fish pieces in some sort of stir fry in the west.

FYI Bro's, I tried the Delhi Club at Chungking mansions - supposedly the best curry place
in HK according to several articles but i found it a little bland, especially the korma.

The breads were nice and fresh but overall not spicy enough nor with enough seasoning.

There are chinese restaurants that cater to western palate with offerings such as Sesame chicken, Beef and Broccoli, sweet and sour pork etc... and there are those restaurants that serve non-mainstream dishes.  The problem first off is that in the US, most of our ingredients are not fresh.  In HK, the chicken was probably still alive 24 hours ago.  In the US, most of the time, the chicken was killed over a year ago and just sitting in a deep freeze to kill all bacteria.  How the food was raised is also a problem.  In the US, chicken, cows and pork are given growth hormones, and fed the lowest quality feed available just to decrease the harvest time.  I noticed that when eating chicken or any poultry for that matter, that the skin is thin and actually has taste and the meat has a certain "fresh sweetness" to it.  And over in the US, all poultry have much more fatty skin and while the flesh is still juicy, taste bland no matter how you prepare it.

Unless you live on the coast, seafood will never be "fresh", even though the whole fish I dined on was still swimming 10 minutes ago.  The only thing I can say actually tastes good would be the beef, but I'm a steak guy and I buy my cuts at a local butcher instead of the discount stores.

Lastly, there just isn't the competition and desire to make the best dish that they possibly can.  It could be the Americanized work ethic showing up where a dish that "looks" almost like it should, is often presented without second thoughts.  If your restaurant isn't rolling off the tongues of all your customers, your business is done for in HK.  If you don't continually improve and work on being the best, another restaurant will take all your business.  In the states, competition isn't as fierce for authentic food, and worse comes to worse, you can always just market to the gwai low and serve MSG saturated dishes.  If you still fail on that, you can just lower your prices to attract the mexicans, white trash and blacks.  

Bro, I don't think it is the type of dish that is the difference (ie. sesame chicken), I also don't think it is the "freshness". In my experience it is the way the chicken (for example) in the dish is prepared. As I said, in the West, we usually prefer the breast of the chicken because it is perceived as healthier. In China and HK the thigh or back is preferred because it is perceived as "tastier". Generally speaking... and of course there are exceptions, but usual case, the sesame chicken you get in a HK restaurant will not be prepared the same way as the sesame chicken at a Chinese restaurant in the West.

You remind me of someone (non-Asian) who grew up on the Chinese food found in the Chinese restaurants all over NYC.  He was thrilled to hear that he was being transferred to HK for work as he will get a chance to eat real Chinese food.  But once he tried the Chinese food in HK, he was put off by the appearance and taste and never ate Chinese food again in HK.  Now he subsists on eating at establishments like Dan Ryans, Tony Romas, Outback Steak, etc.   

The dishes names may be the same between HK and NYC but the ingredients and tastes differ by a mile.   This reminds me of that thread comparing the beauty of USA ABCs and local HK girls.  Same surnames, but different in every way.  

I understand where you are going with the way the dishes are prepared.  I had the best sweet & sour pork while in HK.  Perfect crisp, right amount of sweet to sour and just finger licking good.  Come to the US and order a plate of sweet & sour pork and you are offered a oily batter covered dried pork with a sugary ketchup sauce and a few sprinkles of pineapples.  Yuck!  Why?  Because the owner knows that his customers don't want to wait the 10 minutes to do it proper, or frankly he just doesn't care to put in the effort.  It's sad, but true.  No competition in the US means no drive to be better.

Anyways, back to great HK food and offerings.

I love cafe de coral too, the breakfast is ghetto as hell but it still beats NYC Chinese crap.  Recently the turnip cakes have "more turnips" LOL... good stuff!  Sigh... I miss HK food, I can't wait to come back soon.  If you really love NYC Chinese food, then there is no way you can eat real authentic HK cuisine.  As for eating the same foods?  I've been in HK for 30 days straight, and all I ate was Cantonese food, different tastes daily for 30 days, I'd bet I can do it for 100 days the same way as long as I get my huge helping of vegetables.  Although I will touch upon some Japanese stuff, but street food such as an order of Takoyaki and a bubble tea for 20 bucks in MK.  And Hui Lau Shan?  I wish we had that here most.

I probably was spoiled by real Takoyaki while in Tokyo so I will pass on the MK offerings.  The batter wasn't the same and it was really really salty and sloppily put together.  I do agree, Hui Lau Shan was pretty good and the offerings are like no other.  However after my first experience with shaved ice, I found myself opting to go there instead of HLS.  Next time you are in HK, try out this place in Jordon, it's right between Temple street and Nathan road, the name eludes me right now.  Right next door was this awesome authentic dessert place, I found myself ordering a take-away of both Sesame and Peanut voo after a big serving of the shaved iced.

a bit of both - double desert...

interesting.. must have a look at it next time if I go shopping with someone there.. or if I'm around the area..

that is true.. everything is prepared differently and the type of cuts are all different..

Mind you though.. I eat anything and everything (edible) that is put in front of me...

I think in Western restaurants.. they have somewhat evolved their cooking compared to traditional ways.. eg.. as you have said cooking fish (cutting it into pieces rather than whole) - I guess they use less of the fish to make more profit..

either way.. I do hope I find what I'm looking for when I'm in HK next time..

Well I can tell you Im asian and have not lost any of my chinese taste buds.. in fact I probably eat more stuff than most other asians out there..

speaking of ingredients.. I'm a bit annoyed - Where I am - we have some of the freshes produce, seafood etc, but alotare all exported to the asian market and in return we get the shitty imports from Asia.. all because of profits...

you just can't win these days..

Desert at Hui Lau Sha is pretty bland. Should try Honeymoon Desert for more original and tasty stuff

Great work there through your compilation.


I haven't been there for a while - used to all the time.  What I loved about that place were the freshly baked breadrolls and salad that came with the main dish.  Great place and very affordable.