mbsblue

Planning our Hong Kong itinerary and remembered from our last visit that one of our favorite food stops was gone. We have enjoyed a quick bite at the Pacific Place food court of all places! There was a furniture gallery in its place. Anyone know what happened to the food folks there? It was the best food court ever.
When in Hong Kong we only eat local cuisine (except for the breads at the european style bakeries). Any ideas are welcome - from Kowloon Tong to Causeway Bay covers the bulk of our itinerary (haven't booked the hotel yet). Seriously local cuisine is what we seek. We tend to eat dim sum at lunch and cafe or noodle shop for supper. Our usual MO is to follow the crowd! Thank you for your advice.

Cat12345

Wonton Noodle Soup is indigenous Hong Kong food.
The most famous one but not necessarily the best for wonton noodle soup.

Mak's Noodle
77 Wellington St., Central.
small place, always crowded.

Food outlets in Hongkong have keen competition.
Only the best of the best survives.
Wendy's Burger didn't make it and quit the market few years ago.

mbsblue

Thank you Cat12345. I will add Mak's to our Central list. Its a shame that the pacific place food court is gone, it was always crowded and had the best fried noodles, cashew chicken, and all stalls served fresh green vegetables. Oh well...just means more exploring for us!

Cicerone

Yes, the Pacific Place food court has been gone for some time, there is a sort of pale imitation of it one level down next to the grocery store in <b>Sebu</b> department store, not really the same, but OK for lunch if you are in the area. There is a food court in the Landmark Shopping Centre at the <b>ThreeSixty grocery store in Central</b>, on the top floor of the grocery store, emphasis there is on organic. There is a smaller food hall at the ThreeSixty outlet in Elements Mall on the Kowloon side next to the Star Ferry as well. You could also try the <b>City’s Super</b> grocery store in the Harbour City Mall in Kowloon (near the Star Ferry) as they have a good size take away area (there is a smaller version of this in the City’s Super in the IFC Mall). I don’t think the food court in Langham Place in Mong Kok is much to write home about, and you can certainly get good street food in the neighborhood. There is an excellent, extensive and extremely inexpensive food hall at <b>Citygate Outlets Mall in Tung Chung</b>, which is a long way to go for a food hall, but can be convenient as part of a trip to Lantau. It is called Food Republic and is on the top floor.

I live in Hong Kong and have put together a very long list of my favourite restaurants (40 pages or so) which I would be happy to send you if you send me an e-mail at [email protected]. My list includes some dim sum reccos and a few Cantonese places, but I have to confess a rather lukewarm attraction to Cantonese food generally and for dim sum in particular, as I find it a bit too bland (blame living in Singapore for 5 years and frequent travel to India), and also because I go to many business lunches and dinners where Cantonese food is the rule, and so would not normally choose to eat it in my free time. (If you went to a steakhouse for a business lunch/dinner 4-5 times a month you probably would not go to one in your off hours.) But that being said, if you enjoy simple Cantonese, I would encourage you to get out to places like <b>Aberdeen</b> (not the Jumbo floating restaurant, but the town centre) or places like <b>Sha Tin</b> or <b>Fanling</b> in the New Territories and try very local places there. Or just take the MTR to Chai Wan and wander the streets there, ‘nary a tourist in site and lots of small eateries. (You can walk the Dragon’s Back from here as well or go to Chai Wan at the end of a walk.) Or take the tram to the end of the line in Shau Kei Wan, a very colourful trip from Central, and walk around the small street market there, see some temples, and have a meal anyplace that strikes your fancy. I think the barbeque fish sold on the street in Tai O is worth a trip out if you are on Lantau; the village itself is quite interesting IMO. While the seafood is not local for the most part, a trip which includes a seafood meal on one of the outlying islands like <b>Lamma, Cheng Chau</b> or a place like <b>Po Toi Island</b> (near Stanley) or <b>Po Toi O Village</b> in the <b>Sai Kung</b> area (or even just a trip to Sai Kung itself) is certainly a good meal and a pleasant way to spend an afternoon or evening.

For lunch or tea, you should certainly try one of the <b>Cha chaan teng</b>, the traditional Chinese tea shops in place of a noodle shop or dim sum for a change. Dirt cheap and always good people-watching. The <b>Mido Café</b> (64 Temple Street) in Yau Ma Tei is pretty famous and easy to include if you are on the Kowloon side. I would definitely go to <b>Petit Olala</b> in Wan Chai for spicy Shanghai noodles. (Corner Star Street and St Francis Street, despite its name the owner is Shanghainese.) Also don’t rule out spicy local dishes like “typhoon shelter” chili crab at places like <b>Under Bridge Spicy Crab</b> (414 Jaffe Road and 429 Lockhart Road) or the golden shrimp at <b>Tung Po Sea Food</b> (99 Java Road North Point, can be pricey). Cantonese is more than just dim sum and noodles. Also there is excellent regional Chinese which also has the Chinese emphasis on freshness, including Shanghainese (esp at <b>Shanghai Garden</b>, 10 Harcourt Road Central, a good deal for dinner and less crowded or <b>Xi Yan Sweets</b>, 8 Wing Fung Street Wan Chai and an outlet in Elements Mall) as well as Hakka food (try <b>Hakka Ye Ye</b> 63 Wyndham Street) and great Japanese, Korean and Indian, not to mention lots of European restaurants with European chefs (esp <b>Chez Patrick</b> 8-9 Sun Street Wan Chai for a splurge), all popular with locals. In my experience, Hong Kongers have quite a sophisticated palate, and like to eat all kinds of regional foods as well as European food. Just eating Cantonese dim sum and noodles here is like going to NYC and just eating pizza: you can certainly get some of the best pizza in the world there, but would miss out on a lot of other great food well.

mbsblue

Thank you Cicerone! You are a treasure!! I will digest all that you have provided and log it into my pocket notes for our side trips around HK. Happy eating!! Thank you again.

momow

Hi Cicerone,

I would love to have a copy of your compilation. Could you send to [email protected].

I tried to email to the address you posted but it seems to be error.

Thank you.