209 Best Restaurants in Hong Kong, China

You don’t have to be vegetarian to enjoy the food at Grassroots Pantry. The health-conscious, plant-based menu here is full of vibrant flavors and always reflects the season’s freshest produce. Try the appetizer platters or the market-inspired stir-fries and pastas. Grassroots also offers a delicious selection of gluten-free desserts. Being healthy never tasted so good.

Come here for a refined, modern rendition of quintessential Korean cuisine. Barbecued meats are a must, and we especially recommend the sam gyup sal (thick slabs of pork belly). Moving away from the conventional dishes, Han Ga Ram also offers a few newfangled creations such as fusion salad rolls and spicy pork sliders, which are available on the lunch menu. Traditionalists may want to wash down their meal with soju (a distilled rice liquor), but the staff is also happy to suggest wine pairings to go with each dish.

Hee Kee's claim doesn't ring hollow—it's indeed one of Hong Kong's culinary crab experts. Order the spicy chili crab with garlic and the fried rice, and you're all set for a tasty feast. Dinner time is when the place gets cacophonous and crowded; lunch is quieter, with reasonably priced set meals on offer. There's a branch in Causeway Bay, but this is the better of the two.

Located on a boisterous stretch of Temple Street, this crowded, open-air eatery is the perfect spot to soak in the local atmosphere. The food isn’t amazing, but it’s cheap and offers a wide range of choices. Stick to the wok-tossed stir-fries laced with pungent black-bean sauce or spicy chili salt. Hing Kee is also known for its clay-pot dishes, which are especially comforting during the colder winter months.

As the tongue-in-cheek name suggests, the food at this funky eatery is nothing like your average Chinese restaurant. Dishes are bold and playful, inspired by old-school Chinatown classics but with a decidedly modern twist; standout creations include Cantonese roast goose and wagyu short-rib. Creative cocktails are zhuzhed up with local spirits and ingredients, while the inventive desserts riff on cha chaan teng (traditional tea restaurant) favorites.

If you’re looking for stellar Cantonese cuisine, this is the place for you. The chefs serve a range of modern classics made from the freshest ingredients and influenced by their reverence for natural flavors. There are excellent—and expensive—dishes on the menu like double-boiled bird’s nest and braised abalone, but the humbler dishes like marinated pork knuckle and deep-fried frog legs steal the show. Hoi King Heen is a great dinner destination, and the lunchtime dim sum menu is also worth checking out.

Run by a former private chef to one of Hong Kong's richest tycoons, this contemporary Chinese restaurant serves elevated classics with a twist, like chicken wings stuffed with braised boneless duck web (deboned duck feet), and steamed egg white and crabmeat pudding served in an eggshell. A wine sommelier is on hand to recommend pairings from the in-house cellar.

On the 101st floor of the ICC building, Inakaya flaunts a jaw-dropping, bird’s-eye city view and an equally extravagant interior, the highlight of which is a robatayaki (Japanese equivalent of barbecue) room, where a long counter is adorned with baskets of fresh ingredients. Because robatayaki is served in bite-size morsels, prices can add up, but it’s a fun and unique experience.

Expert in the art of yakiniku (grilled meats), Iroha stocks top-quality ingredients for its tabletop grills. Many go for the premium Wagyu beef selection, but the seafood choices are also worth trying. The thick-sliced salted beef tongue is legendary.

This might not be the prettiest restaurant you’ve ever seen, but its pan-fried beef patties (translated as “veal goulash” on the menu) are incredibly delicious. The browned pastry packets arrive at the table piping hot and bursting with tender minced beef—good luck stopping after just one.

Located within the International Finance Center, Isola’s floor-to-ceiling windows and harborside terrace afford spectacular views of Hong Kong’s famous skyline. The restaurant serves regional Italian fare, with selections like hand-twisted pasta with Parma ham, black truffle, fava beans, and Norcia cheese, or sea bass baked in sea-salt crust. Don't pass up the simple and well-executed stone-baked pizzas. Isola is also as much of a nighttime destination as anything else, and it’s worth coming just to sample cocktails in the equally trendy Isobar upstairs.

British celebrity-chef Jamie Oliver’s first Hong Kong venture may have had a slow start, but its heart is in the right place. The restaurant offers casual, unpretentious Italian cuisine with a heavy emphasis on sustainable, responsibly sourced ingredients. The menu follows the blueprint set out by other Jamie’s Italian outlets around the world. House favorites include hearty sharing planks loaded with cured meats, cheeses, pickles, and greens. Other familiar dishes include the famous prawn linguine.

The food at Jaspas Bar & Grill is delicious and filling, a fitting end to a day of hiking in the hills or enjoying the beach. The international menu is wide-ranging enough to satisfy all tastes. The chicken and Peking duck fajitas arrive on your table sizzling hot; grilled snapper with Asian herbs and Parmesan-crusted rack of lamb are also delicious. Enjoy your meal indoors, or opt for a convivial table outside.

The space is dingy, the tables are cramped, and the staff is brash—but the food makes it all worth it. Kam Fung has been around for more than five decades, serving traditional Hong Kong café fare such as crumbly crusted freshly baked egg tarts, and pineapple buns wedged with a thick slab of butter. Wash everything down with the velvety smooth milk tea after a meal that’s cheap, quick, and absolutely satisfying.

This classic cha chaan teng serves some of the best Hong Kong classic dishes. Sample both their baked treats and carb-focused mains---try the beef hor fun, a savory and aromatic stir-fry noodle dish, followed by a pineapple bun with a slab of cold butter or an egg tart (or both). If you have room for dessert, the Hong Kong French toast is a must.

Tender beef with noodles in soup is the mainstay dish of this humble Hong Kong diner, which, like many similar small local restaurants, only accepts payment in cash. Choose the type of noodles you want (flat rice noodles, thin egg noodles, or vermicelli), beef cut (brisket or tendon), and consider opting for the curry soup version, which lends the dish a spicy-sweet richness. The soups pair beautifully with an iced milk tea.

This bustling, no-frills restaurant that has been around since the 1930s offers some of the best beef brisket noodles in town. Expect a line when you arrive, though solo diners can sometimes jump ahead.

Hong Kong roast meats are famous for a reason, and roast goose is one of the must-try dishes. This is a good place to sample the roasted bird with a side of rice or noodles---the goose skin is crispy, while the meat remains tender and flavorful. The restaurant also serves char siu, roast pork, and chicken; but the geese remain the best option.

Anyone seeking an authentic hot pot experience need look no farther than Ko Lau Wan. Locals flock here for the tender beef and seafood that you cook at your table in a piping-hot pot of broth. The soup selection is quite extensive, but the satay broth and the fish stock with crab are particularly tasty. The owner comes from a fishing village in the New Territories, so there’s no wonder the cuttlefish, shrimp balls, sea urchin, amberjack, and abalone are all so tantalizingly fresh. The adventurous should try the geoduck, a giant clam popular among Hong Kongers, which can be eaten raw as sashimi with soy sauce and wasabi or slightly cooked in soup.

Health-conscious diners will appreciate the simple Shanghainese vegetarian food served at this popular restaurant in the One Peking Road tower. The menu revels in its vegetarianism, rather than trying to emulate meat; highlights include the Golden Treasure Cold Platter, which includes delicious sweet gluten with mushrooms; the Shanghai-style cold noodles with seven different sauces; and bean-curd dumplings. Good, too, are the sweet pan-fried cakes. 

This French-owned spot specializes in thin Breton crepes filled with all sorts of sweet or savory fillings. Most of the clientele is French, which is a good indication of the authenticity of the food. Fillings for these made-fresh-to-order pancakes range from traditional to experimental; La Complète buckwheat galette is loaded with a classic combination of egg, ham, and deliciously gooey melted cheese, while L’Americaine has minced beef, Emmental cheese, tomatoes, egg, and caramelized onions. The dessert crepe selection is just as wide-ranging. La Crêperie also carries a delicious apple cider—the traditional drink of choice for accompanying galettes in Brittany.

Named after Barcelona's most bustling boulevard, the Catalan-inspired recipes are the brainchild of Netflix celebrity chef Rafa Gil. Highlights from the tapas menu include the bombas (deep-fried smoked potato and meat balls covered in bread crumbs and spicy sauce) and the famous ham, cheese, and truffle “bikini” sandwiches. Another must-try is the Segovian-style roasted suckling pig, which is large enough to feed four. The elegant velvet-and-rattan main dining room is beautiful, but the place to be is on the outdoor terrace, which boasts spectacular views of Victoria Harbour. This is, without a doubt, one of the finest Spanish restaurants in the city.

In homage to the iconic Relais de Venise restaurant in Paris, this intimate neighborhood brasserie offers only one entrée: steak frites. A meal here includes a green salad, a perfectly grilled entrecôte steak, and unlimited refills of crispy, stick-thin fries. You can also pick up something from the dessert trolley, which features traditional confections such as éclairs and mille-feuilles.

You can identify Lab Made by the large crowd that’s usually gathered in front of the store. They come for the super-smooth, house-spun ice cream, which is made using liquid nitrogen. The freezing process takes only a minute, which is why everything can be made to order using the freshest ingredients. There are usually only a handful of flavors to choose from, and the menu changes on a weekly basis. If available, go for one of the Hong Kong–inspired flavors, such as bean-curd pudding or sweet red-bean soup.

Celebrate the romance of old Hong Kong at Ladies Sik Faan, an elevated dai pai dong--style experience. "Sik faan" translates to "let's eat" or, more literally, "eat rice"—which isn't a bad idea if you order any of their sauce-heavy dishes like scallops with vermicelli, black bean clams, and sweet and sour pork. Their bite-size prawn toast, topped with a dollop of black truffle, is a must-order when visiting.

Foodies were understandably excited when this iconic French patisserie set up shop in Hong Kong. Its pastel-colored macarons come in a rainbow of flavors, such as classic rose and sea-salt caramel. You can enjoy these delectable confections in the sit-down tearoom, or take them to go in one of the gorgeous pastry boxes.

Previously named Yan Toh Heen, this renowned Cantonese restaurant located in the Regent Hong Kong has an elegant dining room against expansive harbor views and food that is at the top of its class. Exquisite is hardly the word for the decor, which mixes contemporary with the traditional and encompasses gorgeous details like jade-color place settings. Dim sum is done well here during lunch, and if you’re looking for more extravagant dishes, there’s a vast selection of seafood that includes seasonal crab, poached lobster, and sea whelk. Some dishes, like Peking duck, need to be ordered at least a day ahead. Note that sleeveless shirts, shorts, and sandals are not allowed for men.

Visit this retro outdoor stall for authentic Chinese desserts. Sweet soups made with red bean or ground black sesame are served in both hot and chilled versions. Warmed, chewy, glutinous rice balls heaped with sugar, crushed peanuts, and desiccated coconut are messy but delicious.

Bubble-shaped egg waffles are a local specialty in Hong Kong, and Lee Keung Kee offers a delicious version. The waffles here are crisp on the outside but soft and cottony on the inside.