The best restaurants Hong-Kong 香港

Timetable

Most restaurants open around 11am for lunch and serve until around 3pm. They reopen around 6pm for dinner and serve until 9-10pm. Lunch times can be very busy, especially in office areas like Central and Admiralty. However, the service is very fast, and you don't have to wait long at the table, so things generally go quite quickly. On the whole, with canteens and street-food stalls, you'll find something to eat in Hong Kong at any hour. In fact, your meals will be taken a little earlier than in France. Between 6.30am and 8am for breakfast, 11.30am and 12.30pm for lunch and 6pm and 7pm for dinner. Most restaurants close their kitchens at 9pm.

Budget & Tips

We prefer to pay by card or Octopus, but cash is still accepted everywhere. Contrary to the hotel scene, it's possible to eat (and eat well!) in Hong Kong for next to nothing. To do so, you need to look out for street food stalls or local canteens known as chaa chaan teng. Restaurants serving Western food are more expensive.

On the street or in a budget restaurant: between HKD 20 and 100 for a simple dish.

Mid-range restaurant: between HKD 200 and 400 for a dish and dessert.

Upscale restaurant: prices often start at 600 HKD for a menu per person.

Some guide prices: a coffee from 25 to 55 HKD; a tea with milk from 20 to 40 HKD; a beer from 50 to 100 HKD; a cocktail from 80 to 170 HKD; a bowl of congee (rice porridge) from 25 to 45 HKD; a dish of stir-fried rice or wonton noodles between 40 and 80 HKD; an egg tart from 10 to 20 HKD; a croissant from 20 to 40 HKD; a pizza from 130 to 250 HKD.

Reservations. Reservations are not common for local restaurants, but for the more upscale restaurants or those in the Soho district, it's best to book at least for Friday and Saturday evenings. For each restaurant recommended in this guide, we indicate how to make a reservation.

What costs extra

In general, a 10% service charge is added to the bill, especially in mid-range and high-end restaurants. Tipping is neither compulsory nor common practice, but some cafés and restaurants have a tip box on the counter where you can leave a tip. Unlike in some destinations, cutlery and water carafes are not charged extra in most establishments. However, water may be served in bottles rather than carafes, in which case it will be charged for, so be sure to ask fortap water. In some Chinese restaurants, tea can be brought in automatically at the start of the meal, and will be charged between HKD 2 and 10. If you don't want it, refuse when it's brought in.

The local way

Baguettes and bowls. Most restaurants use chopsticks as the main cutlery. In some local restaurants, cutlery is hidden in a drawer under the table, along with napkins. It's also traditional to rinse cutlery and bowls with hot water (or tea): before the meal, you're given a large bowl of boiling water to dip them in.

Drink hot water or tea. Hong Kongers often prefer to drink hot water or tea with their meals.

Eating with others. In some local canteens, you may find yourself dispatched and seated at a table with other customers.

Music is often very loud in Hong Kong restaurants, and nobody seems to mind.

Eat in 5 minutes. Hong Kongers cook very little at home, preferring to eat out. As a result, they are often gobbled up (very) quickly.

Share. Whether it's pizza, a hotpot or a Chinese restaurant, Hong Kongers are accustomed to sharing every dish.

Pay at the counter on the way out. In many establishments, payment is made at the counter on the way out, rather than at the table.

Waiting in line. On the whole, you rarely queue for a restaurant in Hong Kong. However, sometimes an establishment that has made a buzz on the Internet is propelled overnight, and you can see an interminable queue forming in front of it.

Yum Cha. Yum cha - drinking tea - is a traditional Hong Kong practice, accompanied by small portions of dim sum served in carts that stop at every table in some local restaurants.

Free-flow brunch. Often offered in mid-range or rather upscale establishments, this is a menu accompanied by champagne, all you can eat. Cost HKD 1,000 for one person. The Zuma and Hutong are very popular.

Hidden restaurants on the floors. There are the restaurants you see on the street, and then there are thousands of others on the floors of buildings. Sometimes entire buildings are filled with restaurants.

Dai Pai Dong are typical Hong Kong street food stalls, where you can sample authentic local dishes such as noodles, fried rice or fish. They are becoming rare, but some are still in business, notably in districts such as Central and Sham Shui Po.

Vegetarianism. Hong Kong is the world's largest meat-consuming city... and unfortunately vegetarianism, as is often the case in Asia, is not a well-understood or widespread diet. More and more restaurants are offering some options, but overall, it's not the most veggie-friendly city. We recommend several vegetarian addresses in this guide.

To be avoided

Hygiene. Hygienic conditions are not always respected (especially when it comes to street food), and it's sometimes surprising to see fresh meat or fish sitting on tables in the hot sun. Avoid this if you have a sensitive stomach.

Water. As a precaution, don't drink tap water in Hong Kong. Restaurants and hotels, among others, have water fountains or filtering systems. As a reminder, water is a traveller's main enemy. Statistically, 1 out of every 2 travellers is affected by turista within the first 48 hours, and 80% of travel-related illnesses are directly attributable to contaminated water.

Allergies. If you have food allergies, be on the lookout, as some dishes may contain common allergens such as peanuts, soy or glutamate, which is commonly used in Cantonese cuisine.

Customs. Certain practices should be avoided, such as planting chopsticks in the rice bowl, which is a sign of bad luck (reminiscent of incense planted during funeral rites); when sharing a meal, you don't use your chopsticks to help yourself to communal dishes, but rather a specific pair of chopsticks; and you serve tea to others before serving yourself.

Smokers

Smoking is prohibited in restaurants. On the terrace, smoking is often forbidden too, but in practice it's more random. The presence of an ashtray is a good indicator. If not, just ask.

Tourist traps

Nothing to report. There are hardly any touts in front of restaurants in Hong Kong.