What to eat in Hong Kong: 10 dishes and where to find them

What to eat in Hong Kong comes down to Cantonese craft done at speed: dim sum with tea in the morning, roast goose and char siu over rice at lunch, wonton noodles at any hour, claypot rice after dark. Do not leave without a plate of roast goose on Stanley Street and a pineapple bun with milk tea in a cha chaan teng.

Deciding what to eat in Hong Kong is easier with a few numbers. The MICHELIN Guide Hong Kong & Macau 2026, announced on 19 March, lists 70 Bib Gourmand addresses in Hong Kong alone, a category capped at three courses for HK$400, and several of the plates below sit well under that. A mid-range day of eating runs to about HK$300–500 per person.

The newer end of the market keeps moving too: Canton Library on the 29th floor of One Peking and Hokkien House, with its modern Fujian cooking, are among the recent openings we have covered. This guide stays with the ten classics.

In Hong Kong the best plates come from rooms with shared tables, short menus and a cash till.

What to eat in Hong Kong first: dim sum at Luk Yu Tea House, Central

Dim sum is the Cantonese breakfast and lunch of small steamed, baked and fried plates taken with a pot of tea: har gow shrimp dumplings, siu mai, chicken feet in black bean sauce, rice in lotus leaf. Luk Yu Tea House has served it at 24-26 Stanley Street since 1933 and opens daily from 7am to 10pm.

It is not the cheapest yum cha in town: allow HK$200–400 per person, plus a 10% service charge. For the budget version go to Tim Ho Wan at 9-11 Fuk Wing Street, Sham Shui Po, where a meal of baked barbecue pork buns and dumplings costs about HK$80–150. To make the steamed kind at home, there is our char siu bao recipe.

Roast goose at Yat Lok, Central

Roast goose is the top of the siu mei counter: a bird marinated and roasted until the skin lacquers and the fat runs into the rice. Yat Lok, run by the same family since 1957 and at Conwell House, 34-38 Stanley Street, since 2011, holds one Michelin star for it.

Order the goose over lai fun, the thick rice noodles the house recommends, or simply on rice. Across the city roast meat over rice costs HK$50–95 and a quarter goose HK$160–240; Yat Lok opens daily from 10am to 8.30pm and takes cash only.

Wonton noodles at Tsim Chai Kee, Central

A bowl of wonton noodles is three things: thin, springy egg noodles, clear broth, and dumplings of pork and shrimp. Tsim Chai Kee at 98 Wellington Street, a Bib Gourmand address, keeps its menu to three toppings, wontons, dace fish balls and sliced beef, in any combination.

Bowls in this category run HK$40–65. The shop opens daily from 11am to 9.30pm and takes cash only; Mak's Noodle, the other name every local will mention, is across the road at 77 Wellington Street.

Char siu at Joy Hing Roasted Meat, Wan Chai

Char siu is pork glazed and roasted until the edges char, sliced over rice with a spoonful of the roasting juices. Joy Hing, at 265-267 Hennessy Road, traces its history to the late Qing dynasty and ranked 88th on the Opinionated About Dining casual Asia list in 2025.

A plate of char siu rice costs HK$50–80. It is a walk-in counter with no ceremony, and it closes on Sundays.

Beef brisket noodles at Kau Kee, Central

Kau Kee has sold beef noodles at 21 Gough Street since the 1930s: brisket and tendon, in clear broth or in curry, over a choice of noodles. Michelin gives it a Bib Gourmand, and the queue on the pavement is part of the routine.

A bowl costs HK$60–90. Tables are shared and the shop opens Monday to Saturday from 12.30pm to 10.30pm.

Egg tart at Tai Cheong Bakery, Central

The Hong Kong egg tart is a warm, barely set custard in a short, biscuit-like crust. Tai Cheong has baked this style since 1954, and its shop at 35 Lyndhurst Terrace became famous through the last governor, Chris Patten.

Budget HK$10–15 a tart, the usual price of a classic egg tart in a local bakery, and eat it on the pavement while it is still warm.

Pineapple bun and milk tea at Kam Wah Cafe, Prince Edward

The cha chaan teng is Hong Kong's all-day diner, and its signature order is the bo lo yau: a soft bun with a sugary cracked crust, which contains no pineapple, split and filled with a slab of cold butter. Kam Wah Cafe, at 47 Bute Street since 1973, is reported to sell around 5,000 a day.

Drink it with Hong Kong milk tea, strong black tea with evaporated milk, at about HK$20 a cup. A bun and a tea come to well under HK$50; with French toast, count HK$50–70 a head.

Claypot rice at Kwan Kee, Sai Ying Pun

Claypot rice is cooked to order over a flame with Chinese sausage, chicken or eel, then dressed with sweet soy; the prize is the scorched crust on the bottom. Kwan Kee, at 263 Queen's Road West and listed in the MICHELIN Guide, uses a blend of three rices and makes the dish only at dinner. White eel is the house speciality.

Count HK$100–350 a head depending on what goes with the rice. It opens in the evening only, takes cash only and accepts reservations by phone, which is the way to avoid the queue.

Dai pai dong lunch at Sing Heung Yuen, Central

A dai pai dong is a licensed open-air cooked-food stall, and few remain. Sing Heung Yuen, at 2 Mei Lun Street, cooks at the roadside: tomato broth with macaroni or instant noodles, beef and egg, and a crisp bun with condensed milk or lemon and honey.

A meal costs about HK$40–75. It works from breakfast to mid-afternoon and is listed as closed on Sundays, so go on a weekday before noon.

Tofu pudding at Kung Wo Beancurd Factory, Sham Shui Po

Kung Wo has made its own tofu since 1893 and sells it at 118 Pei Ho Street as dau fu fa, a warm, barely set soy pudding with ginger syrup or sugar, along with soy milk and fried tofu. It holds a Bib Gourmand and opens daily from 7am to 9pm.

A bowl costs HK$15–30, the cheapest stop on this list.

Markets, neighbourhoods and when to go

• Central and Sheung Wan: Stanley Street, Wellington Street and Gough Street put goose, wontons, brisket and egg tarts within a ten-minute walk.
• Wan Chai: roast-meat counters along Hennessy Road.
• Sham Shui Po and Prince Edward: the cheapest dim sum, tofu and cha chaan teng breakfasts, on the Kowloon side.
• Cooked food centres: Java Road in North Point and Queen Street in Sheung Wan gather stalls under one municipal roof.
• When to go: October to early December is the driest and mildest period. Dim sum is a morning affair, claypot rice an evening one.
• Carry cash: Yat Lok, Tsim Chai Kee and Kwan Kee do not take cards.

Frequently asked questions about eating in Hong Kong

Is Hong Kong expensive to eat in? Not at this level. Most dishes in this guide cost HK$15–95, and HK$300–500 covers a full day; only a sit-down dim sum at Luk Yu or a seafood claypot dinner goes beyond that.

What is the one dish to try with only a day? Roast goose. If the question is what to eat in Hong Kong between two flights, a plate at Yat Lok and an egg tart at Tai Cheong are five minutes apart on foot.

Which days should I avoid? Sundays: Kau Kee, Joy Hing and Sing Heung Yuen are closed.

Where to book first

Three addresses settle what to eat in Hong Kong on a short trip. Luk Yu Tea House, 24-26 Stanley Street, Central: book lunch by phone, mornings are walk-in only. Kwan Kee, 263 Queen's Road West, Sai Ying Pun: call ahead to reserve dinner. Yat Lok, 34-38 Stanley Street, Central: walk in, and arrive at the 10am opening.

For a tasting-menu evening afterwards, Yun, the Chinese omakase in Sheung Wan, is the address to look at.