With deep ties to the city, these insiders map the best bites for every meal — from plastic stools to Michelin stars
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With 104 Michelin stars across the city, Hong Kong is one the best places in the world to star-graze. Here, the constellations aren’t just made up of fine-dining heavyweights, they’re built from stars at every level — haute and humble — all treated with the same reverence.
In a city where most apartments barely accommodate a kitchen, eating out isn’t a plan — it’s the default. The fastest way to get to know a place is to move through it like a local, and in Hong Kong that means eating out. A lot. So, ahead of my first trip there (a scant five days, barely enough time to shake the jet lag), I built an ambitious itinerary around food.
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To do it, I spoke to 10 chefs from across Canada with ties to the territory — by heritage, training or time spent there — to map out where to eat. Their recommendations quickly converged, not on specific dishes, but in range: every list ran the gamut from pedigreed dining rooms to back-alley stalls.
“You can have the best fine dining in Asia and still crave something simple from a neighbourhood café,” says Ivan Chan, the Hong Kong-raised chef-owner of The Orient in Halifax. Gilbert Man Yin Lee, a Canadian chef working in Hong Kong, puts it plainly, “it’s not about where you eat. It’s about how well it’s executed.”
In Hong Kong, meals don’t have to stay in one place — they can unfold across the city, one stop at a time. As chef Eva Chin from Toronto’s neo-Chinese restaurant Yan Dining Room says, you “string together” a meal: noodles here, roast meats there, something sweet on the way home. On my own trip, that often meant five, six, sometimes even seven places in a day. Because, if you want to understand Hong Kong, you don’t just sightsee, you eat.
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Sing Heung Yuen $
There’s no better way to make like a local than to start the day with a bowl of soup. At Sing Heung Yuen — one of the last of Hong Kong’s dai pai dongs (open-air street kitchens facing extinction by bureaucratic regulation) — weekend lines spill down the alley. Everyone comes for a bowl of tomato soup: bright and savoury served with macaroni or instant noodles. Add an egg, ham, sausage or slices of beef, and don’t skip the absurdly crispy toast: bite in and it crackles, but don’t lean forward or you’ll wear crumbs. Irene Li Oi-lin inherited the licence from her mother and has worked the stall since she was 15. “There’s something about the tomatoes she uses. It just works so well with the macaroni,” says Lee, who refuses to eat any other macaroni soup in Hong Kong. 2 Mee Lun St., Central
Australia Dairy Company $
A cha chaan teng classic (Hong Kong’s no-frills cafés serving hybrid Cantonese-Western comfort food), Australia Dairy Company is known for blisteringly fast service and lines that start early. Come for scrambled eggs with a cult following — so rich they taste like butter. The secret? Extra yolks, evaporated milk and a ripping hot wok. Served alongside toast, milk tea and clear, savoury breakfast soups built on a light chicken-and-pork broth. “It’s crazy fast — you sit down and the food’s already there,” says Chan. 47 Parkes St., Jordan, Kowloon
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Lin Heung Lau $
This dim sum mecca has 130-plus years behind it. In 2022, it shuttered — cue citywide mourning — then rose again, two years later, phoenix-like, at its original address only to move again earlier this year. Despite the new address: dim sum still arrives the old way, by rumbling trolley (“pure nostalgia,” as Chan puts it). Time of day dictates what’s circulating, but whether you’re there at 6 a.m. when they open or closer to closing, Lin Heung Lau‘s chubby dumplings (har gow, siu mai) keep coming, fresh from the steamer. According to Ardy Ferguson, who started his culinary career in Vancouver and now works as the sous chef at Hong Kong’s Michelin-starred Belon, the draw here is “the atmosphere as much as the food — it’s always packed, always buzzing.” Tung Ning Building, 249-253 Des Voeux Rd., Central, Sheung Wan
Mak Ming Noodle $
A no-frills wonton noodle shop turning out springy egg noodles, delicate wontons and clean, deeply flavoured broth. Calgary-born chef Matt Abergel, co-owner of Hong Kong’s critically acclaimed restaurants Yardbird and Ronin, says Mak Ming Noodle is his go-to spot. “If I’m hungover or just want to feel good, this is where I go.” G/F, 309 Queen’s Rd. W., Sai Ying Pun
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Ho Hung Kee Congee & Noodle $$
What started as a humble wonton shop got a glow-up when it moved to the 12th floor of a glossy Causeway Bay tower — expanded menu, sharper lighting, same obsession with the fundamentals. At Ho Hung Kee, The wontons still snap with shrimp, but it’s the noodles that haunt: springy, almost crunchy, holding their bite in a lightly sweet broth. Andersen Lee, the Montreal-based chef-owner of Oncle Lee and Oncle Lee Kao, counts this as his favourite bowl in Hong Kong. “The texture of their noodles is on another level,” he says. Shop 1204-1205, 12/F, Hysan Place, 500 Hennessy Rd., Causeway Bay
Sister Wah Beef Brisket $$
A six-table room awarded Bib Gourmand status by the Michelin Guide for its clear, deeply flavoured beef broth — deceptively light, but packed with sweetness and umami. Think tender brisket over ho fun (broad rice noodles), with chili oil and vinegar on the side. Katy Cheung, the Vancouver-based Top Chef Canada semifinalist, recalls slurping down these hearty bowls with friends during her earlier years in Hong Kong. “It would be one of my last meals on earth,” she says. Shop A1, 13 Electric Rd., Tin Hau
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Moon Bay $$$
Set on the eighth floor of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Moon Bay is built for big, hungry tables: vast room, sprawling menu and the rare ability to do everything well. The lineup leans classic Cantonese with osmanthus eel, longevity lotus buns, fancy dim sum and banquet staples. But Chin says you should come for two things: the lo mai gai (“Unlike anywhere else in Hong Kong, they don’t serve theirs wrapped in a lotus leaf, it’s egg-washed, then pan-fried — absolutely delicious”), and the sesame-skin suckling pig — shatteringly crisp and, she says, the best in the city. 8/F, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Harbour Rd., Wan Chai
My Cup of Tea $
A low-key tea shop for Hong Kong-style milk tea done right; pulled to order through cloth filters for that signature smoothness. Both the classic hot milk tea and the iced version are bracing and sweet in equal measure, while the lemon tea offers something more refreshing. If Hong-Kong born chef Vicky Cheng, whose restaurant Wing has been ranked the second best in Asia, had just 24 hours to show his Toronto friends around town, he says he’d make sure to stop at My Cup of Tea as it’s one of the few places still pulling tea through a silk stocking. 6 Spring Garden Ln., Wan Chai
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Kung Wo Beancurd Factory $
In Sham Shui Po — one of Hong Kong’s oldest, most densely layered neighbourhoods — Kung Wo Beancurd Factory has been a fixture for generations. Founded in 1893 and relocated here in the 1950s, it’s long been a neighbourhood meeting point, quietly turning out fresh soy milk and tofu daily. Get the dau fu fah — tofu pudding served warm or cold — simple, delicate and deeply comforting. “It’s something I grew up eating — it just always hits the spot,” says Cheung. 118 Pei Ho St., Sham Shui Po
Wing $$$$$
The Wellington is a vertical temple to fine dining. A building that houses multiple Michelin-starred kitchens, including Cheng’s restaurant Wing on the 29th floor. The Toronto-raised chef is best known for his French-inflected cooking (he’s a former protégé of Langdon Hall’s Jason Bangerter) and Wing is his first foray into modern Chinese cuisine. The 11- to 13-course tasting menu skates the line between restraint and opulence; precisely paced, built on pristine product: South African abalone, Alaskan King crab, peak-season white asparagus. The meal opens bright — Yunnan chili-and-bull kelp dressed razor clams, smoked eggplant, delicately poached oysters with a golden crystal egg seasoned with a flicker of mala (the Szechuan spice blend that brings sparks and a delightful numbness for a few bites). Then, it deepens into richer territory: white pepper crab soup, chili king crab with crisp cheung fun, abalone-rich rice and sugarcane-smoked pigeon. Luxury is everywhere, but never loud. According to Chin, an evening at Wing isn’t just a worthwhile splurge, it’s a “humbling experience — you really feel his Chinese-meets-French philosophy in every bite.” 29/F, 198 Wellington St., Central
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The Chairman $$$$
The Chairman dishes up traditional Cantonese cooking showcasing premium, hyper-seasonal ingredients with quiet modern touches. The Michelin-starred menu shifts with the market, favouring what’s best that day over fixed signatures. The room leans domestic in the best way: bookshelves, plants, the sense you’re being invited over rather than booked in. “It’s one of the best restaurants in Hong Kong,” says Toronto-based chef Kevin Shawcross. “If you can get a table, go.” If on offer, don’t miss the steamed flower crab over chen cun fun — wide, silk-like noodles sluicing up a velvety mix of aged rice wine, chicken fat and crab roe. 3F, 198 Wellington St., Central
Yung Kee $$$
Founded in 1942, this Hong Kong institution is famous for its roast goose — lacquered, smoky and deeply savoury, with crisp skin and rich, tender meat. It’s still cooked in traditional charcoal ovens, and the bird is sewn shut, so the jus collects inside — then poured back over as sauce. “Some of, if not the best roast goose in Hong Kong,” according to Shawcross. Yung Kee Building, 32-40 Wellington St., Central
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Forum $$$$
A three-star Cantonese institution known for its abalone — gently braised in a rich stock made from old hen, Jinhua ham and pork ribs. This is banquet cooking at its most exacting: exacting, luxurious and deeply traditional. Cheng is a Forum regular. “Chef Adam Wong is a good friend of mine — he’s always generous with his knowledge of Chinese cooking and technique,” he says. “I often bring overseas guests here for the signatures: dim sum, dried abalone and sweet-and-sour pork.” 1F, Sino Plaza, 255-257 Gloucester Rd., Causeway Bay
Grand Majestic Szechuan $$$
Grand Majestic Szechaun is one of the sexiest dining rooms in Hong Kong: all curved banquettes, glossy black tables and harlequin floors under low, cinematic lighting. It’s a venue of silk and marble built for nights that veer towards bacchanalia. Here, revelry even spills into the washrooms, where you’ll find complimentary champagne on ice. In the kitchen, Theign Phan brings heat that builds rather than bludgeons with Szechuan classics such as tangerine peel beef, mapo tofu and dan dan noodles tossed tableside. Hong Kong-born chef Danvee Kwok from Toronto says it’s “proper Szechuan, done seriously, but still fun to eat.” Shop 301, Alexandra House, 18 Chater Rd., Central
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Wong Ming Kee $
Eva Chin is obsessed with two things at this Kowloon City noodle shop. First, the cuttlefish soup: a clean, deeply savoury pork-and-fish broth with fresh, never-frozen cuttlefish, fresh rice noodles and house-made garlic oil. Second, dace (a type of carp) fish balls — springy, delicate — meant to be dunked into a sharply salty, preserved clam sauce on the side, also made in-house. As Chin puts it, Wong Ming Kee is built on “the insistence of doing things properly and not budging.” When they run out of something — like the fresh-from-the-factory-next-door noodles they use for the cuttlefish soup — they don’t substitute. They just 86 the dish. G/F, 40-42 Sa Po Road, Kowloon City
Arcane $$$$
At Arcane, Aussie native Shane Osborn (a mentor to Eva Chin) cooks modern European food shaped by Hong Kong’s terroir. If you want to taste Hong Kong, this is one of the best farm-to-table options in town. “He works closely with local farmers and purveyors to serve ingredients at their peak. In Hong Kong, he was an early advocate for small farms in the New Territories [a Hong Kong exurb],” says Chin. It’s a polished room — technical cooking, tight service, but for Ferguson, the draw runs deeper: “Arcane only really works in Hong Kong: different cuisines, different techniques, all colliding in one place.” It’s Hong Kong, plated. 3/F, 18 On Lan St., Central
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Tin Cheung $
Another dai pai dong where plastic stools, cold beer (Blue Girl being the go-to) and big plates are the point. Come for the beef and potatoes: tender, deeply savoury and seared hard in the wok, picking up a smoky char. “Their wok hei — that elusive high-heat breath of the wok — is consistently on point,” says Abergel. Ferguson is also a huge Tin Cheung fan: “They always strike the perfect balance; other places try, but it never hits the same,” he says. G/F, Lee Tak Cheong Mansion, 94-98 Yee Kuk St., Sham Shui Po
Go Go $
At this big, slightly chaotic neighbourhood joint full of regulars, the thing to order is the sweet-and-sour pork — served covered in ice, a throwback 1980s banquet dish that’s increasingly hard to find. It sounds like a gimmick. It’s not. “When they toss it in ice, it somehow gets crispier as it gets colder,” says Abigail Elizabeth Hatcher, a Niagara-raised chef who made her name in Vancouver’s fine dining scene before moving to Hong Kong to work for Black Sheep Restaurants. Hatcher swoons over the resulting candy-like coating that gives way to still-hot juicy pork beneath. The rest is what you want it to be: stir-fries, noodles, big tables, cold beer, strong wok hei and the kind of consistency that keeps locals (and chefs) coming back. 188 Fuk Wing St., Cheung Sha Wan
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Kai Kai Dessert $
This 47-year-old dessert shop (which originally started as a street stall) recently moved from its iconic Jordan location. The move, thankfully, didn’t mess with the recipes. Most come here for sweet soups, but Ferguson makes a case for the sesame rice balls: “It’s simple, but the balance and texture — that’s what makes it.” 113-115 Parkes St., Jordan
Sun Hing $$
Open from 3 a.m., this old-school tea house runs on controlled chaos — folding stools, shared tables and stacks of piping hot bamboo baskets. Off peak, dim sum’s largely self-serve: take what you want as it comes out of the steamer. The crowd shifts by the hour — night owls, taxi drivers, then early risers, followed by families.“ It’s super traditional — everything is still done properly,” says Abergel. 8 Smithfield Rd., Kennedy Town
Meet the chefs
Matt Abergel, the Calgary-born chef and co-owner of Hong Kong’s Michelin-starred Yardbird, has been based in the city for 18 years. In March 2025 he opened the seasonal izakaya restaurant Always Joy right next door to Yardbird.
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Ivan Chan, Halifax-based chef-owner of The Orient, raised in Hong Kong — also the first Canadian to cook Chinese cuisine at the Canadian Culinary Championship in 2016, later earning bronze in 2017 and gold in 2020.
Katy Cheung, Top Chef Canada semifinalist and Vancouver-based chef formerly of Burdock & Co., was raised in Hong Kong where she once ran the cult sandwich spot Bread & Beast.
Vicky Cheng, chef of Wing (No. 2 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants), Hong Kong-born and Toronto-raised, a George Brown alum now known for his boundary-breaking, French-driven modern Chinese cuisine.
Eva Chin, chef-owner of neo-Chinese tasting restaurant Yan Dining Room in Toronto, grew up between the U.S. and Hong Kong, attended high school there and worked in Hong Kong fine dining from 2013 to 2016.
Ardy Ferguson is the sous chef at Hong Kong’s one-starred Belon. Raised in Jakarta, he began his culinary career in Vancouver and now works in Hong Kong. Winner of the San Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition 2024-25.
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Abigail Elizabeth Hatcher, Niagara-raised chef who made her name in Vancouver fine dining, recently left her role heading up Cantonese barbecue at Hong Kong’s Kimpton and now works as a culinary consultant.
Andersen Lee is the Montreal-based chef-owner of Oncle Lee and Oncle Lee Kao. He was named Rising Star Chef 2025 by the Chinese Restaurant Awards and has family roots in Hong Kong through his father.
Gilbert Man Yin Lee, a Canadian chef with Hong Kong roots who grew up in Nigeria and graduated from Queen’s University, returned to Hong Kong in 2019. He spent nearly five years at Ho Lee Fook and went on to helm Peng Leng Jeng before opening Ying Hung Palace.
Kevin Shawcross and Danvee Kwok, Toronto-based chefs who met in Vancouver before working in Hong Kong with Black Sheep Restaurants; Kwok is Hong Kong-born, and together they channel the city’s energy into their co-owned Toronto restaurant, Ayla.
Price guide per person
$ = Under $30 (~$150 HK)
$$ = $30-55 (~$150-300)
$$$ = $55-125 (~$300-700)
$$$$ = $125-270 (~$700-1,500)
$$$$$ = $270+ (~$1,500+)
The writer was hosted by the Hong Kong Tourism Board, which did not review this story before publication.
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