Many of Hong Kong's visitors come to the dynamic and bustling port city for one thing only--to dine. No one is quite sure how many eating places there are in Hong Kong, but there are some 6,000 licensed restaurants. The variety of cuisine, ambiance, and price range is unbeatable. Although there is something for almost everyone, the major culinary glory of Hong Kong is its Chinese restaurants: the true gourmet can depend on finding the finest ingredients, chefs, and standards of service in the world.

Cuisine

Cantonese Cuisine	Shanghainese Cuisine	Beijing Cuisine
Mongolian Cuisine	Sichuan (Szechuan) Cuisine	Sichuan (Szechuan) Cuisine
International Cuisines

Cantonese Cuisine: Of all China's regional cuisines, that of Canton (Guangdong) province is generally recognized to be the finest. An old Chinese adage advises anyone seeking the ideal life to eat in Canton City (Guangzhou). Many Chinese emperors traveled to this southern region for dining pleasures or, alternatively, lured or summoned Cantonese chefs to Beijing's imperial kitchens.

In a Cantonese kitchen, no animal is taboo; it is said that anything that shows its back to the heavens is fair game for a Cantonese cook. (It is also said that the only thing with four legs a man should not eat is a table!)

>>>Back to Top

Shanghainese Cuisine: The three East China Sea provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian, together with their two adjacent inland provinces, make up what is called the Eastern School of Chinese cuisine.

A Shanghainese menu is a virtual geography lesson, for almost every eastern specialty originates in a particular city. For example, Shanghai crabs are associated with the Song Dynasty Garden City of Suzhou, as is the succulent Chinese ham in honey sauce. Another garden city, Hangzhou, has been immortalized in culinary circles with its dish of Beggar's Chicken. Also, as Hangzhou's West Lake is famed for its fine watercress and freshwater fish, Shanghainese chefs honor many of their dishes with a "West Lake" title.

>>>Back to Top

Beijing Cuisine: Whereas Shanghainese restaurants are generally informal, purist Beijing eating places tend to fit the stereotype of a Westerner's idea of a Chinese restaurant: red brocade, tasseled lanterns, and a more formal or imperial style.

>>>Back to Top

Mongolian Cuisine: However, imperial grandeur is not the order of the day at Hong Kong's Mongolian barbecue restaurants. Convivial informality is the rule as diners gather around a hot pot ("fire kettle"), recreating the campfire ambiance of ancient times on the Mongolian steppes. Marinated preserved slices of meat (traditionally mutton) are placed in ladles and dipped into a moat of simmering stock. Piquant side sauces, quick-boiled vegetables, and side orders of dumplings or noodles complete the satisfying meal.

>>>Back to Top

Sichuan (Szechuan) Cuisine: Sichuan specialties include smoked duck--a fascinatingly complex blend of cooking techniques and taste contrasts. The duck is seasoned with orange peel, cinnamon, coriander, and other ingredients; marinated in rice wine; steamed; and then smoked over a charcoal fire sprinkled with camphor wood chips and red tea leaves. The result is a gourmet's magical mystery tour!

>>>Back to Top

Dim Sum: No Hong Kong visit would be complete without a trip to one of its fine teahouses or restaurants that specialize in dim sum. Served throughout daylight hours, dim sum (literally meaning "to touch the heart") are snacks of freshly steamed or fried Chinese canapes. These remarkably diverse examples of culinary innovation (and engineering) feature many different ingredients. Large dim sum restaurants offer scores of choices, though the daily selection will always include steamed shrimp dumplings (har qau), steamed pork and shrimp dumplings (siu mai), deep-fried spring rolls (tsun quen), and steamed barbecued pork buns (cha siu bau). Dim Sum ladies wheel their trolleys through the bustling teahouses; customers may lift the lids of the bamboo baskets to identify and check the contents.

>>>Back to Top

International Cuisines: A glance through the Hong Kong Tourist Association's Dining and Entertainment guide immediately confirms Hong Kong's unique status as the international hub of Asia. It boasts a fine selection of Indian, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, and Thai restaurants. There are also Burmese restaurants. Various restaurants in the city's deluxe hotels present multi-ethnic menus that are an Asian potpourri.

>>>Back to Top