Planning trip to Hong Kong. Need advice!!

[Reasonable Doubt]

I'm planning a trip to Hong Kong. I need advice on best place to stay and where to eat.

 

[Ns1]

how long do you have in HK, and do you speak cantonese?

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong.

 

[Reasonable Doubt]

how long do you have in HK, and do you speak cantonese?

As long as I want.


I only speak English. Will that be a problem?

 

[maddogchen]

i liked my stay at Residence G in Hong Kong. easily reached by airport bus. just have to find it in a maze of high rises when you get off the bus. they even provided me a smart phone to borrow for my stay, i think thats standard. i was able to use google maps and internet, and local calls on it for free. was a nice touch

 

[Ns1]

As long as I want.


I only speak English. Will that be a problem?

You'd expect being an former British colony would mean English is a fairly common language - I thought the same after visiting India, where English IS the de facto national language.

However, that's not true at all - most (if not all) of the signs will be bi-lingual, but only people who frequently interact with tourists (ie the people working the ticket counters at the MTR) and higher-educated individuals will speak multiple languages (usually cantonese, mandarin, and english). you will have a very hard time with most taxi cab operators and restaurant operators w/o a translator. Would suggest you buy a SIM card (or an intl plan) before heading over there, so you can point to where you want to go/what you want to eat.



I loved my 30 hours in HK and can't wait to go back - it's not as cheap as you'd expect either.

In so far as food, here's some places I can suggest:

• Yat Lok for goose leg and noodles (drumstick already sold out by 1pm on Saturday)
• Kau Kee for brisket noodles
• Tim Ho Wan for BBQ pork buns
• Joy Hing for chicken/duck/char siu over rice - char siu was pretty stellar
• Honolulu cafe for egg tart - very, very, very good

HK is also very good at high end dim sum, e.g. $50pp and above.

 

[Cappuccino]

MSG haven. Prepare to be thirsty.

 

[Ns1]

MSG haven. Prepare to be thirsty.

more likely to be thirsty due to ridiculous heat + crushing humidity.

 

[Cappuccino]

more likely to be thirsty due to ridiculous heat + crushing humidity.

I've been to HK like 5 times now and yes the heat is ridiculous but who cares since every mall or store haz air condition on full blast

 

[Ns1]

I've been to HK like 5 times now and yes the heat is ridiculous but who cares since every mall or store haz air condition on full blast

You have to walk outside for the good OG shops

 

[Cappuccino]

You have to walk outside for the good OG shops

hehe
Hong Kong is so awesome! Everyone is so friendly and helpful. The best food in HK is the sea food imo and the sushis in Parknshop. Oh and durians so yummy its smelly but its my fav fruit.

 

[UncleWai]

Stay in Sheraton or holiday inn golden mile in tsim sha tsui (tst) for easy access to everywhere. If you are budget tight, the Best Western in TST is the cheapest stay. Don't bother with the so called B&Bs, they are jungles.

NS1's food recommendations are the tourist hot spots, they taste good, but expect a long queue before you can eat. Just get a prepaid data phone care in seven eleven, and download the app 'openrice', u can use it to find restaurants.

 

[Ns1]

NS1's food recommendations are the tourist hot spots, they taste good, but expect a long queue before you can eat. Just get a prepaid data phone care in seven eleven, and download the app 'openrice', u can use it to find restaurants.

if you have better suggestions for roast meats, roast goose, and egg tarts I'm all ears.

FWIW, I vetted all my food choices with locals & ex-pats to ensure legit-ness.

 

[Born2bwire]

English is a crapshoot. Some places will have people perfectly fluent, others will not speak a word (or at least pretend). But around Kowloon and the Island I doubt you will have much of a problem. I would not count on the minibus drivers to speak English. If you know your street and ni doh, you can probably manage with the minibus.

Get an Octopus card to use at convenience stores and the public transit.

Carry tissues around with you. Most restaurants do not have napkins and some do not even have toilet paper.

Best time to go is I'd say October-November. Summer will be rather oppressive for the uninitiated or people who aren't from east Texas.

A lot of good hiking there.

Check out openrice.com for food.

English Friendly Restaurants:
Under-Bridge Spicy Crab in Wan Chai/Causeway Bay for the spicy crab in mounds of fried garlic. Even if you don't go for the crab, get something in that mound of fried garlic, they have one or two other dishes that come with it.
American Peking in Wan Chai is an old standby. Decent food but it's looked on more of an institution these days.
Ba Yi is in Sai Wan up on Water St. It's a Xinjiang style place. A lot of lamb dishes (always see a large group getting a whole lamb) and they have a camel dish that I like.

Probably Not English-Friendly
Wing Wah in Wan Chai or Dai Wing Wah in Yuen Long: Traditional cantonese style restaurants, one of my favorite.
Spring Deer in TST is another institution like American Peking.
Lin Heung Kui in Sheung Wan is my favorite dim sum place. They bring the dim sum around on carts, have passable Pu'er tea (bo lay), and if you get there early you may get lucky and find some Char Siu Bo Lo Bau (BBQ pork pineapple buns) or a Low Sow Bau (I forget the romanization, flowing sands bun). Definitely want to speak some Cantonese. They tolerated me as a regular though.
Yue Kee in Sham Tseng for roast goose. There are several roast goose places in Sham Tseng. I remember getting a bus to and from there at least in Sai Wan on the Island. Don't know how English friendly they are.
Sha Tin has some good roast pigeon places too.

I also liked going to Tin Hau for food too.

If you want to go to a tea shop, my favorite was Ngan Kei Heung on Queen's St and Lok Ku Rd. There is a Lok Cha tea shop right above it on Lok Ku Rd. too.

 

[Sonikku]

I'm planning a trip to Hong Kong. I need advice on best place to stay and where to eat.

Learn the 4 wudu while you're there. It also wouldn't hurt to learn about the 3 blades.

 

[Cappuccino]

if you have better suggestions for roast meats, roast goose, and egg tarts I'm all ears.

FWIW, I vetted all my food choices with locals & ex-pats to ensure legit-ness.

the 5 spice duck is nice but the skin is soo fatty lol. The egg tarts are nice but i like the pinapple bun and the fluffy ball thingy lol

try congee i think foreign people might like it, i liked it. i had black egg and meat with it and peanuts on top. I had the donut looking thingy it was long and yellow. do you know what that is called? it was fried btw

food is so good in hk but i never remember the names.



Typed on iPhone

 

[Ns1]

try congee i think foreign people might like it, i liked it. i had black egg and meat with it and peanuts on top. I had the donut looking thingy it was long and yellow. do you know what that is called? it was fried btw

1) black egg = thousand year old egg
2) donut looking thingy = cruller, but has various names depending on what dialect you're speaking.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtiao

 

[nisryus]

I am going there in early July with in-laws. We will be staying at L'hotel Causeway Bay hotel

There are tons of good places to ear. A few that I planned to visit..

Central Area:
Kau Kee Beef Brisket
Tai Cheong Bakery

Jordan Area:
Australian Dairy Company

North Point Area:
Lee Keung Kee North Point Eggette - snack... oh how I miss these...

 

[Ns1]

Central Area:
Tai Cheong Bakery

highly encourage you to visit Honolulu Cafe for their egg tart to compare vs Tai Cheong (flaky crust vs short crust)

also, eat them right away when they're still hot because they lose some magic after travel.

 

[Born2bwire]

Should also mention you can pop over and see Macau via ferry. Besides the casinos, Macau has some examples of the old colonial architecture. China, you'll need a visa but Shenzhen isn't really a place worth visiting unless you want to manufacture 100,000 widgets.

 

[nisryus]

Thx Ns1. I will go try Honolulu Cafe too. God, thinking of egg tarts makes me hungry.

 

[Ns1]

Thx Ns1. I will go try Honolulu Cafe too. God, thinking of egg tarts makes me hungry.

I'll upload my HK food porn pics to this thread tomorrow...

 

[UncleWai]

I usually eat in the ghetto part of town.

Beef brisket/stomach/intestines in Prince Edwards

Kuen Kee Cafe Company
URL: http://s.openrice.com/QrKS0tqq000
Add.: G/F 139 Tung Choi Street, Prince Edwards

It is just a typical Chinese cafe, not famous by all means, but the briskets are the best I've eaten.


For Eggette, go to this place

Oddies
URL: http://s.openrice.com/QrKS0epi700
Add.: G/F, 45 Gough Street, Central

They mix the eggette with ice cream, a bit pricy, but i like the hybrid match.


For roast pork & cha siu, agree Joy Hing's the best if they don't cheat with the scrap meat. Like I said, I eat in the ghetto part, this is my go-to place for roast food

Tai Hing Roasted Meat Restaurant
URL: http://s.openrice.com/QrKS0NXy000
Add.: G/F, 242 Castle Road,, Cheung Sha Wan

I wouldn't recommend for tourist though because of hygiene issues.


For egg tarts, I only prefer the ones in Lord Stow's Bakery in Macau, the rest are indifferent.


For Dim Sum, I suggest you splurge and go for Tin Lung Heen in 102 floor, Ritz Carlton, International Commercial Centre, TST. you get bird's eye view of HK without and excellent dim sum, worth the money.

 

[John Connor]

Planning trip to Hong Kong. Need advice!!

Stay out of the water!

 

[Sonikku]

I usually eat in the ghetto part of town.

Beef brisket/stomach/intestines in Prince Edwards

Kuen Kee Cafe Company
URL: http://s.openrice.com/QrKS0tqq000
Add.: G/F 139 Tung Choi Street, Prince Edwards

Looks like sewage. D: