My favorite restaurants in central HK

Hong Kong is a mecca for food lovers and you very rarely have a bad food experience there. What you have to take into account is that everything is relatively pricey at dinner time (all main course typically 250hkd i.e. 30€ or more) but you can find some good deals at lunch time for 99hkd.

The competition between restaurants in Hong Kong is fierce, and many don’t last longer than 6-12 months. Lately, there has also been an increasing number of restaurant chains catering especially to the western clientele (e.g. by Castelo concepts: http://casteloconcepts.com/ ) – these typically offer average food at average prices, but very large portions 🙂

Here some of my favorites (but only some of them since there are sooooo many)!

For Isaan Thai: Chachawan

Chachawan is a casual thai/asian place near Sheung Wan. The food is not the typical Thai you have in most places as the place focuses on Isaan Thai cuisine from the northeastern parts of thailand, meaning e.g. plenty of BBQ meats. The food is spicy and tasty, in other words just the way I like it! Sometimes service has been a bit off and typically for almost all Hong Kong restaurants music can be a bit loud, but as said, food is really good and prices are decent. Great casual place!

For Maroccon: Le Souk

If you feel like some Mediterranean food with some lovely spices, Le Souk has some really tasty food to offer.  The place is small and cozy and it’s conveniently located right next to the elevators in mid levels.

For Greek: Santorini

These two Greek taverns offers some excellent souvlaki dishes (meat is always super tender & juicy, even the chicken), tzatziki, and other traditional greek delights in a greek style setting. The other restaurant is coveniently located in Central next to the elevators, the other in Wan Chai and has a nice open air terrace.

For Burgers: Beef & Liberty

There are actually quite a few good burger places in Hong Kong with super juicy meat patties, but my favorite remains to be Beef and Liberty with its nice interior and cool rooftop garden. They actually have 3 locations in HK, but my favorite is the one in Wan Chai, and especially their rooftop garden there.

For tasty Asian Curry and more: 1968 Indonesia

Craving for some tasty and spicy Asian food with focus on Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai cooking?  Then 1968 Indonesia is an excellent option offering some lovely spicy salads, excellent curries and good noodle and rice dishes. I highly recommend their beef rendang! And I love that the salads also have a proper kick to them while they could be larger.

Fancy & contemporary Tapas: 22 Ship

This casual place is owned by the renowned chef Jason Atherton does not accept reservations so if you don’t want to wait you should come early. The food here is casual and the setting trendy, and largely Spanish inspired. While they call themselves a tapas restaurant it’s not really that since they mainly offer a wide range of starter size plates including anything from paella to mini burgers, ox tail and deserts. Here I’ve had one of the best tartar’s ever with plenty of mustard and capers!

 

For Dim Sum: Paradise Dynasty

You cannot visit Hong Kong and not taste dim sum! You absolutely cannot! Many of the dim sum places are very hard to navigate if you don’t speak Cantonese, but Paradise Dynasty in Causeway Bay has plenty of options, the food is tasty and you can well manage with English.

For drinks with a view: Ozone bar

Ozone bar is the highest bar in the world and located on top of the ICC building on its 118th floor. While you can go there to either have some dinner or brunch during Sundays, which are also popular and recommended, mostly people go there for a drink to admire the amazing views over the harbour. You should however choose carefully when you visit since on cloudy days the top of the building is often inside the clouds with zero visibility. You can vist either during day and night time, and while drinks are expensive (150hkd or more) having one drink in this amazing setting is totally worth it!