What's it really like in Hong Kong?

[PDLM]

I come from a first world country

And you are living in one as well (if you allow Hong Kong the status of "country").

[Mat]

I have to agree on one thing here. Food is not really great in resto here (from street food to 3 Stars Michelin). It is good but not great.

I always had much more pleasure eating in China or Macao for example than in HK (I am talking for chinese food)

[afalava]

dumplings (i'm partial to beijing dumplings more than cantonese dumplings ~ all of the BEST dumpling shops i've been to have made their own dumplings from scratch. i've talked to the people while they are making them)

Sounds delicious... please share name and address of some of your favorite dumpling shops.

thanks!

[carang]

there used to be a hole in the wall beijing dumpling shop that i frequented YEARS ago in wanchai. they had to close because of urban renewal. i dont' know if they every reopened, but MAN, were their dumplings awesome!

there is a terrific dumpling place in sai kung, but it's not beijing dumplings... more japanese dumplings, but they are made from scratch, too! and... oh, sooooooooo yummy!

[LIZZY]

I ate hairy crab dim sum for the first time last night - OMG what a delicacy, apparently it is the season, it's now number 1 on my top ten meals (worldwide)

FYI No 2 on my list is fresh prawns from the myall river in NSW Australia. (only if eaten within hours of catching and cooking)

[carang]

So how do you explain the abundance of non bastardized food in Beijing and Shanghai then? Those cities are 99% Chinese and one can still find authentic food thats not drowned in sugar?

can't comment as when i was last in either city the extent of western food was the fairly newly opened McD's & KFC.

[carang]

yep, haven't been to shanghai since 1995 (excepting an overnight stopover at the airport hotel, dragging two kids... into the hotel at midnight, out at 8am).... beijing was 1996.

i've been in hk since 1995, maybe that explains why i don't generally have a problem with the food here?

[Renotommy]

can't comment as when i was last in either city the extent of western food was the fairly newly opened McD's & KFC.

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Carang:

I just got back from Alberta and BC and I couldn't believe how expensive the restaurant food was in Canada, especially in Alberta.
A dish of Spaghetti meatball cost $18.95, a double cheeseburger with a couple of strips of bacon $19.95 and it was in a Denny's style "family restaurant"......not a fancy resturant which didn't even provide table clothes. A dish of Chinese dim sum, $4.95. Wow! Before last month's trip, I was in Canada 10 years ago, and I don't recall food was that expensive there.

I do have to admit, I prefer food in China and Macao better than in HK. HK used to have excellent food but no more. What happened? Did all the good chefs move to Vancouver and Sydney? SF food ain't bad and inexpensive IF you know where to go.

[carang]

i think it depends on where in alberta and bc you go...saskatchewan is cheaper.

banff, whistler, calgary, vancouver will be much more expensive. bc will be more than alberta etc...

i WILL say that i was a little surprised the last time i was "home" as well. the fast food places are ridiculously priced! a "meal deal" at a fast food joint will set you back almost $10! you could go to a "real" restaurant for that price! lots of places have lunch specials. Red Lobster had lunch specials from $8! there is a place in north Vancouver that is a pub and a lunch there is about $6.5 AND your in a nice sit-down restaurant!

[Renotommy]

As tourists, in Alberta we were eating at those "rip off" places even though they were NOT elegent or anything even close to it....ironically, most of them said "Family Restaurant" on the sign outside.

On the contrary, we've found that BC was cheaper; it might be because we ate exclusively Chinese in Vancouver where a dish of HK style pan fried combination noodle for $8.95 - $1 more than in SF but it was tolerable. BC will start its new sales tax hike in July 2010, pushing it to over 15%.

I posted in another thread, but no one answer. Any good snake soup restaurant to recommend me in HK, especially Shatin where we will be staying?