I live in South Korea now, and I can't wait to relocate to HK - it's fantastic for food, both in terms of for cooking at home and eating out.
I took my folks out to Delaney's (Irish pub) in February for dinner - we had a starter and a main each, plus half pints guinness for the folks and a bitter shandy (which I hadn't had for years because Koreans could never get it right, so I gave up after a while!) for me... the bill came to 49X. I couldn't believe how cheap it was, so I left a very generous tip.
But that's just one illustration to show you that it's really easy to get food, both local and western alike, in HK.
I wouldn't say it's that cheap.
I went to the Beijing Dumpings Cafe (just a normal looking Chinese cafe, nothing special) and paid $48 for a dozen dumpings. when I lived in Beijing i routinely had 2 dozen dumplings for 6 Yuan!
But Beijing's salary isn't nearly as high as HK...
Neither is the rent, nor much else.
Thanks - To be honest I had no impression of living in Hong Kong - negative, positive or otherwise, and am really excited and keen to make the most of the experience, which was why I joined this forum! I have valued all your feedback thanks again
When I was a child growing up in HK, my dad always bought muesli from what is now essentially M&S - the shop, I think it was called Millie or some such, used to sell M&S' clothes. It was where my mum bought her clothes from then!
Yeah, you'll be allright. Many western restaurants I am sure can accommodate to vegetarian requests. Vegetarianism can be a pretty foreign concept to some people from HK, but I'm sure there are plenty of Buddhist vegetarians and vegetarians in general in HK. You just gotta get out there and find them! Food plays a huge role in the culture and people in general are very passionate about it. If you can't find something in a local small store, you will probably find it in a bigger one more geared for expats and locals with higher disposable incomes. It's all about remembering you are not in the west any more and sorta being appreciative for the choices HK provides expats. It's a consumer's paradise in many ways, food being one them.
There's western food everywhere! McDonalds, KFC, Pizza hut...
Okay, all joking aside, basic ingredients are not a problem.
My concern is the spices and condiments which might be more rare such as Montreal steak spice or maybe Frank's red hot sauce. Do they have those in the specialty stores?