Foodie needs help

[goleoboy]

Ok I know there are already tons of threads on here about food in HK. Since i'm FINALLY on the verge of moving from NY (honestly the best foodie city I've ever lived in...) - I'm starting feel a little panicky...so... I'm being selfish and am trying to 'consolidate' my research - hope you don't mind ;-). pls comment on the following???

1) best mexican place
2) best bagel (or ANY bagel shops?)
3) best diner food (onion rings and the like)
4) best fried chicken (and not kfc)
5) best mac/cheese
6) best pizza
7) best bbq
8) best falafel / hummus / pita place

Don't worry, the above is not representative of my diet :-))) Just my guilty pleasures. hahah

[Krad]

...oh, you poor poor bastard. You're gonna be miserable.

[goleoboy]

That sucks, I guess I'll be losing some lb's in HK!! :-)))

[goleoboy]

is there a restaurant called The Flying Pan? Diner food I heard?

[KnowItAll]

Flying Pan's ok for hangover food. Not some place I'd go to on a mission.

Two outlets, one on Bailey Street in Central and one in Wanchai.

[Krad]

Flying Pan's also breakfast only, so no onion rings or cheese fries if that's what you're looking for. Great omelettes and eggs benedict though.

1. Agave in Wan Chai's probably your best bet, but it's not quite like the Mexican you have in the US. See all the mexican food threads for an idea.

2. There are bagel stores in Soho, might be decent, haven't really tried myself. The few NY Style delis in Hong Kong (Main St. Deli and Archie B's) have bagels, but frozen. Really, coming from NYC, you're bound to be disappointed no matter what.

3. Big Ernie's Diner in Wan Chai's got ok diner food. There's one in LKF too but both are pretty pricy. The other option is pub grub which these days is pretty similar.

4. No real places that do fried chicken here. KFC is the only popular place and I don't know of any other outlets for it.

5. same with mac and cheese, though if you really want it, it's not that hard to make at home.

6. Best pizza's a tough question, you're going to get different responses across the board. Nobody here does NYC style pizza, and just like the bagels, it's best to lower your expectations. Wildfire's OK, and the Italian restaurants here make very good, genuine pizza, just so long as you're not looking for NYC sizes.

7. What kind of BBQ? A few places offer grilled selections. NOBODY in HK offers real, KC barbeque. Nothing smoked, nothing slow-cooked.

8. This is where I think HK has NYC beat, IMHO. Plenty of middle-eastern places in HK, mostly around Central and Soho. Beirut in LKF has the best hummus, Beyrouth in Soho has the best shwarmas and sujuks. Habibi or Bazaar for Koshary, Sahara or Marouche if you want to have some shisha with your meal.

[Beth Danae]

Ha ha...

Krad, realize you were honing in on pizza w/ this statement 'best to lower your expectations' but pretty much valid advice all around.

The good news is after 18months here I no longer have very many strong cravings for my 'ol American favs...

The bad news is, that's because I can't crave them, you have to adjust to the lack of options for many items you mentioned. Flying Pan b-fast I thought was crap, Agave for Mex is crap, Pizza: Cul-De-Sac is crap, NY Pizza(h) is crap...

Grappas Italian has decent Pizzas. Several great Indian and Thai places here and so guessing your diet will change Many great breakfasts, try Wagyu or Mandarin Hotel if you want to avoid British or just junk as is Flying Pan...

You will of course find folks who disagree with me, but I am a foodie...really, truly.

One good point, diner food, very easy to find greasy app's, shakes, burgers here, not a problem there...

[ash12006]

as said big al's diner is pricy, but you get good beef for your $
i recommend the burgers

[erictby]

Just explore yourself while you are here. Everybody have their different appetize and considration. Some people enjoying taste, some enjoying environment, some services...etc

For me, I will try any restaurant which crowded with client. If a restaurant crowded with client, definitely it have something worth you to try. Just ask the waiter/waitress their best seller food. Slowly you will have your own preference restaurant.

My experience, I always try a restaurant while lunch or tea time. A fine and money-worth restaurant always very crowded at the dinner time, can't get seat if didn't make reservation. Some pricy or tasteless restaurant always have seat.

[goleoboy]

yeah, I guess we will need to lose our cravings... which is not bad since my partner LOVES asian food (we're both asian btw) and I'm the one who prefers the greasy / fatty diner-type stuff. I really love the bakeries in HK though, there are so many choices of diff kinds of breads, MAYBE I'll miss bagels ;-) Do they sell packaged bagels in the supermarket? We'll definitely hope to shed some of our american-weight when we're there (combined with the heat/humidity) )