Hong Kong Foodie Tasting Tours

One of the great pleasures of visiting Hong Kong is exploring the ever-expanding food scene. One of the great dilemmas is where to begin, how to choose, what to try. From the fast disappearing traditional street restaurants–only 27 remaining–to the myriad local eateries, to the Michelin-starred restaurants, the selection is overwhelming.

Not to despair, with Hong Kong Foodie Tasting Tours coming to the rescue. The company, started by passionate local foodies, has organized several walking tours to highlight some of the city’s most loved foods. Not only do they showcase their tried and true favorites, but along the way, they share some of the history, tradition and food etiquette that will set you apart from the typical tourist.

We chose the signature “Central and Sheung Wan Foodie Tour” to sample some of the classic dishes that make a visit to Hong Kong unique. First up was an iconic wonton noodle shop. This generations-old eatery only offers three dishes on the menu to ensure that they do it right.

As our guide instructed, a true representation of this dish includes wontons made with large chunks of shrimp and minced pork along with thin egg noodles set in a richly flavored seafood broth. We observed all of these ingredients being freshly prepared in the open kitchen. On the table were the traditional condiments of vinegar and a hot chili paste. The wontons are scooped up with a spoon and the noodles are picked up with chopsticks. Our group of six quietly enjoyed every morsel, as slurping is not considered polite in this food culture.

We then walked the narrow, bustling streets to our next stop, a roasted meat restaurant where we savored barbequed pork rice, a dish that the locals enjoy on average several times a week. Our guide informed us that each of the restaurants on the tour is selected because they actually make the dishes on the premises for freshness and authenticity. In fact, she revealed that in most of the city’s eateries, the food is prepared in central kitchens outside of the city where rents are cheaper.

These two stops were followed by tastes of sugar cane juice from a family run Chinese herbal tea shop, a selection of preserved fruits from a shop that caters to the traditional local tastes where sweet, salty and sour flavor profiles are the preferred palate for these snacking delights. We then went on to sample a variety of dim sum.

We ended with a locally made egg tart still warm from the oven. Before bidding adieu to our well-sated new foodie friends and guide, we all agreed that the Wonton Noodles and Pork Rice were our favorites, but then again, we had only been on one of the four tours on offer, so we’ll have to do more research before coming to a final result. Let the eating continue with: Hong Kong Foodie Tasting Tours.