海港食家 (Harbor Restaurant) is a typical example of killer seafood and stir fry, right in the 'hood…read more First of all it is all the way over in Ap Lei Chau on the main street, a little island (separated by an overpass/bridge) across from Wong Chuk Hang side. Mostly residential, with some factories and small businesses (including a Maserati and Ferrari dealership! Rents be skyrocketing, yo.) This place was virtually unheard of except for the most die hard of locals, until some media personality type decided to share the scoop. Fortunately I have family living nearby who took me here and declared it one of the best eats in the area. Unfortunately one visit is not enough, but I am not sure when I will get back here again. Too many visitors to Hong Kong get caught up in the generics....HK cafe, dim sum, or Michelin star dining. It is an utter shame, considering the blue collar delights, as well as the true hard core grassroots part of Hong Kong, also have their culinary pleasures. And it is best to understand things from the ground up, and in order to do that, one must dive in and immerse in the flavors of the 'hood and what it has to offer. The difficulty is navigating to them, a lack of understanding of local food, and of course the language. It is easier to pick up cuss words, than it is to order proficiently at a neighborhood stir fry and seafood restaurant (or you can eat great food and hear random cussing in places like this, but not during my visit). Too many choices...placard menu, or look at the handwritten specials plastered along the wall. No brainer, pay the fee (not expensive) and get a heaping steaming hot bowl of daily soup. The owner wakes up very early in the morning and goes to the nearby Ap Lei Chau market to purchase fish upwards of 3 times a day, then also goes across the strait to Aberdeen side (there is a giant wholesale fish market there too). Old school man in his 70s reasons that the daily catches change depending on what the fishermen have, thus the need to go regularly, and he doesn't want to miss out (plus he doesn't go online and check social media, and the fishermen don't Tweet their catches). So the soup stock is made with lower end (but fresh) wild local catch. Can you imagine how ridiculous good that is? Throw in some root vegetables, ginger, scallion and it's magic. The restaurant normally has lots of styrofoam tanks outside filled with live and kicking seafood, so you can pick what you want. Unfortunately during my visit it was slim pickins, but we ended up with a small wild fish of the grouper family, and had that mofo steamed with soy sauce, oil, scallions. Really hard to top local cooking, local ingredients, where fish has fish flavor (unlike the farmed commercial varieties at our California Cantonese seafood restaurants) and the sauce is heavenly when splattered over a bowl of steamed white rice. Stir fry....so we wanted some wok stir fry plate. What to get? No brainer... 生炒骨 (sweet and sour spareribs). Very nice execution on this one. Not a single drop of excess goopy sauce (and not cornstarch enhanced). This is the OG shiznit version, and not the moo shoo poo poo doo doo that you find abroad. Beef fried rice was rather textbook, but still hit the spot. I don't remember the total amount of the bill, but it was very reasonable.

Wah wah wah! Another hidden gem!…read more The food here is so good and there's quite a few unique dishes!! Seafood is very fresh and tasty. The deep fried tofu is bomb! Super silky and smooth, without a chewy skin. The salted egg yolk shrimps are coated evenly and the shells are edible! The mantis prawns are very juicy and fresh. I also loved the clams soup and the pork chops! Must haves: salted egg yolk shrimps, deep fried tofu, and mantis prawns. Prices are also very fair. Probably even cheaper than many other places that aren't as good! I saw a few michelin signs on the walls, but I'm not sure if it's referring to them or the alcohol they're promoting. But I do think their food is good enough to be Michelin!! It is quite a busy place so be sure to book a reservation!

On the track of looking into the sik siu culture in the university, similar cultures are also…read moreobserved in the dance community, but instead of going to places every time after rehearsals, the more legit reason for dancers to pig out would be after shows and performance. Also known as "Hing Gung" (慶功), it literally means to celebrate and to reward the hard work the crew put into the show. Much like sik siu, since the eaters are of high exertion, the food would most naturally be as trashy as can be~ Healthy eaters might want to hit the return button now as the foods may be despicably fattening. Deep fried is almost the golden rule for every trashy food, even in Hong Kong; the famous shrimp toast is actually minced shrimp smeared on a piece of bread and deep fried to crunchy perfection; and you got it, the piece of bread is soaked with grease. To make it even more damaging, mayonnaise is served on the side for you to dip the toast in. Damaging as it seems, but it is also very gratifying and is often the dish that is cleared the soonest. Hing Gung is often an event of the nights and there aren't a lot of joint cater to this batch of customers at this time of the day. I still remember walking into this shop with the waiter asking us to wait outside the shop at 11 in the evening, while they were trying hard to rearrange the tables to sit the 15 of us down. For a restaurant that is still crowded towards midnight, you know they must have done something right.

Part of a chain of Seafood restaurants that serves live Fish, Crabs, Lobsters and much more, they…read moreall have a seafood tank for customers to choose from. This would be categorized as a mid range in prices, located on the island of Ap Lei Chau, the location has parking and also shopping arcade as well. Since coming back to HK to spend a few months with my senior family members each year, we have been coming here for dim sum lunches or dinners, as the parking is really handy for wheelchairs and with the elevator going straight to the entrance of the restaurant, it makes it so much easier for the seniors to enjoy a nice meal and not having to worry about troubling their family members. Food here is honest and not so fancy Cantonese Style fare, items that they are famous for: BBQ Pork, Roast Suckling Pig, Roast Goose. Dim Sum is very traditional, they open at 7:00am for the senior crowd, also have morning specials so to help keep their cost down, a nice touch from the restaurant, most of these types of restaurants have that kind of promotions as well to cater to this growing market!

First time on Lamma Island and there's so much fresh seafood! We decided on this place since it was…read moreright off the dock and we were hungry. We decided to splurge a bit before our hike so got their sweet and sour fish, lobster, and noodles. Everything was fresh and flavorful. Service was quick since it was early morning. I really wanted to sit next to the water so used my limited Cantonese to kindly ask and the server was very friendly and accommodating.

Fantastic fresh seafood by the water! Plus they have their own ferry service to Central. We've…read moreeaten here each time we've been to Lamma Island, usually to eat after a hike around the island. They're likely most famous for their Lobster and cheese but my favorite things have been (seasonally) the razor clams, steamed grouper, clams in black bean sauce, and the seaweed soup. Say hi to the friendly restaurant dog as well!

食記 is located inside Ap Lei Chau Complex. Here you can order items from their menu which includes…read moremost Cantonese staples and even Hong Kong Style Milk Tea. But most of the customers are not really doing that. They brings what they purchased in the seafood market stalls so 食記 can prepare and cook them! Pro Tip: They will rip you off. Please confirm the cost of cooking and preparation before leaving your seafood with them. After you finished your meal, they charged you whatever they like and it is hard to bargain or argue with them anymore. We purchased around $700 worth of seafood and they charged us over $300 for cooking fee! But at least the seafood was prepared well. The best item was the steamed fish. I love the shrimps too. The seafood was so fresh and overcooking can just ruined them all. The scallops and clams were definitely overcooked and tasted rubbery. There are a few other food stalls you can choose from. I would rather give other ones a try instead of coming back to 食記.

"seafood. just seafood and that's it. the only reason you would come here for real. there's ZERO…read morefrills here. yo! this place is sketchy AF!. is this lady for real just squatting next to the drain and rinsing out the bowls and utensils here? inside the building?! dafuq!? but oh man, this seafood. so fresh! so many varieties! and this place is JAM PACKED. all these people can't be wrong..." - ivan's inner monologue this was the last dinner in HK for me and my cousin. i had never been to this part of aberdeen before (or not that i could recall at least) but my cousin's uncle invited us to stuff our faces with the entire ocean...ok! it was just course after course (see pics below) cooked by the folks at this store front (actually little more than an indoor stand). the dining area is set up like a food court with big and small tables that are first come, first serve (though there's an unspoken understanding that certain tables in certain areas unofficially belong to the respective restaurants). we got here a little late so i didn't hear what all was ordered but it was a never-ending parade once it started. just look at the pics and drool. this looks like a neighborhood joint with neighborhood prices (should be pretty cheap but idk for sure). come as you are (sweatpants and flip flops? no problemo) and prepare to feast.

Pacific Gourmet Wholesale Deli is a fabulous store in Horizon Plaza, selling the finest foods at…read morereasonable prices. Their ethos is to supply quality foods for you to cook at home, and that is what they do very well. The main draw is the fresh meats and seafood counter which has a great selection from Australia and Norway, and all expertly worked by the on-site butcher. A real highlight of the fresh counter is the range of sausages available. All hand made in store from 100% Aussie beef, these are ideal for barbecues. There are also three cabinet refrigerators crammed with more fresh meats, including MacSween's haggis imported from Scotland - yummy! As well as the fresh section, many of the meats and seafoods are also available frozen. I've never known why one would buy frozen compared to fresh, but I tend to buy frozen for my seafood as a lot of the tim it is frozen on the boat. There are a number of other grocery goods, and a reasonable selection of wines. The wines are discounted if you buy 6 or 12 bottles, so you should stock-up your wine cellar. Last note, there is a delivery service everyday, and a decent website where you can order online (yes, a HK website with prices on it - hurrah!).

I am a huge fan of Japanese food and seafood, so when I heard about a Japanese Crab restaurant, I…read morewas beside myself. I know that sounds exaggerated, but my stomach is very influential upon my moods. The first time we tried to find this restaurant, we got lost and wound up getting there right when it closed. Disheartened, we almost gave up on it since Wan Chai was so far from Sha Tin (4 MTR lines to get there). On the very last day, we decided to try again and I am so glad we did! Despite the fact that we didn't have reservations, the staff very kindly let us dine in one of their private rooms upstairs. The private room was fantastic both for the overall experience and for the kids. Service was very attentive without being intrusive. The wait staff took great care in informing us how to cook and/or eat each item. We ordered 3 lunch sets (3 adults, 2 children). One executive set ($500(?) HKD) including crab tempura, crab shabu shabu, grilled edamame, chuwanmushi, and veggies, one Wagyu set ($150 HKD) including wagyu beef and udon, and one Crab Rice set ($180 HKD) with Matsuba crab / salmon roe and the crab tsukane. Each dish was beautifully presented, incredibly fresh, and oh so tasty. I would highly recommend this restaurant for the food, service, and experience.

I don't know about you, but crab is one of my favourite foods of ALL time. You name it, hairy…read morecrabs, steamed Dungeness crab, cold crab, spicy crab, I pretty much indulge in everything CRAB. You know how one gets the meat sweats? Well...if it were true, I would probably get Crab sweats! ....ew.. Moving on, my friends know what a huge crab fanatic I am so they were so nice to take me to a restaurant that was especially crab focused. This place is absolutely, most definitely, completely, TOTALLY, a heaven for crab lovers like myself. Kanizen is a Japanese restaurant that focuses on the different ways to eat Japanese horse-hair crab and mainly Tabara crab. We chose the pre-fixed dinner for two and it had about 7 courses. Just thinking about this meal has got me salivating at my laptop. (Metaphorically) Once you walk in the dimly lit restaurant, you see a pond with ENORMOUS crabs just chilling. The size of these things are quite shocking. I let my waitress know that I wasn't able to finish the whole thing and she assured me that I can, she was, of course, absolutely right. First came out cold crab meat with UNI and tempura fried egg on top. Heavenly, the egg yolk was runny and ran down my crab meat. The crab meat was sweet and perfect. Next came out the crab legs, which I love. Every course was spectacular. My favourite of all was the crab congee you make or can ask the staff to make for you. It was the perfect ending to my crab meal. I was so satiated and I cannot wait to go back.

Jordan, Hong Kong - my go-to every time I visit HK. They know how to cook seafood! And some other…read moresignature dishes that they have here are so amazing too like the shrimp cake and the fried dough with honey! The dishes I must order here are their cheesy lobster with longevity noodles and their pepper salt pissing shrimp. Oh so good. My mouth is watering now just writing about it! And that night I went they also had razor clams as well! Yum! Service was great. The people were really friendly. The restaurant was busy on a weeknight as well. It's easy to find, near Jordan station located inside a plaza. Just take the elevator 7/F I think? and it'll take you straight there. Most of all their prices are very reasonable! You can't get this quality and taste for this price anywhere else; that's why I keep coming back. Writing this review makes me happy because I can relive this meal. :-)

Mantis prawns $88 HKD x2 and sharks fin soup with chicken $98 HKD…read more Super pricey for just some appetizer dish but you can tell its native and local preference Good to try but wouldn't eat a whole feast here unless you feel like splurging As a traveler, there are lots of other affordable restaurants that are just as good!

You cannot miss this great local eatery when you visit in Hong Kong! 避風塘炒蟹!read more

Had a fun and yummy dinner last night. We use local app (Open Rice) and found this joint. I am…read moresurprised to see this on Yelp. Since I am here, I thought I would share with my peeps. I post a picture of its lobby as I would never be able to spot it without Google map. As we took the elevator up to the second floor, we could hear all the chatters before the door is opened. We were shocked once the door is opened. This place is vibing!! We didn't make a reservation at all. We got there around 8pm on a Thursday night. We were seated immediately. All the staff are super friendly and funny. We ordered a bunch of food and a few bottles of beers. What a fun night with great food! We will certainly come back when we are back to Hong Kong.

Came here at the suggestion of a good friend, and this was easily one of the best hits for cheap…read morebut good and fresh seafood. We had the oysters, shrimp, scallops, and A choi. Very reasonable prices, and decent service for a Hong Kong dai pai dong. I love that they go overboard with garlic and scallions as a seasoning, it brought out the freshness of the seafood. I would definitely recommend for other visitors.

Came back for dinner, just found out at this pai dong there is another restaurant on the other half…read moreof this pai dong, not one big pai dong restaurant. We ordered snails in spicy sauce, nice spice good snails, clams black beans sauce also good, sweet and sour pork found it to be on the sour side, meat was tender, bitter melon with spare ribs, bitter melon lack taste, ribs was good.