It was a Saturday night and my boyfriend and I were feeling far too lazy to venture out further…read morethan a few stops from Tai Wai. I did a quick search and found this seafood restaurant around a residential district on the riverside - Garden Rivera in English. Usually, nearby residential areas in Tai Wai and Sha Tin can you find some pretty good local family-run restaurants, and Rivervine was no exception. Not simply this, but the restaurant was super cheap and has now become a worthy contender to some Sai Kung seafood eateries because of its proximity to the abode. Although it calls itself a seafood restaurant, its signature dishes actually consist of: chicken and abalone congee, and roast pigeon. Now, there are a few roast pigeon places in both Tai Wai and Sha Tin that have become renowned across the foodiesphere in Hong Kong, so I wasn't bringing my hopes up about this particular dish - especially since, in conjunction with the congee, it comes at the super deal of 52 bucks. (The congee on its own is $18.... so yes, don't expect real abalone, and don't expect much of the imitation either.) The pigeon was just so-so, not as tender or as succulent as other places, but for how much it cost - a pretty damn good deal, and if you're like me, you're just gonna dip it in the excellently roasted salt anyway so you won't really be able to discern any subtle flavours if there were. The congee was good, mainly because the two odds pieces of chicken were so perfectly salty and complemented the jok well. The abalone imitation, I think sea whelk is usually the textural substitute, was fine - and portioned so that each person had one slice each. What do you expect for $18? As for seafood, the quality of the cooking doesn't really come close to the Sai Kung seafood masters but you're paying considerably less. There is an ongoing deal for $158 - you pick three seafood items on the menu, including scallops with garlic vermicelli, razorclams, and crab with ginger and scallions. The razorclams were so fat and juicy, and we asked for black bean razorclams, so they had onions and red peppers fried with them too. The scallops were fresh, and they served us four pieces (!!!), but the vermicelli was a little overcooked so it wasn't very nice to eat with the scallops. In all, there's definitely a return visit in the works, especially when we can't be bothered to head all the way to Sai Kung for a seafood fix.

Best dimsum spot in new town plaza! Their 牛仔骨are amazing and their chinese dessert are also worth…read moregetting

Lei's is tucked away on the 5th or 6th level at New City at Shatin, and where at one time they used…read moreto have a line out the door, these days you could easily get a table without a reservation. That's too bad, because they have always been a good restaurant at mid-high prices with good service, especially if they know you or someone in your party. The traditional Chinese soups they offer is well prepared, the BBQ meats good quality, and the dishes in general well prepared with fresh ingredients. But where this place is special is that I will forever remember it as the restaurant where I ate the last meal with Mom. We visited her in November 2017 to celebrate her birthday - and it was a joyous event; the next morning, she passed away suddenly - followed abruptly by two more deaths in our extended family. Three funerals in 8 days over two continents feels surreal even now.

Food (**** out of *****); As long as their head chef is in, the place is legit and will serve up…read moresome of the best seafood equal in cooking skill to the big restaurants. If you're going on a holiday or Sunday, be sure to ask if their head chef is in before you decide if you want to go there or not. I've been there many times and their head chef has never disappointed me. When in Sai Kung, I advise you to skip the restaurants that the touts will bring you to because those restaurants are much more expensive than but not better than this little mom and pop restaurant. Also, skip the big tourist trap restaurants on the main drag for the same reason. The owner "Michael" also owns a live seafood stand in the wet market behind the restaurant. Ask the owner to show you which seafood stand this is. Then, go and pick out and pay for the live seafood that you want them to cook for you. Take this seafood back to the restaurant and they will cook it for you for a small fee, This fee varies, but it is usually the greater of 200HKD per person or 100% of the price of the seafood. Many times, it is much less than this. I don't know how he figures how much to charge me as my Chinese speaking ability is crap, but he's always been fair and honest with me. This is a stupendous bargain, because I have a relative in the food industry and he informs me that most restaurants charge 200% of the price of the groceries as the profit margin to charge you. On this trip, I had the live abalone, living scallops, pissing shrimp (mantis shrimp), fresh razor clams, and chicken. All of the seafood has that fresh, sweet, sea taste that only living seafood has. None of it tasted "fishy". BTW, you have to tell them how you want it cooked, so if you're not a major foodie, bring a friend who is or it will be cooked wrong, through no fault of the restaurant's. I had the razor clam stir fried with hot peppers and black bean. It was not too spicy as to overpower the natural flavor of the razor clams. There was only a tiny bit of sand in it. On a previous visit, I had the razor clams steamed with garlic, ginger, onions, scallions, and wine. There was zero sand in it on my previous visit. I like it steamed more than the stir fry method. On this visit, I had the live scallops steamed with garlic, onions, scallions, ginger and wine. It was divine. The abalone was steamed with special sauce. Both the abalone and scallops were not rubbery. If you overcook these shellfish, it will be rubbery and it is very easy to overcook. The chef here is very skillful. The pissing shrimp (mantis shrimp) were stir fried in cheese crust. It was fragrant and slightly pungent from the cheese. All the seafood was excellent. The ginger chicken was average. I don't know what I was thinking, ordering a chicken in a seafood restaurant. Duh. Service (***** out of *****); Unlike most Cantonese restaurants, the waiters here will check up on you to see how you are doing, they'll change out your dirty plates, and the manager will also check up on you. Atmosphere (** out of *****); A typical mom and pop mini-restaurant. They have some photos of celebrities who've dined there before proudly displayed on the walls, but they have no decor and the front door is often open when the weather is nice outside, so you might have to fend off an occasional fly or mosquito. I did not see any flies at all on this trip. Conclusion (***** out of *****); The tally is 4 stars, but I gave them an extra star for value. They have no English menu, but it is not really necessary. All you have to do is point at the seafood that you want and then tell them, "tsing" (steamed), "chow tseow yeem" (stir fried with salt and pepper), "hu dow see tsew" (black beans and pepper), "cheese" (with cheese), or "chow" (stir fried). This is a hidden gem on the side streets frequented by locals, away from the tourist traps. For the best seafood in Hong Kong at a very reasonable price, go directly to New Tak Kee Seafood Restaurant. P.S. some unscrupulous seafood, mushroom, beef, and dairy vendors sell radioactive stuff from Fukushima and the surrounding regions in Japan. This is a big problem in Hong Kong because almost all food is imported into Hong Kong. My crazy S.O. actually tested all the seafood here and it is all within safety limits.

One of the best restaurants in Sai Kung for price and quality. We were a group of eight, and got…read morethe works -- baked lobster with cheese, deep fried mantis shrimp, steamed scallops, etc -- for HKD 250 each including six beers. Anecdotally, this is significantly cheaper than the Michelin-starred restaurants in Sai Kung, but for the same quality. Very good service as well; would definitely recommend!

Came here for dinner as a big group of 10 recently and left so full and satisfied. We made…read morereservations online and they called us a few days before our reservation to ask if we wanted to reserve any special dishes. We didn't know what to reserve so we only ordered a soup and a limited char siu. Definitely recommend the char siu as it was so meaty, flavorful and nicely charred. Food did take a while to come out though which was kinda nice when HK is usually so fast paced that you can't enjoy a meal. Service was so so as it sometimes took a while to flag down the staff but it's also expected in HK.

I appreciated Tai Wai Dining Room offers the traditional Cantonese style dim sum. Lots of dim sum…read morerestaurants stopped serving those dim sum because they required lots of time for preparation. I specifically like the bone marrow dim sum dish which is hard to find in restaurants nowadays. My mom always wants to find a restaurant that serves good sesame rolls which is also hard to find as well. The way they prepared it still preserves the chewiness. I am so glad that my mom enjoyed it so much. All the dim sum dishes are very tasty. I recommend you to try try this place if you want to eat authentic traditional Cantonese dim sum. The bbq pork was good but not as special as people talked about. It still worth a try though. The servers are all very helpful and friendly. The interior decoration is very welcoming. My big party enjoyed dining here. This restaurant is a Michelin bib gourmand. If you want to try this place, don't forget to make reservation.

While in Hong Kong visiting relatives during mid-January, dim sum was definitely a must for me!…read more Relatives took me here for my very first dim sum in Hong Kong. We ordered a variety of dim sum foods to share and WOW was I surprised on how good the food is!

Located on Pak Hok Ting St. next to Royal Park Hotel, I'm guessing it's customers are mostly guests…read moreof the hotel. The place is not your typical family dim sum joint but rather a fancier version for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. That being said, the dim sum brunch will not showcase dim sum carts or cheap price tags. The interior is sophisticated with a trend toward Chinese antiques but with a glossy modern twist. The service is prompt and friendly. Our party of four ordered a few Cantonese favorites such as the fried shrimp roll, fried noodles, steamed rice rolls, and beef balls. The food came out steaming hot and the aroma quickly filled the dining place. We thoroughly enjoyed every bite of the meal. While it cost more than the norm, we thought it was worth it as the quality was top notch and the noise level was kept low. We will definitely come again when craving great Cantonese food that is without the rush of the crowds (which can really be overwhelming when all you want is to eat and relax).

First time in HK and our family wanted to take us to their favorite dim sum restaurant. It is…read morelocated in a ginormous mall which seemed like we had to take quite a few escalators. Like many restaurants that have long waits, you either check in with hostess or kiosk to get a ticket and wait for a table. We waited 20 minutes and then were seated. They have pushcarts with the dishes and signs in English and Chinese which is awesome! The dishes were very good and got to try some new ones you don't see in the states. The service on the other hand is another story. My BIL ordered a few dishes on the app and we waited and waited. The problem with the app is it doesn't confirm it went through. Then we flagged down a server and placed an order and waited some more. Then after we flagged another server and told them we were ready for the check and we didn't want the dishes anymore they came out. It is a nice spacious restaurant.

Jade Garden was underwhelming at best. Based on the influx…read moreof people around dinner time, I had high hopes that the restaurant would churn out some tasty, authentic Cantonese dishes. And while the sautéed chicken was flavorful, everything else was just...fine. Not terrible, but also far from memorable. Every dish seemed to need a bit more seasoning, and a lot more flavor. All in all, I'd recommend skipping this in favor of something else in the mall.

Sik Siu (食宵), having late night supper, is perhaps a unique culture in universities of Hong Kong…read more Whenever there's a function, no matter it's the orientation camp, a meeting that last till late at night or upon completion of a dance show, people would still love to go to a restaurant to stuff themselves with trashy food before going to bed. Sha Kok, from my experience, is not a usual choice for CU students, but only restricted to people of the dance society; so you can say it is a way to distinguish people from the dance community or not by judging from the normal go to place to sik siu. Sik Siu unlike other forms of proper dinner is for people to trash out as well as pig out, naturally the food choices would never be the healthiest of options and would mostly be frowned against by those who are conscious of what they put in their mouths. Deep fried chicken fillet coated with a thick yet crunchy batter drenched in sweet and sour lemony syrup? Spare ribs in sweet and sour sauce topped with mayonnaise? Those are indeed the things youngsters would find inviting and appetizing after a long night of full out performance. Think of it as a local rendition of fusion cuisine, the dai pai dong of which uni kids like to go for sik siu actually pioneers this apparently chic culinary trend in Hong Kong. I still remember how I use to hate going to dai pai dong when i was a little kid; the lack of air con and comfy chairs to sit on, the damp floor and the unwashed dishes piling up right next to where you are eating... Not a fond memory I concur, but as I grow up, there is something very traditionally local and nostalgic about this sort of place, something that might only be appreciated by grown ups. A place that celebrates local style cuisine and unpretentious food, it is worth experiencing.

Kam Sha Kok Hong Kong Outdoor kitchens aka 大牌檔 are as iconic to Hong Kong's history is Hong Kong's…read morefamed and famous futuristic skyline and the Peak. Outdoor Kitchens are nostalgic and has a casual, careless environment for gatherings over a few beers and late night grub. Warning! Not for those with a glass stomach. Start your meal off with some local beers. Personally I love Blue Girl Pilsener Lager is light, crisp and refreshing! Even if it's a Korea import. There are still a few places for outdoor kitchens in HK, but our friends took us to Kam Sha Kok Hong Kong 金沙角大牌檔 in Sha Tin. Sha Tin is famous for pigeon squab. The color of the skin is bright, crispy yet slightly oily. The meat is tender and moist. Lamb brisket hot pot: clay pot comes on a propane burner with a hose attached to a mini propane tank - something that would not pass health and safety inspection here. Tender lamb pieces are cooked with plenty of bean curd and vegetables. It is rich, filling, flavorful but not gamey. Salt and Pepper Calamari: How can you be eating outdoors and not get your fix of peppery calamari on? These lightly battered and succulent tender squid goes well with a beer! Jelly fish and shredded chicken: cold appetizer marinated in sesame oil and pickled carrots and radishes are refreshing on a hot summer's night. The chili flakes adds a good kick. Gold and Silver Egg and Seasonal Greens: Salty egg and preserved century egg with egg white are gently cooked and serves as a sauce over some seasonal snow pea tips. Roasted Chicken: Like the squab the skin is crispy and not too oily while the meat still retains its juicy moisture. Served with prawn crackers

Speaking of Sik Siu (late night supper), especially in CU traditions, Tai Yuen is key to this…read moreculture no matter in orientation camps (O camp) or societal activities ("jong" activities). On contrary to the previously introduced Sha Kok which is more popular amongst the dance community, Tai Yuen is the go to place for visually all CU student, not only is it more accessible (well... comparatively speaking) but it fits better into the traditional mindset of dai pai dong style dining. Shatin is famous of it's chicken congee, Tai Yuen being in Fo Tan, (which is also a part of the greater Shatin district) is also celebrating its chicken congee. Whenever dining in Tai Yuen, you will first be greeted with a hefty pot of chicken congee, if you are lucky, the pot might be free of charge and refillable. For the food choice, just as any sik siu places, "trashy" is the word, the mantra and the golden rule. Imagine an oyster omelet with the rim so puffy and crispy that could only achieved with the excess fat that the omelet is fried in; deep fried mouth part of squids with every morsel crunchy on the outside, chewy and succulent in the inside. How about "roasted" baby pigeons that is actually deep fried to crispy perfection? All of them are sinful but undoubtedly good; especially served alongside with a bottle of ice cold beer, that is how most university students get wasted for the very first time.