A Hong Kong hotel executive’s favourite places to eat pineapple buns, barbecued pork, Japanese and Chinese fare

Adventurous Hong Kong native Edward Tang loves to try new things, but is also a big fan of old favourites
Tang, who works at the Upper House Hotel and Pacific Place Apartments, is also happy to splash out on a good meal

Hong Kong dining & recommendations

Andrew Sun

Published: 3:00pm, 23 Sep 2019

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Hong Kong native Edward Tang is the director of guest experience for The Upper House hotel as well as Swire sister property Pacific Place Apartments.

When I started as a concierge I didn’t have a clue when guests asked me for recommendations. I was really embarrassed, so I started my own food journey.

I am very adventurous now. Whenever there is anything new, I go.

I love local food, especially French toast and pineapple bun with a thick slab of butter. My favourite is Kam Wah Cafe (47 Bute Street, Prince Edward, tel: 2392 6830). Recently, I discovered Lim Kee Bing Sutt (various locations including 13 Spring Garden Lane, Wan Chai, tel: 3468 2971). I went for lunch and the pineapple bun was so good, I ordered another for takeaway.

Pineapple bun at Kam Wah Cafe. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Another good place is Men Wah Bing Teng. They have different branches, and each is famous for different things. One is known for egg tarts only, another for pineapple buns. I like the Causeway Bay spot (5 Lan Fong Road, Causeway Bay, tel: 2328 0676) for the barbecued pork and egg rice. They have a special soy sauce, the pork is very tender and tastes good with the yolk. It’s much better than a lot of places.

I love barbecue pork. One favourite is Pearl Delights (Shop 127, New Town Plaza Phase 1, 18 Sha Tin Centre Street, Sha Tin, tel: 2681 2200). It’s a good price and very good quality pork.

For more upscale Iberico char siu pork, Mott 32 (Basement, Standard Chartered Bank Building, 4-4A Des Voeux Road Central, tel: 2885 8688) is one of the best. It’s one of the upscale restaurants I go to regularly. It’s actually hard to find a good Cantonese restaurant with good decor and vibes with good food.

I always tell guests barbecued pork is a good reference point for prices. If you see an order for about HK$100 then the restaurant won’t be crazy expensive, but if it’s HK$300 it will be quite expensive.

I love Japanese food. A not so pricey place is Rock Salt (Shop A, 16/F, Lee Theatre Plaza, 99 Percival Street, Causeway Bay, tel: 3622 3998). They have a good lunch set for uni. If price is not a concern, Umi (159 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, tel: 2956 3177) is another good Japanese place. They do omakase. The chef doesn’t speak much English but he’s still very friendly.

Ho Lee Fook serves cool and modern food.

Crispy aubergine with salted fish and minced pork from Dim Sum Library. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

As for recommendations for guests, if they want a more cool and modern place then I might suggest Mott 32, Ho Lee Fook (1-5 Elgin Street, SoHo, tel: 2810 0860) and Dim Sum Library (Shop 124, 1/F Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, tel: 3643 0088).

For more authentic Chinese I suggest Kin’s Kitchen (5/F W Square, 314-324 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai, tel: 2571 0913).

Edward Tang always like to try new restaurants in Hong Kong, but has his old favourites too.

For something in between, I would say Tsui Hang Village (various locations including 2/F, New World Tower, 18 Queen’s Road Central, tel: 2524 2012). It’s not new, but it’s clean and authentic and not too expensive.

A new restaurant that really impressed me is Fu Rong (Shop OTE 201, 2/F Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, 3-27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, tel: 2388 2008). It’s Sichuan but not too spicy. Of course, it has a very view, too.

And Café Gray Deluxe (L49 The Upper House, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, tel: 3968 1106) is special. We never call it fine dining. It’s more like a deluxe version of a café, literally.

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