The Bargain Gourmet
The best of underground eats in the city.
Hong Kong has all the food you could ever want, from a $20 bowl of wonton to a bank-busting five-star Robuchon meal. But if you want the best deals out there for some pretty fantastic food, you’re going to have to get off the beaten track. These are 15 of the finest restaurants you’ve never heard of, great bargains all of them, ranked in order of the difficulty to get to from Central.
Red Tavern
17 Aberdeen St., Central, 2559-0737
Trying to impress a lunchtime date, but don’t know your foie gras from your tartuffe’s? Take solace in the ease and unswerving delectability of Red Tavern’s set menus, where an ever-changing weekly selection of the finest French and Italian cuisines is served without the hassles of speaking a romance language. From the freshest of meats and seafood, to the rarest of fungi and burst liver’s, their appetizing variety is more than enough to pass you off as a gastronomical genius while you whisper sweet non’s in her ear. It all comes courtesy of Willy Yum, the former chef of Pierrot at the Mandarin Oriental (no doubt frustrated with his previous restaurant’s exorbitant prices), which makes this under-$150 meal all that much more delicious.
For Kee Restaurant
Shop J-K, 200 Hollywood Rd., Sheung Wan, 2546-8947
If you need your fill of greasy grub once in a while, stop off at For Kee for some of the greasiest and greatest pork chops around. Whether it’s pork chop with tomatoes (sells out fast), pork chop with vegetables, pork chop in a bun, pork chop with toast, or one of the many other irresistible combinations on the menu, this long-established little mom-and-pop shop will be hog heaven for anyone who digs on swine. Tucked inconspicuously behind the corner just off western Hollywood Road, it’s a constant zoo at lunch, so either order out or try to get there early.
Doraya
451 Lockhart Rd., Causeway Bay, 2834-8851
This is a no-frills Japanese cafeteria for homesick expats. It’s the usual suspects – tempura, grilled mackerel, chirashi-zushi, and reasonably priced set meals with rice – but done right. Doraya has an in with the city’s Japanese tuna suppliers, and they bring in the finest of Tsukiji’s toro, without the exorbitant hotel price. Have it in chunks of soy-drenched tuna steaks or minced with scallions on rice. Or simply by itself, wrapped in crispy toasted nori.