Not to miss foods - Hong Kong & Tokyo

We are leaving in about 10 days and wonder what are not to miss food/drink in Hong Kong and Tokyo. We are not foodies or big budget travelers but want to know what to look for/choose if the opportunity arises. Thank you

We'll be about a month behind you :) so this is of interest to us, too!

Tokyo has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other city on earth.

You can find them for free on the Internet, or you can buy a copy of the Michelin Guide for Japan.

In Hong Kong enjoy dim sum lunch (yum cha) @ Maxims, City Hall easily accessed by train. Get there early or be prepared to wait...

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In Tokyo, the department stores have wonderful food halls in the basement/lower level. Nice to check out - one can fine perfect fruit there - think unblemished fruits and the square watermelon - but for a ridiculously high price. There was a wide selection of wines, pastries, chocolates. We enjoyed some sashimi bowls with rice and avocado as well as take-away sushi at ISETAN Department Store.

For a very cheap fill, at 7-11, you could buy an instant noodle cup and get it filled with hot water right there.

Cheers.

If you go to Stanley in Hong Kong there is an awesome restaurant there. Pinot Duck. It specializes in duck dishes, both Asian and Western style, and has some very nice Pinot Noir wines, including Burgundies, to go with it.

Unfortunately the Stanley Markets aren't as good as they used to be but the bus trip over is spectacular if you take the Route 6 bus, which goes over the hill instead of going through the Aberdeen Tunnel.

Some restaurants in Tokyo will offer a set price menu. This usually consists of several small courses, including sashimi and tempura, and is a great way to enjoy Japanese food without having to decide exactly what you want to eat. Just sit back and enjoy each course as it is served.

Hong Kong is the epic center for Cantonese dining & food capital, besides Guangzhou north of the border in mainland China.

Do a little bit of reading & planning on TripAdvisor, download & install the mobile APP, HKG airport and rest of city has plenty of free & fast WiFi, MTR/Airport Express & local subway train station concourse/platform have free WiFi - launch your TripAdvisor App to see what's nearby - difficult to suggest not knowing where you are staying, budget & food preference.

Around ladies market in Mongkok, off Nathan Road on Nelson Street or Shanghai Street are plenty of "local" restaurants, many mom-n-pop but also chain places, "western" cafe for coffee/tea/breakfast & set lunch or dinner price fixed ... as well as upscale one. High retail rents meant many are in the basements and/or upstairs, a lot of them inside shopping malls - follow the locals. Have a bowl of real, authentic "wonton" soup with the thin skins, unlike the Americas - with the noodles or plain without - taste the freshness & chunks of shrimp & minced pork - once you tried & liked it, you will not touch/order just another bowl of wonton soup here in the U.S.

Fresh out of the oven BBQ roast duck, roast goose, roast pig, roast pork, chicken & farmed pigeons - over rice or in noodles soup ... we always do them when visiting. Chains like Maxim's in the malls & elsewhere has been around for 60 years - everything from dim sum, bakery & pastries, to lunch boxes and upscale dining in their retail operations all over - set the bars for their competitions. If it looks clean, healthy & cooked, not sitting "unprotected" in open air for hours - try and eat it but when in doubt, ask first.

Fine full-service restaurants on weekends are packed with long lines and dim sum are cooked to order, served steaming hot or cold for chilled sweets. Seafood are fresh but can be super expensive - prices for prawns (jumbo shrimps) like everything else are often priced by the ounce (when you see numbers written & posted, not by the pound).

There are plenty of Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai & Malay food options, as well as Macauese & Portuguese food, as in Las Vegas East nearby - 55 minutes away by hi-speed double-hull turbofoil, the famous portuguese chicken w. curry, baked seafood w. cheese over rice or pasta, baked egg tarts and fresh toasted bun w. pork chop, etc.

Hotels have full & elaborate/fancy breakfast, lunch, dinner buffets and weekend brunch, imported seafood, oysters, lobsters & prime grade steak, etc. - prices to match in the U.S. - go early when it's not as crowded & walk off the excess with an evening stroll in the Tsim Sha Tsui area's waterfront.

Tipping or service charges are often added automatically to the fine bill at 10% (top end - 15%) so check the itemized summary to avoid double tipping ... these places will take credit cards so you don't need to worry about having lots of hundred and thousand dollar bills around (just alert your home bank/cc issuer of your plan, as I'm sure experienced travelers know the drill).

Lookee here...

If you want to see a great view of Hong Kong other than Victoria Peak, try the Ritz Carlton Ozone Bar. There is a shopping mall in the basement of the complex if you want to shop at the high end stores.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/travel/65063/ozone-bar-ritz-carlton-hong-kong-review-drinking-destination.html

Whenever we are in Hong Kong we also eat wonton noodle soup, there any many places that serve this.This is real comfort food,

We are in HK often and live in a multi cultural city so we eat Dim Sum every weekend and have had some great ones in both Kowloon and HK. There is a chain in Harbour City or Ocean terminal (as they rune together) and it is called Crystal Jade. We have eaten there in both Shanghi and Kowloon. Line ups but worth it.

For fancy Shangri la Kowloon Dim Sum restaurant and For Seasons HK Dim Sum and serviced like a queen!

In Hong Kong enjoy dim sum lunch (yum cha) @ Maxims, City Hall easily accessed by train. Get there early or be prepared to wait...

 

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Should warn you if you're not prepared for it... with only 2/4 of you.. and if the restaurant is exceptionally busy.. you will be expected to share your table..... its a HK/Dim Sum thing. Most westerners aren't ready for it:cool:

Never had that problem even in Crystal Jade that we lined up for. We have been in HK 5 times at different times of year including Chinese New Year and the fall festival Moon Festival..

It depends on individual restaurant. High end restaurants generally do not allow sharing of tables. The Maxim in City Hall was where Bill Clinton went to for his dim sum, when he visited as POTUS. It is popular because it is still one of the few where the servers will push their food carts around, and allow you to point and pick, without ordering from a menu. Like tapas. Plan to arrive before noon to beat the office crowds for a table.

Generally, only neighbourhood restaurants will ask you to share tables when busy.

then I guess you could say I eat like a local since I'm Chinese :-) and often at busy Dim Sum restaurants.. have to share a table when its just me and my husband. It has happened to us in Dusseldorf too so ... just be ready for it.. the best food isn't always at the best hotels