Fussy Eater’s Guide to Hong Kong food

For fussy or picky eaters, foreign travel can be a nightmare of anxiety attack inducing proportions. The bewildering array of funny names, funny utensils, and strange looking creatures can be overwhelming, especially if you need to appear composed at an important business dinner or are travelling with fussy young children. Here at Urban Travel Guide, we understand those feelings all too well, but as experienced travellers we’ve come to learn that food around the world is not as different as you might expect so we’ve put together a series of guides to help you navigate your way through the restaurants, street food and supermarkets of the world. We understand that key for fussy eaters is knowing in advance what they are putting in their mouths before they put it, so in our guides you’ll find out exactly what goes into these dishes, and what familiar foods from home they are really just variations of.

This guide is about the food of Hong Kong. Hong Kong-ese cuisine is a mix Cantonese (southern Chinese) food with influences from British and Portuguese (due to proximity of Macau) favourites and more modern additions from nearby Taiwan and Japan. Like Japan, as an island state, seafood features extensively, which can be an issue for the fussy eater, and truly vegetarian options can be limited, as meat broths and stocks are still used even when Tofu is used instead of meat. If you live in London, or San Francisco, or somewhere else with a long tradition of Chinese takeaways, chances are the menus in your local Chinese restaurants will be based on Hong Kong/Cantonese food, unless they explicitly specialise in another kind of Chinese cuisine. Read our guides below to become familiar with and find something you can enjoy no matter how fussy you or your kids are!

  • What is a Pineapple Bun?
  • What is a Nata de Coco?
  • What is a Pork Chop Bun?
  • What is Dim Sum?
  • What is Hong Kong Lemon Tea?
  • What is Hong Kong Milk Tea?
  • What is Roast Goose?
  • What is a Doughstick?
  • What is Pandan?
  • What is Hong Kong style French Toast?
  • What is Tofu pudding?
  • What is Lemon Chicken?

See our other Fussy Eater’s Guides: