10 Best Restaurants in Mong Kok, Hong Kong

This award-winning eatery serves some of the city’s best dim sum. Opened by a former Four Seasons Hotel chef, this humble spot makes all of its shrimp dumplings, rice rolls, and baked cha siu buns fresh to order. It’s top-quality food at dirt-cheap prices. It's as popular as ever, so go in midafternoon if you want to beat the crowds.

The miniature cakes here sit like jewels in the pastry case. A lot of the desserts feature Asian ingredients such as green tea and adzuki beans. Japanese-style soufflé pancakes are another house specialty. These fluffy stacks are served with toppings such as fresh strawberries, chocolate shavings, and whipped cream. Sweets aside, 100 Bites also offers pasta-based lunch sets and a tasting menu for dinner.

The street stalls of Hong Kong are filled with interesting snacks of all shapes and sorts. The intrepid should trek over to Delicious Food for the infamous stinky tofu.

Dundas Street in Mong Kok is filled with street vendors. The Fei Jie Snacks Stall is one of the best, with its dizzying selection of skewered choices ranging from chewy squid to duck gizzard to pig intestine (best eaten with a squirt of mustard).

This might not be the prettiest restaurant you’ve ever seen, but its panfried beef patties (translated as “veal goulash” on the menu) are incredibly delicious. The browned pastry packets arrive at the table piping hot and bursting with tender minced beef—good luck stopping after just one.

Dubbed Little Thailand, Kowloon City is home to some of the best Thai restaurants in town. Lung Jie is one of the more popular choices, and for good reason—the food is excellent and the flavors are authentic. The extensive menu covers all the basics, from stir-fried pad thai noodles to hot-and-sour tom yum soup. For something a little more adventurous, try the raw prawns, which are topped with garlic and chilies and served with a deliciously spicy dipping sauce on the side.

Opened by one of Hong Kong’s best-known pastry chefs, this takeaway bakery offers a gorgeous collection of classic and original French-style gâteaux. The most famous creation here is the Rose—an elaborate layer cake decorated with edible chocolate petals. If you don’t want to splurge on this signature creation (or if it sells out by the time you arrive), consider equally tasty treats like the green-tea opera, raspberry napoleon, or lemon tart.

One of the pioneers of American fast-food-style dining in Hong Kong, Si Sun still looks and feels like an eatery from the swinging '60s. The plastic fixtures have stayed the same over the past few decades, and the menu doesn’t seem to have changed much either. Burgers are geared toward local tastes, and the freshly grilled beef patties are sandwiched between two soft buns and topped with ketchup and mayo. Add cheese or a fried egg and your meal will still be a steal. Si Sun also offers pork and fish fillet burgers, as well as a few rice and noodles dishes.

For a perfect warm-weather treat, drop by Tong Pak Fu for the Taiwanese-style shaved snow ice. Blocks of flavored ice (chocolate, milk, fruit, and many others) are put into a special machine that shaves them into thin, ribbonlike sheets that fold up into a mountainous heap. The texture is richer and denser than regular shaved ice. This store also offers other Chinese desserts, including red-bean soup and sesame-filled dumplings.

If you have a delicate constitution, take a pass on this home-style Cantonese restaurant. Tso Choi (which literally translates as “rough dishes”) is not everyone’s cup of tea. Offal lovers, however, might be interested in trying some of the house favorites: fried pig tripe, fried pig brain (served as an omelet), double-boiled pig brain—you get the idea. The older Hong Kong generation still likes this stuff; younger folks may demur. The wary can opt for creamy congee, fried chicken, or simple stir-fries.