6. For Cantonese comfort food: Hop Sze Restaurant

I grew up eating at Hop Sze Restaurant, which does simple home-style Cantonese dishes very well. Michelin’s Bib Gourmand designation has made it very difficult to get a reservation here (expect a two- or three-month wait for dinner), but if you do get in, order the rich, creamy Chinese almond pork lung soup, the sharing-sized baked pork chop rice, and deep-fried shrimp toast.

7. For fresh seafood: Chan Sun Kee

Seafood is an important element of Cantonese cooking. There’s no better place to enjoy it than at the Aberdeen Wholesale Fish Market, where you can buy the freshest catch from fishermen early in the morning. Take the butchered fish to Ap Lei Chau, and top off your order at the indoor wet market by picking a collection of more fresh seafood, then bring it upstairs to Chan Sun Kee, where the owners will cook your order as you like. For me, steamed fish is an elegant expression of Hongkongers’ sense of taste. I always go for steamed humpback grouper or sole, topped with loads of scallion, hot oil and soy sauce.