No place like home: Lucas Sin’s favourite Hong Kong dining spots

Ask Hong Kong-born chef Lucas Sin for a recommendation for a cha chaan teng or dim sum restaurant, and you’ll get a passionate reply in which he details his top pick, what you should eat there, and why it’s a cut above the others. 

A walking encyclopaedia of Cantonese cuisine and Hong Kong food culture, Sin is best known for his video series about the food of his hometown for Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Food52 and more YouTube channels.

Now based in Shanghai, Sin still frequently travels to Hong Kong. When he’s not filming, you’ll find him cooking at events or writing and researching an upcoming cookbook on the cha chaan teng, which will dive into their history, and the art and science behind some of their most iconic dishes.

Here are his favourite Hong Kong classics, and where to eat them. 

1. For a cha chaan teng experience: Australia Dairy Company

The cha chaan teng is such a nostalgic thing for me. My favourite is Australia Dairy Company . My sister and I went to school nearby, so we came here a lot as kids. When I studied in New York, we’d fly back to Hong Kong every summer on a Cathay Pacific flight that landed early in the morning. We’d head straight here for breakfast – scrambled eggs on untoasted bread is still my usual order today. The silky eggs with the soft white bread make for a sublime bite.

2. For hotpot: Big JJ Seafood

Big JJ Seafood is a great example of what I’m most excited about in Hong Kong’s food scene. This popular hotpot joint is run by young, cool Hong Kong kids and spotlights home-grown ingredients. Meals here are always fun and tasty, and I love their outstanding natural wine selection. Dinner reservations are hard to come by, but their lunch menu of elevated cha chaan teng classics is equally delicious – get the beef noodles with scallion oil and soy sauce.  

3. For Hong Kong-style curry: Sun King Yuen Curry Restaurant

I just can’t get enough of the curry pork chop rice at Sun King Yuen Curry Restaurant (20 Spring Garden Lane, Wan Chai). I love the spicy turmeric-based sauce, which is the perfect accompaniment to the rice. The star of the dish is the impossibly tender pork chops, which strike a nice balance between lean and fatty. They’re dipped in breadcrumbs then fried to perfection. 

4. For a dai pai dong: Oi Man Sang

There aren’t many proper dai pai dong left in Hong Kong. Oi Man Sang (1 Shek Kip Mei Street, Sham Shui Po) is the showiest of the bunch, with two guys cooking with kerosene-powered woks for hundreds every night. The typhoon shelter corn, stir-fried razor clam, and sautéed squid, shrimp and vegetables are some of my favourites, but I’d also ask the staff to recommend a dish based on the freshest seafood available that day.

5. For clay pot rice: Sheung Hei

Clay pot rice is an incredibly technical dish, but Sheung Hei (25 North Street, Kennedy Town) consistently produces a delicious rendition of this wintertime favourite – there’s always an impeccably crispy bottom layer of rice. My preferred topping combination is white eel, spare ribs and duck liver sausage, which releases fatty, oily goodness into the rice to produce an aromatic result. I also love that Sheung Hei seasons its soy sauce with preserved meat, giving it an extra smoky, savoury boost.

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.