Hong Kong is one of those places where you could easily miss the best food if you don’t know what you’re looking at.
Recently, I spent a week exploring the city and quickly realized why it’s considered one of the food capitals of the world. There’s so much to try that it can get overwhelming fast—especially when a lot of the best dishes aren’t obvious if you’re just walking around.
So, early in the trip, I booked a Hong Kong food tour to get a local’s take on what was actually worth trying—and where to find it.
Some of the food in Hong Kong is definitely “different,” to put it mildly. But that’s also part of the experience. Trying local dishes is one of the easiest ways to understand the culture—you just need a little direction at first.
Is a Hong Kong Food Tour Worth It?
Short answer: yes—especially if it’s your first time in Hong Kong.
There’s a lot of great food here, but knowing where to go—and what to order—takes some trial and error. A food tour speeds that up. You get a range of local dishes, plus context on what you’re eating and why it’s popular with the locals.
What I liked most was how efficient it was. In a few hours, I tried a range of local foods and got a better sense of what I wanted to go back and eat again later in the trip.
You can absolutely explore without a tour if you prefer figuring things out as you go. But if you want a quicker way to get your bearings—and avoid wasting meals on average spots—a food tour makes it a lot easier.
Plus, if you're squeamish about eating things you don't recognize—or can't eat—I can promise you that a guided street food tour is the way to go!
👉Looking for a highly rated Hong Kong food tour? This street food tour with locals gets a 4.9/5 rating from 800+ reviews and includes 10+ local dishes. It’s a solid option if you want a quick introduction to Hong Kong food without spending half a day on it.
Hong Kong street foods you must try
These are some of the best—and most memorable—food items I tried while visiting Hong Kong, and how much I paid. While exchange rates fluctuate, about 7.8 HKD is roughly equal to 1 USD.
1. Egg tart
An egg tart is a dessert item rather than a main dish. It has a custard-like filling made with egg and sugar inside of a bite-sized tart shell. While the texture wasn’t my favorite (it was slimy and more liquid than a pudding consistency), the tart itself was tasty.
Egg tarts are sold in the mornings at practically any bakery, especially in Macau. They are such a common item in Hong Kong you will definitely see them while walking around.
💡 Expect to pay around HK$10 for an egg tart.
2. Roasted goose with apricot sauce
Roasted goose was my favorite of all the Hong Kong foods I tried! Goose is considered a fancier food item in Hong Kong, so it's common for families to go out for goose for a celebration. Upper-class locals in Hong Kong will eat roasted goose more regularly.
Roasted goose tastes similar to duck to me. They roast it so that the skin is crunchy and salty. However, roasted goose is not found in street food stalls; you will have to go to a proper restaurant to try it. There are Roasted Goose restaurants everywhere in Hong Kong, but there are a couple tricks to picking a good one
1. First of all, only go to a restaurant in which there is a butcher in the front window chopping up the goose. I know, it doesn’t sound that appealing to go to a restaurant where there is a butcher right at the front. But since these restaurants specialize in serving goose, people buy the goose from them to take goose home to cook as well. It is also fresh!
2. Second, don’t let a long queue or no available tables stop you from eating there. The best restaurants will always be busy, and believe me, they are worth the wait! The service in Hong Kong is usually fast, and the waitresses/waiters are incredibly good at getting tables ready as quickly as possible, so you shouldn’t have to wait too long.
We had a particularly good experience at Chan Kee Roasted Goose in Mong Kok! I really enjoyed the roasted goose that they served, as it came with rice and apricot sauce. The sweet apricot sauce was a perfect match for the goose.
In fact, I liked the roasted goose so much while on the food tour that I had it twice more on my own before leaving Hong Kong!
💡 One serving of roasted goose costs about HK$50, but if you go to a fancier, tourist-oriented restaurant, expect to pay twice as much.
3. Fish balls
The name “fish balls” sounds less appealing than they actually are. Fish balls are actually just ground-up fish meat shaped into a ball, which is deep-fried on a skewer. This is a common street food in Hong Kong for locals and eaten as a midday snack.
Fish balls taste just like fish. I didn’t think there was anything particularly special about them except for the way they are served on skewers.
💡 If you want to try fish balls, head to a street food stand—they all serve fish balls! Expect to pay around HK$5-10 for a skewer.
4. Dim sum
You need to try dim sum if you are in Hong Kong. Dim sum is essentially “dumplings” and comes in all different shapes and types. They are little pockets of goodness; an outer layer is either steamed, boiled, or deep-fried, and inside is a filling of a meat and/or vegetable combination.
Who knew that spring rolls are actually considered to be dim sum?!
Choosing what kind of dim sum to try is the hardest part, which is why locals order many different dishes and share them all.
Dim Sum can be found at street food stalls, but because of the variety available, I would recommend going to a restaurant that has an English menu—this may save you from accidentally trying something that you don’t want to!
This Hong Kong food tour gave me the chance to try a few different kinds of dim sum. I am more of a fan of the deep-fried varieties, as the steamed ones were a bit too slimy for me. Deep-fried wontons are always a smart choice, and the deep-fried green peppers stuffed with seafood were also amazing!
There are two good Dim Sum restaurants I would suggest checking out in Hong Kong. One is called Dim Dim Sum near Mong Kok train station, and the other is Canton’s Dim Sum Expert. Both places are well-known Dim Sum restaurants that can cater to tourists: they have an English menu.
💡 Expect to pay between HK$20-HK$35 per dish.
5. Traditional tofu
Tofu has become a regular Western food item. However, in Hong Kong, it is different. Their tofu is usually served warm and is very liquid and smooth. It is eaten with a spoon with raw sugar sprinkled on top.
The difference between the tofu in the western world and the traditional tofu in Hong Kong comes from how it is made. Traditional tofu is made in the traditional way using a machine called a stone mill. It produces the silky tofu that people in Hong Kong adore!
To me, the tofu tasted like nothing, and the texture was too different. It was a bit too “soupy” for me. Nonetheless, the shop owner was very proud of it and watched us closely as we ate. So, in an attempt not to offend her, I ate the whole thing with a smile!
While I don't think the tofu was amazing, it is worth trying just to note the differences.
💡 Many small family-owned shops in Kowloon serve traditional tofu. Kung Wo Soy Bean Factory is especially popular with both locals and tourists.
6. Century-old egg
Last, and certainly the least favorite (but most memorable), is the century-old egg.
It is an old egg, not actually 100 years old, but 60 days old! They store the egg in lime juice to preserve it and then cover it in a pastry. The century-old egg is a dessert item and is only served for special occasions.
Lucky for me, I was in Hong Kong just before Chinese New Year, and century-old eggs were available everywhere. I just had to try it, even though it didn't sound appetizing in the least bit.
I was right; it wasn't good. The pastry was normal and tasty, but the egg on the inside had the consistency of an avocado and tasted like a boiled egg with lime. It was strange, and although not completely repulsive, I only had one tiny bite just to be able to say that I had tried it.
💡 Expect to pay around HK$5–10 for a century egg at local shops, and about twice that if it’s served in a restaurant dish.
Was the Hong Kong food tour worth it?
Hong Kong was sure an adventure for my taste buds! I didn't love all of the food that I tried, but it was a cultural experience, and a memorable one at that.
Would you try it all?
Good note on the goose. Unless a place is busy and had folks working the place like mad I avoid it; if it is busy, with chefs getting after it, this means crazy customer turnover and fresh food, which means no time spent hunched over a toilet for 2 days after the meals LOL. Learned from 7 years of world travel in developing nations.
For sure, Ryan. Our #1 foodie tip is to look for a busy restaurant. And #2 is to find a restaurant away from the tourist spots. Those locals know who makes the best food.
Do you guys carry activated charcoal tablets in your travel arsenal? It’s an essential for purifying aquarium water; absorbs all sort of nastiness. We can’t begin to tell you how helpful it’s been when our tummies have felt a little “off.”