With an abundance of fine-dining restaurants serving Hong Kong proud, the city’s other side encapsulates an affordable and cheap landscape to eat great bites, often streetside or tucked inside a café setting for pleasing your stomach.
Scoping the streets for snacks and meals with great value, we want to help you, whether you’re visiting Hong Kong or live here, to locate the best cheap eats in the city. We’re a sucker for a good pineapple bun, bowl of wonton noodles, or plate of dumplings – and you should be too.
Bookmark this article and make sure you’re clued in to Hong Kong’s affordable dining scene.
The best cheap eats in Hong Kong
Fishball soup at Tak Cheong Noodle
Tak Cheong Noodle is beloved by the neighbourhood folk of Kowloon City (there are also branches Island-side in Tin Hau and North Point), satisfied by its rich, milky, and fishy broth paired with beautiful bulbs of fish balls and bouncy, bamboo-stretched noodles. The bowls are topped with spring onion for a contrast in flavour.
Tak Cheong Noodle, G/F, Comfort Court, 88 Fuk Lo Tsun Road, Kowloon City, 2718 3838
Lamb dumplings at Ah Chun Shandong Dumpling
Recognised by the Michelin team’s Bib Gourmand award, Ah Chun serves incredible dumplings that burst with umami. The lamb and Chinese scallion dumplings, one of many flavours stuffed inside silky wheat pockets, are juicy and pair well with vinegar and chilli. The dumpling specialist also has a small takeaway outlet at BaseHall 02 in Central.
Ah Chun Shandong Dumpling, G/F, 60 Lai Chi Kok Road, Prince Edward, 2789 9611
Banh mi at Tim Kee French Sandwiches
Whilst you may expect Hong Kong’s Vietnamese restaurants – a cuisine loved by locals – to be located in plain sight, Tim Kee is hidden from the main action. They bring together homemade buttered baguettes with a mélange of salty meat fillings and vinegar-soaked carrot and daikon.
Tim Kee French Sandwiches, Shop A, G/F, Man Yiu Building, 30 Man Yuen Street, Jordan, 2385 7939
French toast at Shui Kee Coffee
Located inside the rowdy food hall of Sheung’s Wan Cooked Food Centre, Shui Kee leads the pack with its delectable Cantonese-style French toast plate. Soaked in a vanilla-tinged, eggy batter, the French toast is served with a heavy pouring of condensed milk, perfect for that naughty sweet-tooth snack.
Shui Kee Coffee, Shop 17, Cooked Food Centre, 2/F, Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building, 345 Queen’s Road Central, Sheung Wan, 2850 8643
Pineapple bun at Sai Kung Cafe & Bakery
If you’re hungry for the best pineapple bun in Hong Kong, you’ll want to venture out north to Sai Kung’s town centre for the magic that is Sai Kung Cafe & Bakery. The humble bread factory serves the fluffiest pineapple buns in the city, baked to order with a crisp, sugary glaze that matches the rich, buttery bread.
Sai Kung Cafe & Bakery, G/F, 6–7 Kam Po Court, 2 Hoi Pong Square, Sai Kung, 2792 3861
Jianbing at Lao Come Jian Biang
Not spotlighted previously in other Hong Kong foodie guides, the Tianjin-style jianbing (egg crepe with savoury fillings and sauces) at Come is a must-try if you’re in the Tin Hau area. Hearty and salty, the eatery’s jianbing come in an array of flavours, from Peking duck, to Shanghai-style dough stick and pork floss, to a sweet jianbing with peanut butter and condensed milk, cha chaan teng style.
老Come煎餅, Shop A2B, G/F, 15–17 Ngan Mok Street, Tin Hau, 3594 6669/6351 3237
Chicken momos at MOMO Moment
A relatively lesser-known Nepalese joint in Jordan, the momos sold at MOMO Moment are a hit. With a choice of pork, vegetable, and chicken (we recommend this filling for extra juiciness), each bite is salty and full-bodied. Swipe a spoonful of chilli sauce onto the dumplings to make them even better.
MOMO Moment, Shop 6, G/F, Sai Hong Lane, Kennedy Town, 9846 6569
Siu mai at Tung Tat Food Shop
This traditional Cantonese diner specialises in oil noodles, wontons, curry fish balls, and siu mai (pork and shrimp dumpling). Often ordered for takeaway, the siu mai and fishball bowl is drenched in a soy sauce and chilli mix that brings out the fishy flavours of the light bites.
Tung Tat Food Shop, G/F, 172 Fa Yuen Street, Mong Kok, 2392 3043
Beef brisket noodle soup at Kau Kee
Get there early for lunch (Kau Kee opens at 12:30PM every day except Sunday) and prepare to queue up to savour a bowl of beef brisket noodles at the Bib Gourmand eatery. Operating for decades in Soho, Kau Kee is one of Hong Kong’s top picks for tender and meaty brisket chunks, paired with a salty and slightly bitter soup base.
Kau Kee, G/F, 21 Gough Street, Central, 2850 5967
Pork buns at Cheung Hing Kee Shanghai Pan-fried Buns
Plump with a white, fluffy casing and flavourful pork filling, the sheng jian bao sold at Cheung Hing Kee across four locations in Hong Kong are a golden option for a streetside snack if you’re hungry and in a pinch. They hit that juicy spot, unlike most other pan-fried buns in Hong Kong.
Cheung Hing Kee Shanghai Pan-fried Buns, multiple locations across Hong Kong
Rice rolls at Hop Yik Tai
Selling hundreds of plates daily, the rice rolls found at Hop Yik Tai are traditionally dressed in a nutty sesame sauce, sweet red sauce, and some added chilli. Whilst there’s no protein or vegetables on this plate, the silky rolls are just perfect on their own.
Hop Yik Tai, G/F, 121 Kweilin Street, Sham Shui Po, 2720 0239
Egg tart at Bakehouse
As a Hong Konger reading this guide, we hope you have a clue as to how good the egg tarts are at Bakehouse, but if you’re visiting, go try one and have your eyes opened. The sourdough pastry complements the vanilla-laced custard filling, which has just the right amount of bounce.
Bakehouse, multiple locations across Hong Kong
Wonton noodles at Mak’s Noodle
Another restaurant that has a seemingly never-ending line of tourists wishing to try the famous menu, Mak’s wonton noodles are a fine choice for a cheap eat in Hong Kong, going strong for over 100 years. Bouncy in texture, the noodles effortlessly soak up the broth and any sauce in the bowl.
Mak’s Noodle, multiple locations across Hong Kong
Egg waffle at Mammy Pancake
Nothing speaks of cheap eats in Cantonese cuisine more than the egg waffle. The classic gai daan zai is a great sharing option for you and a friend if you happen to chance upon a Mammy Pancake location, where little nobs of the egg waffle, which come in a variety of flavours, can be ripped off and drenched in different sauces.
Mammy Pancake, multiple locations across Hong Kong
Taiwanese fried chicken at HOT-STAR Large Fried Chicken
One treat that the Taiwanese have bequeathed upon us is their famous fried chicken recipe, available at a litany of HOT-STAR stores across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and New Territories. Sink your teeth into the mammoth and juicy fried chicken breast, dusted in a five-spice and pepper seasoning.
HOT-STAR Large Fried Chicken, multiple locations across Hong Kong
