Rubin Verebes is the managing editor of Foodie and is very opinionated. Transforming his hobby of eating and drinking into a career, he shares his account of Hong Kong’s F&B scene and the worldwide state of dining in Rubin’s Take, a monthly opinion column.
Between 11:30AM and 2:30PM from Monday to Friday, when hungry office workers travel in packs on the streets scouring for a meal to re-energise, the busiest restaurants in Central are not McDonald’s, sen-ryo, Samsen, and TamJai, but the hole-in-the-wall takeaway spots selling the notorious two-dish rice.
Housed in a plastic takeaway box shell, loaded with MSG, fluffy white rice, and a choice of two (or three) meat or vegetable dishes, two-dish rice can be devoured for as little as HKD28 in the city.
By one estimation made by a fervent two-dish rice researcher on the Rice with 2 Sides Facebook group, boasting more than 168,000 followers, there are approximately 578 restaurants in Hong Kong serving the affordable meal.
Whilst not a new culinary trend (its roots took shape back in the 1950s), two-dish rice found immense popularity during the pandemic once restaurants were forced to shutter at night and owners’ livelihoods were hit, justifying more affordable dining options.

The dining phenomenon is seemingly one of the last remaining vestiges of the forgotten pandemic in today’s Hong Kong – and it is celebrated too. Just look at any lunchtime line at a two-dish rice shop on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, or New Territories.
The ballooning adoration of this salty and filling meal is indicative of greater trends occurring in the industry and throughout the Hong Kong economy as a whole: Hong Kongers have less money to spend than prior to the pandemic and are looking for quality and value when dining out.
To the question posed in the title, the answer is complicated. Affordable meals are a necessity for the city’s less well-off, a helping hand for accessing nutrition to ensure a healthy body. The cost of a two-dish rice meal ranges anywhere from under HKD30 to HKD60 at the highest. The food is cooked fresh, and many options are available for each and every taste.
Yet, similarly to a typical fast-food meal in Hong Kong, consisting of a snack, drink, and main item like a burger, the low cost of such meals, flashy advertising, and ease of access remove the association with the unhealthiness of eating fast food all the time.

The sodium content of a two-dish rice plate should concern Hong Kong diners, with MSG, salt, oyster sauce, and soy sauce acting as the main culprits for a salt overload.
At many two-dish rice restaurants, there is a notable lack of vegetables within the selection, with pork, chicken, and curry dishes favoured. In a city where 90% of our food is imported, it is understandable yet concerning why these operators favour meat over vegetables to increase their margins.
Noticeably, across Sheung Wan, Central, Mong Kok, and Causeway Bay, areas in Hong Kong with high foot traffic and a heavy concentration of weekday office workers and mid-priced restaurants, the queues piling into two-dish rice shops take away from neighbouring venues with more moderately priced lunch offerings.
It would be a far stretch to argue that the proliferation of two-dish rice meals have led Hong Kongers to become more conscious about their budgets when dining out; the change in tastes and spending patterns is a lot more complex and multifaceted.

What two-dish rice has done to Hong Kong is reflected in the great demand for cheap, easy, and filling meals, in a direct comparison and threat to restaurant dining within the mid-tier, fine-casual, and fine-dining spheres.
Undoubtedly, two-dish rice takeaway shops will continue to grow in number and size, serving almost every type of Hong Konger who is hungry for an affordable and quick meal. Their effects on people’s diets and the survivability of competing restaurants can possibly be judged in years to come.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author’s and do not represent or reflect the views of Foodie.