As one of the great food cities of the world, Hong Kong boasts a wealth of international food options here with many ethnic food enclaves, neighbourhoods that play host to a great concentration of one cuisine and its community.
Where New York arguably popularised the vagueness of an ethnic food enclave – take Koreatown, Little Saigon, Little Italy, and Chinatown – it is Hong Kong that also possesses such neighbourhood-like connection.
Discover how international our food scene is through your local neighbourhood!
Hong Kong’s best ethnic food neighbourhoods
Kowloon City – Little Bangkok
Formerly home to the monolithic Kowloon Walled City, Kowloon City now is home to Hong Kong’s Thai community. The city’s best Thai restaurants can be found along its criss-crossing streets, including the venerable Thai Chang House, famous for their sour and spicy seafood delicacies. Around the corner, Phowoong offers an expansive sharing-style menu with sauces identical to the vibrancy of Bangkok. Royal Dessert is a good spot to visit for a sweet ending with their fresh mango desserts. Cheong Fat Thai Food is great for their mango sticky rice and coconut desserts.
Causeway Bay – Little Jakarta
Packed to the brim with Bahasa, chatter, and Indonesian foodies every weekend, Causeway Bay is the home to Little Jakarta with a throng of a dozen Indonesian eateries. The largest restaurant of the bunch is Kampoeng, well known for their affordable priced and authentic homely recipes. The cash-only Pandan Leaf Indonesian Food eatery is sandwiched between Indonesian restaurants and excels with their rice dishes and soups, piled high with salty snacks. And Warung Chandra, found on the opposite side of Sugar Street, serves no-frills home classics with a lot of spice.
Sheung Wan – Little Paris
A great majority of Hong Kong’s French community call Sheung Wan home, inclusive of the buzzy Tai Ping Shan sub-neighbourhood and blocks touching the Sai Ying Pun border. One Michelin-starred Racines excellently exhibits the terroir of southern France and the romance of French cooking, whereas Bouillon Bistro Parisien presents a bistro and carby side of the cuisine. Bonheur near Sheung Wan’s MTR station is an underrated venue pairing top wines with dainty but classic French delights. For a drink, CORKS brings about a particular Parisian vibe with their al fresco dining.
Central – Little Italy
Italian’s working and living in Hong Kong may not call Central our version of Little Italy, but we think so. Top Italian pizzeria’s like Fiata, the third best Asia-Pacific pizzeria pumping out Napolitan-style pizza’s, and BACI call the CBD home. One can earn an elegant Michelin-rated meal at Testina, where the entire cow from head to toe is stripped and delicately presented with refined flavours. Both Italian-American restaurants Fini’s and Frank’s usher in the original New York flavours badly needed in Hong Kong.
Tsim Sha Tsui – Little Korea
Sprouting from Korean immigration to the neighbourhood from the 1960s, Tsim Sha Tsui’s Kimberley Street and neighbouring roads have been affectionately named our very own Koreatown (another copy of how New York does it). If you love Hanwoo meat, GALBI TOWN offers beef cuts exclusive to their restaurant for sizzling Korean BBQ. Puradack Chicken imports the salty, finger-licking chicken recipes from Korea, with great soju cocktails. For flavours of Busan and the sea, JJANG specialises in Korean seafood dishes, and their banchan is top notch. Seoul Noodles run a late-night location in the neighbourhood if you ever feel a hankering for spicy soup noodles.
Chunking Mansions – Little India
Chungking Mansions gained mass recognition following the release of Wong Kar-wai’s Chungking Express in 1994. Its otherworldly identity, hosting a wealth of African and Asian cultures, the sub-neighbourhood excels with top regional Indian cuisine. Saravana is a long-time resident on the block, shelling out fragrant vegetarian plates with a health kick. Up on the 6th floor, Sedique Halal Mess presents Indian-Pakistani fusion dishes with an emphasis on tandoor-roasted meats. For an assortment of both North and South Indian speciality dishes, Karaikudi Akka Restaurant is your answer.
Jordan – Little Nepal
Home to Hong Kong’s multi-generational Nepalese families, Jordan’s streets run fragrant with the smell of spice. Manakamana Nepali Restaurant is a friendly choice for those exploring Nepalese cuisine with great momos and curries. Eight Nepalese restaurants operate on Wai Ching Street, but it is Ex-Ghorka and Bagaicha Restaurant & Bar that both excel with excellent choila, tali’s, and tikka. MT.8848 Himalayan Cafe & Restaurant is well known for their dhindo, rice, and khaja sets.
Tsuen Wan – Little Tokyo
With an abundance of Japanese restaurants dotted around the area, local residents have affectionately called Tsuen Wan Little Tokyo. Shoken is a restaurant that has solidified the neighbourhood’s reputation with a refined yoshoku selection with grilled meat plates and sashimi. Cash only Tokyo Market is influenced by Tokyo’s Tsukiji Market with their abundance of fresh sashimi and seafood dishes. Pancake House HoiHoi is a great dessert place famed for their Hawaiian-style pancakes made with imported Japanese ingredients.
Wan Chai – Little Manila
Wan Chai is one of Hong Kong’s most diverse neighbourhoods for dining. Beyond the usual trappings and haunts, Holy Gaw stands to modernise Filipino cuisine with contemporary touches and paired up with wine. Not just for their karaoke, Junels mi Amore Filipino Bar and Restaurant is popular for their spicy and salty Filipino delicacies. For 40 years and counting, Cinta-J Restaurant & Lounge has cooked traditional dishes to share over a few San Miguel beers on Wan Chai’s party strip. Angel’s follows similarly with marinated-meat-heavy takeaway dishes.
