Five places in Wan Chai to eat for under HK$100 - dim sum, dumplings, crab, sashimi rice and more
If you’re looking for lunch in the busy commercial district, or a bite to eat after work, you can’t go wrong with these five restaurants
We’re always on the lookout for good-value meals for Hongkongers on a budget (and with rents the way they are these days, who isn’t counting their dollars and cents?). So we thought we’d scroll through our latest food reviews for five places in Wan Chai where you can eat for under HK$100. OK, we know that may not sound like cheap to some of you, but we’re not just talking bowls of noodles here – there’s crab here and other seafood dishes, plus Japanese and Shanghainese fare.
Mei Garden
Customers are left in no doubt that the chefs have put their heart into making the dim sum here. The egg custard buns (HK$25.80 for three) look like cute little pigs. The dim sum bento box (HK$68) contains a decent portion of rice, fried short ribs, pumpkin purée and a dim sum selection. A bonus: there is no service charge at lunchtime.
Mei Garden, 128 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, tel: 2880 0112
Teppei Syokudo
Japanese chefs prepare kaisen don – a big bowl of rice crowned with fresh raw seafood – in an open kitchen for all the diners to see at this Singapore import. We like the kaisen don (HK$80) with Japanese conch, scallop, tuna, salmon, salmon roe and swordfish. Another favourite is hotate kaisen don (HK$90), topped with four fresh, large Japanese scallops. Both bowls we tried might be too much for those with delicate appetites.
Teppei Syokudo, 6B Heard Street, Wan Chai, tel: 3706 5180. Open: noon-9pm
Crabtain
Fresh crab is the main attraction, but there are plenty of seafood-free savoury choices at this affordable family venue. We loved the trademark crab congee (HK$325 for four people), which is strong and sweetly flavoured. The broth’s ingredients include shrimp and fish. Spicy shrimp with grass noodles in clay pot (HK$78) used frozen shrimp that were marinated in mala spice. The plump shrimp were crunchy, and absorbed the spicy flavours of the sauce.
Crabtain Restaurant, Ming Fung Building, 138 Wan Chai Road, Wan Chai, tel: 3702 1371. Open; 11am-11pm
Hay!
Amid the upmarket cafes, coffee shops and bakeries of gentrified Lee Tung Avenue is this place serving Shanghainese fare at surprisingly reasonable prices. We enjoyed the vegetarian goose with bean curd (HK$48). We also liked the dan dan noodle in spicy soup (HK$38). Made from a flavourful old boiling hen, the broth was mixed with minced pork, chilli and sesame sauce.
Shop G01, Lee Tung Avenue, 200 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai, tel: 2388 3666. Open: 8.30am-10.30pm
Chao Chao Gyoza
It doesn’t take a genius to guess that this restaurant specialises in Japanese dumplings. The menu at this place, the first overseas branch of a chain in Japan, offers 20 made-to-order dumplings. The trademark chao chao dumplings (HK$22 for eight) are dainty and inexpensive. The creative offerings include onion gyoza with grated yam and wasabi sauce (HK$48 for five pieces) and chicken and mozzarella gyoza (HK$38 for five pieces).
Chao Chao Gyoza, 31 Amoy Street, Wan Chai, tel: 2735 5360. Open: noon-3pm, 6pm-10pm
