Tours with a local in Hong Kong

Discover the Real Hong Kong with Jamie

Hong Kong Food Tours

Tours with a Local in Hong Kong

Disclaimer : I will keep it simple, I am just a regular guy.

There are food tours and then there are the BEST food tours in Hong Kong and I know and work with the best, I think it is important that you try and choose a food tour company that has guides who speak very fluent English and not just fluent English, the degrees of fluency here is quite disconcerting, it really does make a huge difference to the enjoyment of your food tour.

A lot of Food Tour companies always like to stress the importance of you hiring a local expert to lead the tour (I deal with this in much greater detail below) and I have no issue with that, they have to attract guests but quite often a lot of companies forget that visitors to Hong Kong have an expectation of being able to converse in “native” English and quite often they prefer a foreign guide who perhaps may give a more balanced view particularly on the cultural side of things.

That is just the way it is in Hong Kong with it’s quite unique history since 1841.

I am also a very big fan of visitors to Hong Kong doing a cultural food tour and I wish that more people did but time is a factor when doing tours as generally visitors are here for 1 or 2 days only, which is why you should choose a food tour that also covers some traditional sightseeing so to speak.

The Michelin Guide sums it up rather nicely

“Four Food Tours To Help You Eat Your Way Around Hong Kong - Save all the work for planning and just take pleasure in eating around the city – Hong Kong’s best food tours serve you a slice of local culture, history, and dining scene.”

… and this is more but less than compelling blurb on why you should take a food tour

“You'll get to try local specialties and hidden gems that are not necessarily in the guidebooks. You will typically be avoiding large crowds and long lines as well and get to interact with more authentic establishments.”

Not exactly compelling reasons to do a food tour and there is that hidden gem cliche again, personally one of the best reasons to do a food tour is that you will have FUN!

I should make something clear, Hong Kong Chinese people are local foodies but they also go crazy for NON Chinese food, they love Japanese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese food not to mention any and all styles of so called Western foods (desserts are very popular), they put me to shame with their thirst for food knowledge and are willing to pretty much try anything.

I do a lot of research, I have always done a lot of research and sometimes I read something that just makes me mad, I like to keep up to date on food trends (we have just had the Michelin Star awards for Hong Kong and Macau restaurants) and who is who in the foodie tour universe.

I was researching today the web site of a company called Eating Adventures Hong Kong who do food tours in Hong Kong and Mainland China and they had the bald faced cheek to write this on their website:

…and they then make it a lot worse

First up, these screen shots were taken on April 20th 2024 and I feel compelled to mention them because Food Tours are big business in Hong Kong, this blog post is about Food Tours and I am fortunate that I am friends with the owners of the best Food Tour Companies in Hong Kong, Eating Adventures is NOT on that list.

Eating Adventures in Hong Kong - basically, I am angry at their ignorance. I am angry because they are stating that a foreigner could not possibly know about Chinese Food in Hong Kong which is patently ridiculous and then they double down by stating only a local (ie Hong Kong Chinese) can really know Hong Kong!

This is a definition of a local : existing in or belonging to the area where you live, or to the area that you are talking about.

That meaning pops up in pretty much most dictionaries and thesauruses and using that measure I am a local as I have been here for 52 years., it is completely stupid of them to suggest that as I wasn’t born here I am not a local? twisted logic for sure, I arrived here when I was 11 years old, so using their logic our 3 sons 24, 31 and 41 all born in Hong Kong are local but not me, even after 52 years and my wife was born here so has lived here longer than me and she is a local!

.. and just to annoy me even more, the definition of an expat is : a person who lives outside their native country. well in 1972 when I arrived, Hong Kong was under British rule, I am English! I am not the person that comes out on a short term contract to make a pile of money which is a typical meaning for an expat - Hong Kong has always been my home.

I completed 2,324 Private Tours of Hong Kong and I was considered one of the finest private tour guides in Asia

I have lived in Hong Kong for 52 years, 25 years under British Rule and 27 years under Chinese rule, I know a damn sight more about Hong Kong than any 25 year old fresh graduate straight out of University and the Government Tour Guide Training Course trying to make it as a tour guide. LIFE experience is what makes for a great tour guide.

... and one key point and as mentioned at the start of this post - fluency in English has many meanings in Hong Kong as there are many degrees of fluency, just ask our youngest son who is an English teacher and 100% of his students are Hong Kong Chinese kids, I am blessed because I have lived in Hong Kong for 52 years and I am English.

People that know me, know that I think that it is remarkable that many Hong Kong Chinese residents in Hong Kong are able to converse in 3 languages (Cantonese, Mandarin and English) this puts me to shame but I do not dwell on it, the ability to become fluent in a 2nd and 3rd language is a gift and one that I was not born with and only one of our 3 sons is fluent in Cantonese. touchy subject I know and gosh my wife speaks 3 languages at the native level!

So back to the subject at hand : Food Tours

I have always been interested in knowing why visitors to Hong Kong are so keen to experience Hong Kong Chinese food, I think part of it is that Chinese Food can be found pretty much everywhere in the world and Americans in particular are always amazed at how different Hong Kong Chinese food is when compared to what they eat in the USA, chefs in Hong Kong are proud of their cuisine and love to experiment and I think that has something to do with it, ingredients are ingredients anywhere and perhaps chef’s cater too much to the Western palate?

My opening statement is simple, I personally think that Hong Konger’s take food no more or no less seriously than any person in any country in the world, food is a huge cultural issue everywhere and I am fortunate to live in Hong Kong where every type of food you can think of is here, it is not just Chinese food and that is how it should be, Hong Kong is home for a lot of non Chinese residents.. and case in point, the Hong Kong Government is promoting Hong Kong to Muslim Countries which poses a problem as we have only and approximately 100 - 150 halal certified restaurants., it is a tough sell to a local restaurant to make the changes to get certified.

…. and the great news is that we have some fabulous private and group food tour companies for you to choose from.

I completely appreciate that food is an integral part of any and all cultures and it is taken very seriously all around the world and not just in Hong Kong but to suggest that a Non Chinese person could not possibly understand Chinese food in Hong Kong, well that is just stupid.

First of all my wife is not Chinese but she was born in Hong Kong, went to local Chinese schools and Cantonese is her native language and Chinese food is her first love and you can say exactly the same thing about her mother and her brothers and sisters not to mention that most of her family members married into Hong Kong Chinese families.

My wife does not look Chinese but she is Asian and I bet her and her mother could teach a few tricks about Chinese Food to those ignorant morons at Eating Adventures in Hong Kong and both of them are skilled in quite a few Asian cuisines, they both go shopping at local “wet” markets etc and our kitchen is full of so called Chinese food.

I on the other hand have lived in Hong Kong since 1972 so 52 years and counting and I have eaten at around 1,200 - 1,300 Chinese restaurants so I have an understanding of food but not in any shape or form am I foodie or Chinese food expert, I am very fussy about what I eat and frankly when it came to doing food tours, I passed and pointed my guests to Foodie experts not because they are Chinese but because they are Chinese Food Experts and in my book legends of the food and cultural scene here.

A lot of my 6,000+ guests where happy to try some Cantonese food but for many of them it was not a priority, learning about Hong Kong was, food is just part of the experience and I find that these days younger people are so much more interested in food primarily so that they can share their experience on social media (that is the sound of me shaking my head!) picture perfect heavily edited images of food is not reality here, you will understand when you pop into a typical “local” restaurant.

… and to this day I continue to recommend that people do a food tour with my friends and I would have it no other way.

I believe my knowledge of Chinese food and how it is prepared is just fine but honestly I have no interest in being a chef or learning about ingredients or preparing dishes, I have neither the patience or talent and that goes for any type of food in Hong Kong.

Had I chosen decades ago to become a food expert here, I would have gotten pretty annoyed with someone passing me over for a job because I am a white Englishman with zero Cantonese skills, knowledge about anything can be learnt... I am pretty sure I could learn the basics of nuclear physics if I put my mind to it, I choose not to.

….. and yes unfortunately my love of food over the years has had a nasty impact on my health.

This does NOT mean however that I stay away from food, far from it, I was always more than happy (and still am) to stop for lunch or a snack, it can be Chinese Food, Asian Food or Western Food, please bear in mind that I can be pretty blunt when people ask my opinion of food (particularly when it comes to dodgy restaurants and street food) I am NOT a foodie but I have an opinion | but what’s the old cliche… “one man’s meat is another man’s poison” food can be a touchy subject in Hong Kong, many people will take the middle ground and tell you what you want to hear, with me, you get my good | bad | ugly opinion.

I should point out at this stage that price is the factor for most people in Hong Kong and having so many restaurants means the competition is fierce.

The big trend here in recent years is the is the humble US$3 - US$5 | ‘two-dish-rice' meal box. which is basically white rice and you can choose 2 out of a multitude of Cantonese dishes, this covers lunch and dinner options for many Hong Konger’s

The whole food culture thing is quite fascinating and is much better explained by my foodie tour friends.

Let me be clear and to remind you, I am not a chef, food critic, blogger or journalist, I really cannot deconstruct a bowl of wonton noodles (and why would you do that?), I was a Private Tour Guide and proud of it and quite often I am completely flummoxed by the above mentioned people and how they write about food, to me it is either great, good, poor or awful, so you have guessed it, I do not deconstruct a dish but I love great food and as a reminder - since I was a kid I have eaten in over 1,200 + Chinese Restaurants in Hong Kong and I have tried just about every Chinese dish imaginable and honestly most of it is pretty darn good but some food just makes you want to gag and I will NEVER suck out the eyeballs of a fish in an effort to improve my eyesight! and I hate chicken feet and duck tongue and Chicken prepared in the Hong Kong style, I take a pass.

I have eaten in three Michelin 3 Star Restaurants plus many 2 stars and 1 stars and yes, the 3 star establishments were awesome but then again I was not paying the bill (!) and in these places it is not just about the food. I have had great food in decidedly dodgy Chinese Restaurants but most of time you have forgotten the meal 30 minutes after leaving the restaurant | this is why you need to book a food tour with people who are real foodies!

…. and on this one I risk been burned at the stake for daring to call a pineapple bun bland… for the life of me I have no idea why people rave about this “dessert style” product. I have a sweet tooth and I am a dessert guy so I can be pretty hard to please, but the pineapple bun… gosh, so bland and really messy to eat and NO trace of pineapple in the bun but it is an iconic Hong Kong food product so I guess you need to try one and forget the hype laid on you by the guide! …. on the other hand I can eat 6 Hong Kong egg tarts from the Tai Cheong Bakery in one sitting… go figure.

… and for everyone like me that hates pineapple buns there is someone else that will love them! it is so personal and subjective, personally a slice of New York Cheesecake or a bowl of icecream works for me.

Hong Kong is famous for so called street food (but there are only roughly 25 legal licenses in Hong Kong for street food) personally I give it a wide berth, it is cheap and cheerful and most of the time pretty average but that is just my opinion - millions of younger people would say the opposite, Bubble Tea is now a bit of a thing here as well… I don’t drink tea and have never had tea so I have no opinion on this drink and yes I am a Brit and I simply prefer coffee, I have offended thousands of lovely Chinese people in Hong Kong by refusing to drink tea which is served at the drop of a hat, it is not my thing and that is that.

This is advice I would give to every one - I do not subscribe to this nonsense that you should eat or drink something that is offered just to please someone and fit in - you should ask me about the true story of the Norwegian Consul General, his wife and a Hong Kong Government Banquet and the small matter of Pigs Lung Soup.

Hong Konger’s want you to try food under the guise of it being a famous Hong Kong dish, use your judgement, on a food tour you do have to be a little cautious as an overly enthusiastic guide may unwittingly put a little too much pressure on you to eat something that looks or smells awful (quite common I might add) if you are adventurous then go for it (after all you booked a food tour!) but by the same token, do not eat something that does not appeal

I always feel that the great food tour companies do their research and take into account that visuals and smell are a factor in whether someone will eat a particular dish, I do speak from experience! and the guide should not make a big deal out of this, human nature is human nature, we all have out pet hates - one of mine is peas, any type of pea! and I have a real problem with spicy food and I have “offended” so many people in Hong Kong by refusing to eat what is offered and the more people pressure me to try this “fabulous dish” the more I realise I am being set up! you have been warned.

I am always happy to visit street markets which most people find quite fascinating as they get to see how Hong Konger’s shop for food and I know a bit about Chinese Medicine and the connection to food products.

….. and I am pretty sure we do not really eat fried scorpions, worms, slugs, gecko’s and such in Hong Kong but a friend of mine still does a tour (probably!) where you sample a frogs vagina ( I am not joking ) and a snake’s penis! which is an absolute 10 | 10 on the disgustingly yucky factor scale and on the subject of snakes, I do not mind a bowl of snake soup!

And one final point, the 3 main talking points about local restaurants and food - …. and I am pointing this out in a matter of fact way because I find it amusing that visitors are always amazed at how in most restaurants here you do not see foreigners and somehow this makes the restaurant and food more “authentic” and wow, you are eating like a local (yet another phrase I hate)

I should point out that my favourite Chinese restaurant is Din Tai Fung, it is a mid range Taiwanese chain and the food is fabulous but for some reason it is mocked on some levels as not being authentic Chinese Food and yet every time I have eaten there 95% of the patrons are Chinese!

… and I know this is a selling point for companies offering food tours here ie you are with a local eating in a local restaurant with no foreigners in sight! 8% of Hong Kong’s population is not Chinese plus we get a lot of foreign tourists (although 80% of them are Mainland Chinese Tourists) so even in a very local restaurant you might see Non Hong Kong Chinese person, my advice just enjoy the fabulous food and stories and not worry about whether the restaurant is local or not local.

Well lets look at the 3 facts before I go off track.

• Hong Kong has between 15,000 to 30,000 licenced and unlicenced restaurants even the Government is clueless about the exact number of restaurants in Hong Kong covering just about every food imaginable, that is lot of restaurants for a small city (in one week here a month ago the Government said in one report we had 13,000 restaurants, in another report it was 16,000 and in another 20,000+ !! like I said, clueless.

• spread over 426 sq. miles which is quite a large area

• 92% of our population of 7.45 million people (ish) is Chinese, 7.2% Ethnic Minorities and 0.8% white and such and “ish” so statistically speaking you do NOT see many foreigners.

oh and we get on average (pre Covid 19) of 40 - 60+ million visitors a year to Hong Kong, 80% of them from Mainland China.

This is the main reason you never see foreigners in Chinese Restaurants in Hong Kong, it has nothing to do with the restaurant being a hidden gem or secret spot ( I really hate those phrases ) or a place that only locals would eat at! it is everything to do with population, visitor statistics and the sheer number of restaurants.

The best restaurants by the way, Chinese or otherwise are actually in our great hotels, in most cities around the world this is simply not the case

Many of the guests I have had over the past 15 years + have always mentioned that Chinese food tastes quite different to what it does at home and that is true, simply put the food is made for Western tastes, in Hong Kong food takes into account Chinese history and culture and the medicinal point of view when it comes to food preparation and ingredients, ie does eating it have health benefits and as such sometimes it tastes truly awful, that is the way of things here.

Anyway if you want to book a food tour please do contact my friends, you will have a fantastic experience.

Important | If you have food allergies you must inform the foodie guide when you book a food tour

and one last point, quite a few of my friends who are in our association of Private Tour Guides in Hong Kong are NOT local Chinese residents, they are foreigners and they also do fantastic food tours and many of my local Chinese friends in our group have grown up overseas (and speak flawless English) before returning to Hong Kong, they are an eclectic bunch.

J3 Group Hong Kong

J3 Consultants Hong Kong | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong

J3 Consultants Private Hong Kong Experience is tailored for individuals who prefer to explore Hong Kong independently, without joining any guided tours.

This unique experience offers an authentic insight into the real Hong Kong, providing a deeper understanding of the city's culture, history, and local way of life.

Led by Jamie, a dedicated Hong Kong specialist and resident for 52 years, the experience covers many aspects of Hong Kong's identity, spanning its time under both British and Chinese rule.

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Jamie, your friend in Hong Kong

52 years living in Hong Kong, our family arrived on January 2nd 1972

I have lived here for 25 years under British Rule, 27 years under Chinese Rule

I have 45 years of Business Consultancy experience in Hong Kong

My wife is a local & has lived her entire life in Hong Kong, her first language is Cantonese

We have 3 Adult sons all born and educated in Hong Kong, 2 still live in Hong Kong

I pioneered the Private Tour Industry in Hong Kong in 2010

2,324 completed award winning Private Tours of Hong Kong from 2011 - 2020

……and yes, I am a bit of an expert on the Hong Kong car culture!

© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Consultants Hong Kong | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | | 2011 - 2024.

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