Fine dining - REALLY???
 

We have a 12 day trip to Thailand. We're flying Cathay Pacific and spending three nights in Hong Kong. Spent some time checking out restaurants and I'm seeing numbers that seem stratospheric! Went to Zagats and it seems well-rated restaurants can easily be $700 per couple for dinner.

So the question is, is that really true? Does one have to spend those types of dollars for a fine meal? Obviously, I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

Many thanks.

If you are talking about the 2- or 3- Michelin Stars French restaurants, you can easily spend that much if you order wines. And I think it's not just in HK, but many parts of the world.

But minus drinks, they are not THAT expensive. For example, at Amber, Degustation Menu is HK$1,688. Add 10% service charge and it's about US$450 for 2 persons. But if you add the pairing wines, then it's about $700.

Or if you choose the white truffle menu, then it's more than double the above.

As stated, I don't think $700 is at all expensive for a Michelin 2* or 3* restaurant. That's actually cheaper than in most other parts of the world. Keep in mind there are 1* and other good restaurants in HK for less than that, and I'm not just talking Tim Ho Wan. If you're talking truly "fine dining", there's no reason for HK to be cheaper than other cities because their clientele is just as rich and their staff are just as well paid.

If you really want a "cheap" 3* dining experience, the Waterside Inn (<1h outside London) is probably better value than anything you'll find in HK.

Just looked at this list of Michelin starred restaurants in HK here and am really surprised that Din Tai Fung made it on here. I enjoy their stuff but really, one Michelin star!? :confused:

The food at Din Tai Fung in HKG is far, far better than any of their NA establishments. The service is also much more exceptional. They even put a plastic jacket cover on my chair while I was there. No biggie, but certainly not expected for a resto like that.

I had dinner last week at Ming Court (Michelin 2 star rated and worth it) and cost was USD 300 for food for 2 and USD 80 for a very good bottle of wine (Chile). This is cheaper than a comparable meal in Paris or NYC, as point of comparison. Of course much cheaper and quite good food is also readily available in HKG.

They do this in cheap restaurants in China everywhere, so nothing special. For A Michelin Star Restaurant to hang your coat on your chair is not very classy - where is the cloakroom?!?!:p

I am too surprised that they got a star - seriously?!?!?!

One thing about Hong Kong: although expenses for travelers tend to be cheaper than many other world-class cities, there tends to be more variance in price between the highs and lows.

Sure. I've been to the one in the Seattle area and it was way below par from the ones in Taiwan. I liked the ones in Taiwan and assuming similar standards/quality in the HK ones, I'm still shocked that they got a Michelin star...

Anyway, sorry to go off-topic.

First: want to make sure the OP means US$700 (which would be on the pricey side) or HK$700 -- which would be inexpensive.

In HK especially, and Chinese food generally, you can have an excellent meal, at excellent establishment, relatively inexpensively, if you don't order the expensive ingredients -- e.g. shark fin, bird's nest, abalone, lobster, garoupa etc. I would still expect to pay HK$1000+ for a decent meal at a well-regarded restaurant (not including alcohol -- we don't drink), which I consider outstanding value. It can be easily 10 times that at the same restaurant if one goes crazy with the luxury ingredient ordering.

tb

There's only 3 outstanding western fine dining restaurants I would recommend in Hong Kong. Caprice at the four seasons, Amber at MO landmark and Pierre at the old MO.

Trying using this site http://www.openrice.com/english?tc=ornav for a guide on Hong Kong restaurants.

Thanks everyone for all the feedback. Good to see there's hope.

In terms of ordering exotic things, we usually have the opposite problem. Our way of keeping kosher in restaurants is to avoid meat, chicken and shellfish so Shark Fin is certainly out of the question!

We'll probably have two nights to go out to dinner and will just spend the third making the most of the Ritz Carlton Club. Happy to spend $200 one night and up to $400 the second night for dinner and a bottle of wine( but I would want to feel the more expensive meal was special ).

I'll check the site referred to above and and speak to the concierge. Think I need to make plans in advance or can it wait til we get there? We'll be in HK from Jan 27-30.

Thanks again.

Do note that if you are extremely strict about the no meat thing, most Chinese cooking uses meat in some form or other in almost all the dishes. There are some that are strictly vegetarian, but it will be minority of dishes. Most vegetable dishes have meat in them, for example. However, you could order (scaly) fish: but whole, live, fish is extraordinarily expensive, and never, ever, order it without checking the price first (and you will often be quoted a per 100g price) -- it is not uncommon at a top restaurant to pay US$300-$500 for a fish.

It seems (as a visitor) that making reservations in HK is the norm, and I've been told that popular places do get booked up, especially for Fri/Sat nights.

Finally: I'm teetotal, so haven't paid that much attention, but in general, the mark-up on imported wines will be significantly more than you are used to in the US.

tb

Honestly, you dont need to spend mega bucks here to get great food. Hong Kong is the home of the status seeking who will eat anywhere so long as the price is high... bearing no reflection whatsoever on the food quality. The Michelin guide will be your best bet... and the main difference between a 2 star and a 1 star will be the service/presentation surrounding the food. There are some very cheap 1 star/Bibs Gourmand places here.

Din Tai Fung for example is one of my favourite restaurants globally. I couldn't care less what the service is like, for ~100HKD per head you cannot fault the food.

I really like DTF, but I was surprised it was given 1 star. Not because the xiaolongbao aren't tasty, they are: but really -- it's really a 'one trick pony' sort of place. Similarly, I would not give 1 star to somewhere that serves the best hot dog or burger, nothwithstanding that those foods can be extremely delicious.

One can have superb, very inexpensive food in HK (e.g. a wonderful won ton soup, great piece of roast pork), but the OP is specifically (I think) asking about a decent meal for he and his wife, which I took it to read as somewhere reasonably fancy. Doesn't have to have 3 michelin stars, but DTF doesn't really cut it in my book. And many such places in HK do cost a minimum of HK$1k and above for the food alone. A great dim sum lunch will cost similar at a top place, but dinner at the same restaurants will be considerably more.

However, I have had superb, memorable food, with great service for much less than the US$700 that the OP quotes. I could also see that the menu would allow me to order such a meal without difficulty, depending on the ingredients chosen.

tb