Eating and Drinking, Hong Kong

There is a restaurant in Jordan indicated HKD58 for all-you-can-eat steamboat. Thinking of the attractive price we went in.

Alas, we found that there are separate charges for
1) the soup (HKD48 and up)
2) the sauce mixture (HKD15 per person)
3) the appetizer of a plate of peanuts (HKD10)

The soup tastes very bland too

There are so many hidden costs !

Unique Suggestions: Do not patronise the shop !

Fun Alternatives: Go to other steamboat shops !

Aberdeen is famous for its "floating restaurant" which in my opinion is a giant tourist rip-off. Sometimes fishermen will offer you to take you there on their boats ... usually it is a scam and they demand ridiculous prices. So either agree on a price before you step on the boat or you will be dumped in the South Chinese sea (just joking).

Do not go to Rainbow restaurant. I will admit, the food was pretty good. But so is the food in all other restaurants in the villages on the islands. However, this one stood out instantly but the unusually high prices. Well, ok there were many tourists and they are counting on them. Even, if you think that, what turned me off was the fact that they gave us tea and peanuts, like any other restaurant, and then turned out that they charged us extra. We would of course order tea even if they told us that it was not free but I was unpleasantly impressed by the dishonesty which I have not seen in any other place in Hong Kong.

Fun Alternatives: There are a few restaurants around, not sure how honest they are but you can be sure that the food will be good.

Just be aware that whenever you actually "sit down" at a restaurant or eatery, you will always get charged an extra 10% tax, cant remember what this tax was actually for. For example, if you buy an icecream at Haagen Daaz over the counter and walk away with it .... no tax. But if you sit down in their chairs and order an icecream .... then your total bill will have an extra 10% tax on it. I think for an actual restaurant where you sit down to eat a meal, this tax may be acceptable, but not if you are just buying an icecream!

Lan Kwai Fong is where all the tourists go to meet up with other westerners. The bars spill out into the road and it seems to be the only place that needs a police presence.

The whole point of travel is to try new things - not to go somewhere 'like home but warmer/cheaper'.

Do as the locals do - drink tea and enjoy the surroundings without an alcohol induced haze.

And no, I am not tea-total, I enjoy a drink as much as most - I did find some snake wine in a small market and enjoyed that whilst watching the mahjong.

Unique Suggestions: Walk round - see what's there, then go somewhere interesting.

Fun Alternatives: Go watch the horse-racing at Happy Valley or Sha Tin from the public stands.
Go hiking round Tai Tam.
Go anywhere else!

We had a dinner at Planet Hollywood as shown in the pic which cost us a BOMB! :( And worst still, the food is not exactly plalatable! We could have eaten similiar food along the streets at a fraction of the price, mayb even betta!!

Something interesting: We came across a vending machine selling condoms in Planet Hollywood ladies' toliet! That's definitely something u don't get to see in Singapore! I don't know about other places though...Am I ignorant or what? :p

There is a restaurant called 'Banana Leaf restaurant'. It is funny, because you eat your meal from Banana Leafs but the meal is really poor! High prices, not much to choose from and and the service is extremely bad!
My picture shows such a leaf and a young lady who is so ashamed of going there already!

When invited to participate in a Chinese meal it is a wonderful opportunity to see a good host in action. There are a few things you need to remember. The host will most likely select the food even if ordering a la carte. Let the host signal when to start eating. If you are sitting near the host be prepared for him/her to serve you your helpings using his/her chopsticks. You must try everything and never eat the last piece from a serving plate. This would insult the host as it would be a sign that you have not been given enough food. Follow the hosts lead in regards to alcohol consumption and participation in karaoke or other entertainment that might be provided. Compliments to the host and other guests will be appreciated but politely denied. A banquet meal will end abruptly and is traditionally signalled by oranges served to each guest. Allow the host to pay otherwise he/she would lose face if you insist on sharing the bill. But you can reciprocate by a later invitation.

If you are invited to someone's home take along a small gift, such as fruit or chocolate. Arrive on time, accept any offer of tea and leave earlier rather than later. Offer an invitation to meet again soon and follow it up. Making friends with local people will enrich your expatriate experience. Practice your Cantonese if you can and soon you will break through the cultural barrier that differentiates Chinese from Western people.

We took a package tour to Hong Kong, the travel agent told us it is include american breakfast with the tour, actually that was a liitle bit misunderstanding, we expect the real american breakfast the following morning and we found out that it will be out of the hotel rather in mcDonals right over the hotel, so we have to cross the street, enter mcdo and had our regular breakfast there.

Jumbo Restaurant -- One of HK's famous sites, it is actually pretty impressive, it is huge and the only way to reach it is by ferry. They have a huge menu, with about 2 things that I would think about eating (I prefer my chicken without its head & feet mixed in).