Hong Kong is a city that does good food well. Photo / Getty Images
Hong Kong is a city that does good food well. Photo / Getty Images
Hong Kong's annual festival of food and wine covers the world, writes Alexia Santamaria.
I love it when the objective of visiting a destination is to eat. No history, culture or adventure activity, just doing what the locals do enthusiastically and regularly — consume delicious food. And in Hong Kong,boy do they do it well.
I was in the city last year for the 10th annual Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival, a celebration of all things culinary. Located picture perfectly, we were surrounded by Victoria Harbour's sparkly water and neon reflections on one side and the towering city skyline on the other.
I like to think I'm a woman of the world but felt entirely like a small child lost in a gigantic department store the minute I went through the huge entry gates and was faced with more than 450 stalls selling everything from Georgian wine to French cheeses to spicy tofu to Malaysian noodles to some seriously luscious-looking lobster. The thought that one of our major New Zealand food festivals would have fitted in the Bordeaux Wines section didn't escape me. Definitely not in Kansas now, Dorothy.
Situated between Victoria Harbour and the towering city skyline, the Hong Kong Food and Wine Festival is picture-perfect. Photo / Supplied
Hong Kong takes food seriously and is the perfect central geographical location for vendors from all over the world to congregate and show off what they've got. You buy festival tokens which you can spend at any stall. I didn't really know where to start — the delicious looking carbonara being stirred around in that huge wheel of parmesan? Local dim sum? Or those plump oysters fresh off the grill? I knew there were also several Michelin-starred chefs cooking in the Tasting Room. Paralysed by choice I decided a safe bet was to head to the section marked Bubbly and Cocktails to fill my festival glass with something that might make decisions less stressful.
It didn't take long to find something fascinating — G'Vine is a French gin crafted from grapes; who knew? From my position chatting to the stall holder I spotted a grassy area marked International Street Eats. A little spot to collect my thoughts was just what was needed and we used this area as a base from which to go back and forth.
We tried stinky tofu, wagyu skewers and instaworthy rice "bears" from the Drunken Pot (a very popular new hot pot restaurant where you can get "fortified broth") and opted for a burger to share from Honbu, a Hong Kong hipster joint known for their freshly-baked potato milk buns with kick-ass patties and veges.
No longer hangry, I was ready to get into the thick of it. This was literally all my foodie dreams come true — Singaporean and Taiwanese street food sat cheek by jowl with incredible oozy French cheeses and magnums of Perrier Jouet. The weather was magnificent and the lights of one of the world's prettiest skylines twinkled over merry makers from every corner of the globe. I loved the way the biggest wine houses of France and Croatia sat just metres from a lovely couple we met from Kwai Chung who are brewing craft beer with tea infusions in what they described to us as "possibly Hong Kong's smallest microbrewery". A true celebration of food and wine at every level and price.
The annual Hong Kong Food and Wine Festival is a celebration of all things culinary. Photo / Supplied
Although the festival was definitely the highlight of my Hong Kong visit, the eating did not, by any means, stop after our evening there. Hong Kong really has everything you could possibly ever want to consume and we made sure we tried all the local favourites. If you're planning a trip — whether or not for this year's Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival — here are some food experiences you shouldn't miss:
Visit a wet market
They are all over the place (we even found one right out the back of the Cordis Hotel where we were staying). Watch locals buy fish that's still flapping, pore through freshly picked bunches of bok choy, gai larn and other assorted greens and pile beautiful brightly coloured tropical fruits into their baskets. There are also frogs, if that takes your fancy for a quick snack.
Eat at a roast meat joint
People in Hong Kong love roast duck, pork and goose and you can't go more than 100m without stumbling across a place that serves up juicy chunks of perfectly roasted fat-rimmed meat with greens, rice and plum sauce.
Dine at a Dai Pai Dong
Dai Pai Dongs are local outdoor eating areas serving up Cantonese delights. We went to one called Sing Keen right in the middle of Central and gorged on garlic prawns, razor clams, eggplant with spicy mince, crispy tofu and gai larn all washed down with a cold beer.
When in Hong Kong, visit a wet market to see where and how the locals like to shop. Photo / Alexia Santamaria
Whereas Kiwis tend to reserve our dim sum dining for a weekend bunch treat, you can get it anytime from anywhere in Hong Kong. You'll find all your faves like barbecue pork buns, dumplings, spring Rolls, steamed greens with oyster sauce and siu mai. If you want a seriously impressive high-end version, check out Michelin-starred Ming Court and if you'd like to learn to make your own, there's a place simply called Yum Cha (multiple locations) where you can have a go.
GETTING THERE
Cathay Pacific flies direct from Auckland to Hong Kong. cathaypacific.co.nz
STAYING THERE
The Cordis Hong Kong is perfectly located close to great food and shopping in Mongkok. cordishotels.com/en/hong-kong
DETAILS
This year's Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival takes place from October 31 to November 3, at the Central Harbourfront. Advance purchase of various wine passes and tasting room programmes will be available in October. discoverhongkong.com/eng/winedinefestival
