By Uditha Jayasinghe

Foodies are a global phenomenon. They span the world looking for new ways to treat their taste buds and Hong Kong is a place where they might just decide to stay. The multitude of people pouring into Hong Kong has brought an amazing array of food that is not just diverse but surprisingly reasonably priced for a destination known for its high cost of living.

Hong Kong is a destination known for its glittering malls but, during a recent visit with Cathay Pacific, for me the people and the food were the most fascinating. One endearing reason is how much they love their teatime. In the afternoon, cafes become filled to the brim, as locals insist on taking a moment from their hectic days to eat delicious pork buns and sip beer mug sized portions of cold or warm tea.

A specialty is Cantonese egg tarts that are a classic pastry in Hong Kong, made of buttery, crisp and crumbly tart shell, with silky smooth custard inside. Introduced by the British, Hong Kong has passionately embraced teatime. Even complete strangers cram into booths to savour a moment of comfort. It is impossible to dislike a population that has its daily priorities so perfectly organised.

Streets of food

There is also a dazzling array of street food in Hong Kong and here too the principle of “eat where the locals do” holds true. Waffle sandwiches, sticky ribs, dim sum carts, kebab stations, rows of roasted duck, soup stations, noodle shops and of course hole in the wall shops making all pork dishes known to mankind, line streets. The muse of street food is gloriously alive here and it’s a great way to sample dishes on a budget. If you are in the mood to be adventurous there is no better way to be daring in Hong Kong.

Little Chinese shops, usually owned by the same generation for decades, are tucked away in steep side streets where tourists can sip cool herbal tea and rest their feet after long walks on Hong Kong’s challenging terrain. Chinese medicine shops retain their high popularity and act as gathering places for neighbours. Though tourists may find the language barrier a bit daunting it is still fascinating to see the range of items used to make cures. These little shops also have gourmet items such as reasonably priced, handmade authentic soy sauce or delicacies such as fermented duck eggs.

By-lanes are also jammed with umbrella stalls tottering under heaps of fresh ingredients. If you are lucky enough to stay at a place that allows you to cook its fantastic to browse around these markets for interesting seasonings, fruits and vegetables that can be thrown together for a simple meal.

Police married quarters 

One area that has made its mark is in the last couple of years is the Police Married Quarters (PMQ), a 1950s building that once housed hundreds of families and is now home to dozens of restaurants, studios and boutiques run by local artisans and designers.

The revitalised PMQ complex — two midrise buildings set around a large central courtyard — takes up a whole city block on the western edge of Soho, a rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood where art galleries and French bistros are next to working-class shops and apartments. The post-war complex sat vacant for decades but reopened in April 2014 as a centre for art and culture after a pricey renovation.

The new PMQ preserves that feeling of openness through the generous use of shared and alfresco spaces. The courtyard has been covered in a glass canopy so that it can be used for large-scale art installations, fairs, festivals and popular weekend food nights with plenty of beer and street snacks.

Since the heritage site’s reopening, these establishments — from cosy bakeries to high-end restaurants — have joined a buzzing dining scene in Hong Kong, a city with nearly 14,000 food outlets, 88 Michelin stars sparkling among 64 restaurants, high rents and some of the world’s pickiest eaters. The Michelin star system, which is yet to make its way to South Asia, has been passionately embraced by Hong Kong but fortunately the city has still not lost its focus on simple good food.

Hong Kong’s deep past with the British Empire lives on in its cuisine. Colonial heritage is still a massive part of Hong Kong’s culture and Aberdeen Street Social is just one example. Owned by Michelin Star chef Jason Atherton it is one of five restaurants that Atherton has launched in Asia. Having worked with top chefs including Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay, he left the latter in 2010 to launch his own restaurant company. The restaurant and bar has a warm and laid back setting ideal for people who want tasty food without the bother of having to dress up for it. They would also enjoy the tongue-in-cheek puns of the cocktails: Just Beet-Root to Me, Bitters & Twisted, Pretty Fly for a Mai Tai and Pot Pouring Ketel Black.

The food ticks all the boxes of taste and texture. We had fish on a bed of chorizo and cuttlefish topped with a squid ink crisp that looked fascinating and reminded one of a fancy “papadam.” The desserts here deserve a special mention as they are intensely inventive and, at least in our case, accompanied by little wooden shelves of chocolates. A glossy meringue cylinder, once cracked, showcased a tart blackberry mousse, studded with square sugar encrusted jujubes made the perfect ending to a dish. After days of sampling excellent food Aberdeen Street Social made the perfect ending to the city’s smorgasbord of tastes.

From serious epicures to casual pickers Hong Kong is a food destination that should be approached without any preconceived notions because it is a chance to literally eat the entire world.

Pirates and junks

Victoria Harbour has connected Hong Kong to the world for over 160 years and is edged with the iconic skyline of the city. Having glimpsed it since our arrival from various points we finally arrived at the harbour to board a junk to take a closer look. Junks are broad bottomed, wooden sail boats that ply along the Victoria Harbour, usually loaded with tourists sipping drinks. The boats are a reminder of the global city’s colourful roots and at times tumultuous past that created a deeply blended society. 

Junks have distinctive red sails, coloured so by tannin extracted from oak trees to prevent their disintegration on the rough seas. The colour signifies good fortune in Chinese culture and the boats are almost a lucky charm with their distinctive look used for global tourist promotions. The junks in present day Hong Kong are powered by motors but in their heyday they shaped the fortunes of the world. 

Originally made by the Chinese centuries ago junks were primarily trading vessels, which may have even docked in Sri Lanka on their trading voyages to east and south Asia. They fought two Opium Wars and laid the foundation for modern day east-west trade. But their alluring popularity is based on piracy, romanticised in later years, but a significant part of Hong Kong’s history. Pirates preyed on the junk trade and pirate fleets exercised hegemony over villages on the coast, collecting revenue by exacting tribute and running extortion rackets.

Pirates were caught and executed as late as the 20th Century in Hong Kong and their swashbuckling ways have even reached Hollywood.

The waters off Southern China have long been a favoured hunting ground for pirates. One of its most famous and feared characters was Zhang Baozai. Zhang was a pirate lord who operated in the waters around Hong Kong in the early 19th Century. So powerful was he that at one stage he controlled an armada of pirate vessels and some 30,000 troops. His name has resonated through the annals of piracy to the modern day and rated a part in the third of Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” films.

Hong Kong’s maritime museum possesses among its collection an 18-metre-long silk scroll depicting the ultimately successful campaign mounted by the Qing emperor to defeat Zhang’s the pirate armies. The scroll is believed to date from soon after Zhang’s surrender, in 1810, and is incredibly detailed. It depicts several battles taking place in the waters off Lantau Island, where Hong Kong international airport now sprawls. The scroll was probably looted by a French officer around 1900, and spent a century inside a specially constructed coffee table in Paris, before being purchased for the museum.

Another famous pirate is the menacing Zheng Yi, who in 1802, inherited the fleet of his cousin, Captain Zheng Qi, whose death provided Zheng Yi with considerably more influence in the world of piracy. Zheng Yi and his wife, Zheng Yi Sao then formed a pirate coalition that, by 1804, consisted of over ten thousand men. Their military might alone was sufficient to combat the Qing navy. Zheng Yi Sao took over the fleet on the death of her husband and is believed to have grown it to thousands of boats operated by as many as 180,000 crew. She is the famous pirate lord “Mistress Ching” in the Pirates of the Caribbean, proving fact is sometimes stranger than fiction. 

Enjoy Cathay Pacific’s award winning service on non-stop flights to Hong Kong and beyond from Colombo.