8 of the Best Siu Mei Restaurants That Aren’t Yat Lok

First, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way. No, I am not hating on Yat Lok at all. I will always have love in my heart for it. Like my stern yet warm Puerto Rican girlfriend who kept me grounded during my angsty years in Catholic high school, it has shaped who I am. 

Rather, instead of ensuring my dress shirt was tucked in and my remedial math homework was completed (to the best of my ability), Yat Lok gave me my first taste of roast goose and other siu mei excellence after first moving to Hong Kong in 2012. It gustatorily shaped my siu mei baseline and instilled a burning love in me for uncompromising Latinas char siu. 

I think I overstepped there. 

The point is, I love siu mei. So much so that I have mentally blocked out the fact that char siu (BBQ pork) might (allegedly) be carcinogenic. I’ve also blocked out that siu yuk (crispy pork belly) may or may not cause my heart to give out thanks to its plenitude of glorious, sapid saturated fats. 

So, without further ado, here are 8 of the best siu mei restaurants in Hong Kong that aren’t Yat Lok. 

Always DTF at Din Tai Fung (DTF) With the Dawgz

I’m always DTF with the dawgz. Get your mind out of the gutter, ya filthy animal. I obviously mean ‘Din Tai Fung’. 

You know, the beloved Taiwanese restaurant chain that has swept the world and put a smile on millions of faces thanks to its piping hot, delicate, juicy, steamed pork dumplings (aka ‘xiaolongbao’ – 小笼包).

I’m in the midst of trying to start a movement. No, not one of those move down to South America in furtherance of establishing a religious commune/utopia and have 90% of the movement drink cyanide type of movement. 

Mine is a xiaolongbao empowerment (and education) movement. One where nobody ever falls victim again to their own gluttony by scorching their taste buds and damning themselves to subsequent weeks of everything tasting like rubber.

Some might say that’s more ambitious and delusional than starting a cult in Guyana. 

I digress. 

The point is, Din Tai Fung is the absolute cat’s pajamas of Shanghai-style dumplings, noodles, and soups. So, consider this a call to action to assemble your crew, prep your taste buds, and make your way over to your nearest Din Tai Fung to slurp back some of the most revered soup dumplings in the game. 

Get Yourself Some Siu Mei Excellence at Chukfo Taipan

Something washed over me when I was out of Hong Kong for three months this summer. And that was a realization that I eat far more Asian food than I thought. Since I returned home, I’ve been eating Cantonese and Chinese cuisine like it’s going out of style. 

One style of Cantonese cuisine, in particular, has dominated this gastronomic reunification and reawakening – ‘siu mei’, aka ‘Cantonese BBQ’. 

This has led to me revisiting classic roast goose and BBQ pork (char siu) haunts that have served me well over the years and exploring revered institutions that I’m ashamed to have never feasted on during my nearly seven-year Hong Kong tenure. 

One Hong Kong-style roast meat restaurant had oddly eluded me over the years – my ‘siu mei white whale’ some might say – Wan Chai’s very own ‘Chukfo Taipan’. 

So, in the lead-up to my self-imposed 1.5-month moratorium out of Hong Kong, I called up my Farjar (father) for one of our Friday lunch “constitutionals” and told him we were eating all of the meats.

He obliged. 

Seoul Noodles: a Dish Best Served Cold at Park Chan-wook’s House

The Koreans are taking over Hong Kong and you know what? I ain’t even mad. 

Everywhere you turn, it’s a Korean BBQ spot this, a pocha haunt that, a gaggle of suave-looking men rocking a two-block haircut with bangs and clean, minimalist semiotic getup that makes you realize just how much of a slob you are in comparison. 

And now, a traditional Korean noodle and rice soup shop. 

Even as I sit perched at the Nood Kinwick countertop overlooking the escalators, deep in reflective thought on what exactly the previous weekend’s 5 AM credit card charges at Bar 42 were for (hint: terrible things), I see a group of 40+ Korean tourists being shuffled through SoHo by a stern yet informative guide. 

Recently, a top dawg and I, both donning our finest suits and craving sustenance before a legendary bacchanalian Zuma night brunch, stopped by the 2024-inaugurated Seoul Noodles on Stanley Street (Central) to confirm whether Korean gastronomic excellence only extended to the meat and booze realm in Hong Kong or if noodles were done justice as well.

Well, I’m here to confirm that the Koreanization of Hong Kong is fully underway and it’s goddamn delicious. So, where you gonna be when the sun falls, brother (or sister)? Hopefully slurping down a hearty bowl of soul-warming (Seoul-warming? Zing) Korean noodles with your ride-or-dies. You can bet I’ll be doing the same. 

Here is why ‘Seoul Noodles’ in Hong Kong absolutely needs to be on your eating radar. 

The Best Paella in Hong Kong is on Lamma Island – Say What!?

As ‘Asia’s World City’, one where roughly 10% of its population is classified as ‘non-Chinese’, you’d be hard-pressed to ever encounter a Spaniard in your daily routine. If one of my OG friends in Hong Kong weren’t a Mallorca native, I wouldn’t even believe they exist, mentally classifying them in the same category as the Chupacabra and Abominable Snowman. 

This means that there is a glaring lack of Spanish restaurants in the city, the few and proud that exist primarily being concentrated in the Sheung Wan/Central biodome of personally and professionally underachieving expats – myself included. 

I’m not entirely sure how it took me so long to write a post about this Spanish restaurant and gem out on the most Bohemian of all Outlying Islands in Hong Kong. 

Mea culpa. Well, it’s here now. 

In the not-too-distant past, several top dawgz and I had a day out on Hong Kong’s third largest yet most-spirited island – one filled with a brisk walk from the Yung Shue Wan Ferry Pier and swim down by that one power station which now makes me glow in the dark at night, capped off with an unsuspectingly authentic and bangin’ paella that would have a Spanish abuela howling in delight.

Here’s your new go-to spot in Hong Kong to snag you a bite of this vibrant, flavor-packed Spanish staple and why it emphatically puts the ‘yay’ in ‘paella’.