Hong Kong BBQ

Between the glistening ducks in the window and the live seafood tanks by the entrance, Hong Kong BBQ looks suspiciously like your run-of-the-mill Chinese restaurant. It’s not.

Since opening in 1997, the restaurant has earned a reputation for serving some of the city’s truest tastes of China’s Guandong Province. In typical Cantonese style, the menu is extensive and runs from Lazy Susan favourites (sweet and sour pork and honey king prawn, say) to house specialties such as salted-fish fried rice; and jellyfish with mustard duck feet.

If you want to go all out, pre-order the almond crispy-skin chicken with minced prawn. The husband-and-wife team of Kai Tong and Siu Fong from Hong Kong has captured the essence of hawker food in a contemporary setting.

As the name suggests, barbeque is a focal point, and the restaurant’s siu yuk should be the roast pork all others are judged against. The meat is cut thick for maximum juiciness, while the crackling lends crunch and savour. The caramelised, ruby-red char siu (barbeque pork) is another calling card: you might just fight to the death for those blackened pieces. The roast duck is meaty and fatty in all the right places.

Lunch and dinner often finds the restaurant at full capacity. Beat the queue by getting takeaway and include a jar of housemade chilli oil with your order. Deeply savoury and buzzing with a gentle prickle of heat, it’s an essential addition to any condiment collection.