And we're lucky: we live close to Temple Street Night Market, with its egg waffles, duck skewers, fish balls and spicy crab. Imagine low plastic stools, plastic tables and plastic cups. It's touristy, but locals seem to go there as well and it's fun. We often go for a walk there after dinner (and have an egg waffle for desert while we're there).
Next up from the street markets are the simple local restaurants. Again, we live in the perfect spot. Anthony Bourdain's favourite noodle place, Mak's Noodle Shop is around the corner (and it's amazing!) and we have tried some fantastic cheap Vietnamese, Indian, Thai and Nepalese food as well.
For western food, we usually go to the island, although there is a Jamie's Italian nearby in case we crave pasta and can't be bothered cooking or travelling. On HK Island, there are loads of nice Italian and other places. A few streets are full of slightly fancier restaurants that seem to cater mostly for gweilos. It's easy to go bankrupt if you go here too often, especially if you like your wines. €10 for a simple glass of wine is considered reasonable. But they're fun places to meet friends in the weekend.
Have not been to any of the super fancy 2-3 star places so can't comment on those. Luckily, there are heaps of 1 star restaurants where you can eat cheaply so I have tried a few of those.
One thing I really had to get used to: (very) good restaurants here are often in shopping malls, and you will also find many restaurants on higher floors of buildings. These buildings can look pretty grey and miserable but once inside, the lift takes you to restaurants that can be very nice.
And finally: Sunday brunch! It's a real Hong Kong thing, and if you do it properly, you have the free flow wine or bubbles with it. We've done three of those now (without the free flow), and they're fun. My favourite of the three was Blue Butcher. A funky restaurant in Sheung Wan, with a fantastic salad buffet, oysters and prawns, a good selection of mains and yum desserts. With live music. A really lovely way to spend a few hours on a Sunday.
It's a miracle I managed to lose some weight here. Thank god for the clubhouse with gym!
