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Humid with a Chance of Fishballs: the Hong Kong food tour that takes you ‘off the eaten path’

  • Leader of the excursions, Virginia Chan, appears on the Netflix show Restaurants on the Edge
  • She says her company aims to show guests another side of the city

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Virginia Chan with Dennis Prescott in a still from Restaurants on the Edge on Netflix. Photo: courtesy of marblemedia
Kylie Knott

When Virginia Chan takes people on food tours of Hong Kong, she is also exploring her roots.

Canadian-born Chan operates Humid with a Chance of Fishballs Tours, and her name pinged on the radar last month when she was featured on the Netflix series Restaurants on the Edge, a makeover reality show that aims to help struggling eateries. For the Hong Kong episode, it visits the fishing village of Tai O to help a couple revive their Banyan Tree cafe and shop.

To help host chef Dennis Prescott get a true taste of Hong Kong that will be reflected in the cafe’s revamped menu, “street-food master” Chan – as she is billed on the show – takes him on a sentimental tour of Sham Shui Po, the Kowloon district where her father grew up. There, Chan introduces Prescott to a selection of local dishes, from doggy noodles (thick rice noodles that resemble dog tails) to street-food classics such as cuttlefish skewers and spicy fishballs.

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Chan’s choice of Sham Shui Po mirrors her company’s strategy of avoiding well-trodden tourist trails.

“We get off the beaten path and showcase old Hong Kong craftsmanship, and give guests an insight into what daily life is really like in Hong Kong,” says Chan, adding it’s important to support “mom and pop” businesses that are slowly disappearing amid gentrification.

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A Humid with a Chance of Fishballs tour group at a sampan restaurant, in Causeway Bay.Photo: Humid with a Chance of Fishballs Tours
A Humid with a Chance of Fishballs tour group at a sampan restaurant, in Causeway Bay.Photo: Humid with a Chance of Fishballs Tours
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