10 best places to eat char siu BBQ pork in Hong Kong: from Michelin-starred Chinese restaurants Tin Lung Heen and Ming Court, to meat-tastic Mott 32 and Holt’s Cafe
- The use of prime Spanish Iberico by China Tang’s chef Menex Cheung gives a global twist to a local staple – visit Chop Chop for the classic Chef Dai’s Original Sorrowful Rice Set
- TST’s Goose Manor is a spin-off of the beloved Yue Kee Roast Goose Restaurant in Sham Tseng; we also stopped by five-star Chinese restaurants at the Ritz-Carlton, Cordis and St. Regis
How do you like your char siu? There’s no wrong or right answer to this question. It simply comes down to personal preference, but one thing is for sure, every carnivore in Hong Kong has to have a favourite type of Cantonese barbecued pork.
We’ve broken the beloved staple down to five key elements: baste, char, meat, fat and marinade. Our taste testers gauged the presence of these five flavours on the palate – all to give our readers the most accurate, mathematical guide to finding their favourite barbecued meat. So, here is the ultimate round-up of the best char siu in town.
China Tang
Famous institutions keep evolving and redefining their cuisine and China Tang have certainly elevated their char siu game. While we loved the classic char siu here, the new roasted Iberico barbecued pork with brown sugar and black pepper has upped the stakes. The meat is served over a roaring fire in a claypot with the black sugar sizzling away. The piping hot meat has the perfect baste with a hint of black pepper in the marinade. The fat-to-meat ratio is a perfect 3:7 and being Iberico, the quality is top notch.
Other dishes on the signature menu are phenomenal. Fried with aromatic chilli oil, the chilli crispy chicken is tender, with wafer-thin skin and a fiery kick. We also enjoyed the abalone pineapple bun where the shellfish is melt-in-your-mouth tender, contrasted with a fluffy sweet bun. The rice dish, simply called The Bomb, is a medley of fried rice, sakura prawn and other tasty ingredients – joy on the palate.
We loved the creativity by chef Menex Cheung and will definitely be back for more.
Shop 411-413, 4/F, Landmark Atrium, 15 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Chop Chop