Breakfast in Hong Kong is all about discovering the delights of dim sum. Morning streetside eateries specialise in everything from congee rice porridge, to wonton noodle soup or claypot rice. Each will also have a tall stack of distinctive bamboo steaming baskets concealing a dim sum delicacy. Most will be serving classics, like puffy white steamed buns filled with sweet barbecued pork or plump prawns in a translucent flour wrapper.
But this is just the tip of gourmet dim sum cuisine, and a visit to a proper "teahouse" is where you'll discover scores of different varieties - sweet as well as savoury. Eating dim sum is inextricably linked to the Chinese tradition of "yum cha" - drinking tea - and that is why locals call dim sum restaurants teahouses.
Kevin Kam is the third-generation owner of the Yung Kee restaurant, a Sunday dim sum institution, though, according to him: "Everyone here has their very own favourite, and when I want a quick breakfast with my wife, I'll always go to Fung Shing restaurant [30 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay, tel 2881 8687], near where we live."
Another well-known restaurateur and food enthusiast, Chun Lau, heaps praise on Luk Yu Tea House (24 Stanley Street, Central, 2523 5464), which he says is "an icon among historic Hong Kong teahouses that has been serving the best dim sum since 1933."
For the ultimate experience, head to Lin Heung Tea House (160 Wellington Street, Central, 2544 4556). Walking in off the street, the din of the crowded dining room greets you. Nothing has changed here since it first opened 80 years ago. First choose your tea - light chrysanthemum, jasmine, or darker local brews - poured scalding hot from a huge, shiny kettle. Weaving in between tables, waitresses push rickety metal carts laden with specialities - eel with black bean, steamed chicken feet, pork spare ribs - followed by custard tarts or mango pudding.
This being Hong Kong, there are, of course, far more chic and elegant places to sample dim sum, and many restaurants serve all the way through to late afternoon.
Dragon i (60 Wyndham Street, Central, 3110 7222), is one of the hippest nightclubs in town, but it also serves a brilliant, all-you-can-eat dim sum at lunch, with 40 different dishes. And the elegant Man Wah Restaurant (5 Connaught Road, Central, 2825 4003), on the top floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, may only serve dim sum at the weekend, but the surroundings are sumptuous and the chef invents surprising creations, such as steamed rice flour rolls stuffed with scallops and asparagus.
For a completely different experience, make a reservation at Cuisine Cuisine (3/F,Two IFC, Central, 2393 3932), a cool avant garde dining room serving a contemporary take on dim sum. Located in Hong Kong's tallest skyscraper, you can zip up in the elevator afterwards for stunning panoramas from the 40th floor.
A user's guide to Dim sum
An easy reference to the different varieties
Cha-siu-bao White, steamed buns filled with sticky, sweet barbecued pork
Fung-jao Chicken feet braised with black beans, known to locals as "phoenix talons". Taste a lot better than they look
Har-gau Steamed shrimps wrapped in thin, translucent wheat flour wrapper
Siu-mai Steamed dumplings with minced pork
Pai-gwo Steamed spare ribs in black bean sauce
Cheong fun Steamed rice noodle rolls filled with shrimps, minced pork, or green vegetables
Lo mai gai Glutinous rice and chicken wrapped in a lotus leaf
Seong hoi siu lung bau Shanghai steamed buns, filled with a delicious broth that explodes in your mouth as you take the first bite
Lo bak go "Turnip" cake, made with daikon radish, sliced and fried with pork sausage and dried shrimp
Dou fu fa Sweet tofu pudding served with a ginger-flavoured syrup
Tea and tearooms
Green tea High in antioxidants, best brewed in a glass pot
White tea Only very slightly fermented, giving a delicate, mellow, sweet flavour
Red tea Known in the west as black tea: robust, full-bodied flavour
Chinese black tea This is aged, fermented, compressed into cakes. Strong earthy taste, lowers cholesterol, aids digestion
Oolong tea Uses leaves that have been well oxidised, producing a strong, bittersweet brew close to green tea in flavour. Patience needed in brewing
5 top tea rooms
(All in Central, HK)
Lock Cha Tea Shop, 290b Queen's Road (2805 1360)
Ying Kee Tea House, 151 Queens Road (2544 3811)
Geow Yong Tea House, 70 Bonham Strand East (2544 0025)
VBest Tea House, 17 Elgin Street (3104 0890)
Ngan Ki Heung Tea House, 290 Queen's Rd (2544 1375)
Tea tips
• Buy teas from speciality shops after trying - train your palate to test new flavours
• Use good quality water: spring or filtered
• Don't overboil or reboil water as it depletes oxygen, leaving the tea flat
• Choose your teawares carefully: avoid plastic and metal, and test out glass, porcelain and stoneware, which dissipate heat while brewing at different rates
