The poorest district in Hong Kong, and the best place in it to eat for very little money.
Sham Shui Po is in north-western Kowloon and it is, by most measures, the poorest district in Hong Kong — with a high concentration of subdivided flats and cage homes, a persistent housing scandal in one of the wealthiest cities in the world.
It is also where a great many people eat extremely well for very little, and where several of the city’s best-known cheap restaurants are.
Both things are true at once and the district should be walked with that in mind.
What to eat
Wonton noodles — thin egg noodles, prawn wontons, a clear soup with dried flounder. Lau Sum Kee on Fuk Wing Street is the standard, and still uses the bamboo-pole pressing method for the noodles.
Beef brisket noodles. Cart noodles — che zai min, where you choose your noodle, your broth and your toppings from trays.
Tofu pudding — dau fu fa — silken, served warm with syrup. Kung Wo Beancurd Factory on Pei Ho Street has been making it since 1893 and also does deep-fried tofu.
Egg waffles — gai daan jai — the bubble-shaped street snack, best from a cart with a queue.
Hui Lau Shan for mango desserts, Kwan Kee for sticky rice cakes.
Several Sham Shui Po places have carried Michelin Bib Gourmand listings, which brought queues and, in a few cases, price rises. The unlisted ones next door are usually as good.
The markets
Apliu Street — a flea market for electronics, tools, cables, secondhand phones and a great deal that defies category. It has been running since the 1920s and it is the best browsing in Hong Kong.
Fuk Wing Street for toys and party goods. Ki Lung Street and Yu Chau Street for fabric, buttons, ribbon and haberdashery — this is the garment district and it supplies the trade.
Golden Computer Arcade for components and hardware.
The district
Mei Ho House, a surviving block from the Shek Kip Mei estate, is now a youth hostel with a free museum on the ground floor. The estate was built after a fire on Christmas Day 1953 destroyed a squatter settlement and left around 53,000 people homeless overnight — the event that began Hong Kong’s public housing programme, which now houses close to half the population.
The museum is small, free, and one of the more important things to see in Hong Kong.
Sham Shui Po has also gentrified in patches, with cafés and design shops around Tai Nan Street, which sits uneasily beside the rest.
Practicalities
Sham Shui Po MTR, exits vary by street.
Cash. Most places are open from morning until late evening; some close between meals.
Busy and crowded. It is safe.
More Food & Drink
Dim Sum and Yum Cha
Small plates and endless tea, taken loudly and early, and the single thing Hong Kong does better than anywhere.
The Cha Chaan Teng
Hong Kong's own diner — milk tea strained through cloth, macaroni soup for breakfast, and a pineapple bun with no pineapple in it.