Hong Kong

Holidays by Destination Asia Hong Kong Eating 

The Chinese admire a child who eats well so if yours are willing to be adventurous they are likely to be much petted by waiting staff. Families regularly eat out together and virtually all restaurants cater for young diners. High chairs are provided and hotel buffets have special children's rates.

The Chinese place great importance on freshness in their food which is generally cooked at the last minute, making it particularly safe to eat - bar seafood fished from too close to Hong Kong itself.

Simpler Cantonese dishes like fried rice, noodles, and chicken and sweetcorn soup are pretty child friendly, as are Dim Sum's small savoury parcels, served for breakfast and lunch. Desserts like red-bean soup, sweet sesame balls and lotus-paste buns may or may not prove successful, but fresh tropical fruits should go down well.

With older children you might like to try eating food at one of the street markets where you can see it cooked right in front you. Here you will probably have to point and guess, but generally restaurants offer menus in English as well as Cantonese.

For the less adventurous there are multiple international fast food joints (McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken) plus local versions. Alternatively there are plenty of international restaurants, although some of these, catering largely to the business community, can be too starchy for small children.

There are also theme restaurants including the Rainforest Caf? in Kowloon Tong, a Hello Kitty Caf? in Causeway Bay, selling lots of themed items as well as food; Caf? Aladdin in Hunghom in Kowloon, Ultraman Caf? in Shatin based on a well known Japanese space age action figure. There is also a Planet Hollywood in Tsimshatsui in Kowloon.