Chee Kee Wonton

Ground Floor, 52 Russell St, Causeway Bay; no phone. Daily 11am-8pm. Small, low-key haunt with Chinese-only sign (look for the packed interior hung with Chinese prints and antique-style wooden stools), serving some of the tastiest wonton noodles in town. Soups are $24.

Chiu Chow Dynasty

2nd Floor, Emperor Group Centre, 288 Hennessy Rd, Wan Chai T2832 6628. Daily 11am-11pm. Gloomy decor - the interior isn’t spacious enough for the heavy wooden furniture - but top Chiu Chow fare, including sour-plum goose, deep-fried duck with taro, and the biggest range of Chiu Chow dumplings in town. $80 and upwards per main.

Chuan Bar Bar

20 Luard Rd, Wan Chai T2527 8388. Daily noon-midnight. A smart Sichuanese restaurant-bar hung with wooden screens and serving chilli fish fillets, “strange-flavoured” chicken (a famous Sichuanese dish), beancurd and bamboo shoots, aubergine with hot garlic sauce, and more. Mains around the $60 mark.

East Lake Seafood

4th Floor, Pearl City, 22-36 Paterson St, Causeway Bay T2504 3311. Daily 7am-noon. Cheerful, noisy place packed with local Chinese eating dim sum.

Fook Lam Moon

35-45 Johnston Rd, Wan Chai T2866 0663. Daily 11.30am-3pm & 6-11pm. Amongst Hong Kong’s finest and most famous Cantonese restaurants, this is not the place to come if you’re skimping on costs. House specialities include bird’s nest in coconut milk, abalone, crispy piglet and crispskinned chicken. Count on $500 a head.

Green Cottage

32 Cannon St, Causeway Bay T2832 2863. Daily 10.30am-10.30pm. This popular, family-run Vietnamese restaurant serves up, amongst other things, thirty different types of noodle soup (pho) in pleasant but cramped surroundings. Everything is good value for money, in particular the curried duck with French bread.

Jo Jo’s

1st Floor, 86-90 Johnston Rd, Wan Chai (entrance on Lee Tung St) T2527 3776. Daily 11am-3pm & 6-11pm. Hardly luxury surroundings, but inexpensive Indian fare with tandoori specialities and views out onto the busy street.

Kong King

117 Lockhart Rd, Wan Chai T2520 0988. Daily 11am-3pm & 6-11pm. Plain, canteen-like furnishings but the regional Chinese fare is tasty and includes classic Sichuanese “sizzling rice” (deep-fried rice cake with a light seafood soup poured over it at the table), hand-made noodles with shredded pork and preserved vegetables, plus a big range of northern-style dumplings; you can eat well here for $100 a head.

Lulu Shanghai

3rd Floor, Pearl City, Paterson St, Causeway Bay T2882 2972. Daily 11.30am-2pm & 6pm-midnight. Fairly smart place to eat some of the best Shanghai dishes served in Hong Kong; try the cold, marinated sliced duck; sauteed fresh prawns; steamed dumplings; and fish slices served in a taro “cup” with pine nuts and sweetcorn kernels. Count on $120 a head.

Padang

J.P. Plaza, 22-36 Paterson St, Causeway Bay T2881 5075. This unpretentious place does a good run of rendang (dry beef curry), satays, grilled seafood, mutton curry and - especially - durianflavoured desserts. A little pricey for what you get, but good. Mains from $50.

Red Pepper

7 Lan Fong Rd, Causeway Bay T2577 3811. Daily noon-11.45pm. Sichuanese place favoured by expats, which means it can get very busy, has higher-thanwarranted prices and pushy staff.

The smoked duck and beancurd are excellent. Set meal for two $158; otherwise, count on $70 per main.

Saigon Beach

66 Lockhart Rd, Wan Chai T2529 7823. Daily noon-3pm & 6-10pm.

Vietnamese place popular with young travellers and locals because they stick to the basics - grills, soups and cold rice rolls - and cook them well.

They also do a large selection of inexpensive spicy, meat-filled French baguettes.