Mott 32, Central, Hong Kong (Alissa and Don Eat Asia)

In the lead up to our 2015 trip to Hong Kong, I happened to be walking through the local supermarket when I noticed the latest issue of Gourmet Traveller fortuitously featured an article about new restaurants in Hong Kong. The informative article featured a number of restaurants we had heard of and were considering booking tables for, with one in particular catching our eye. Named Mott 32 after the location of New York's first Chinese convenience store, the restaurant's eye popping interior design and the promise of unusual and luxe Dim Sum was enough to convince us to reserve a table for our visit, and it served as our last meal in Hong Kong before catching our flight back home to Australia.

Butao Ramen, Central, Hong Kong (Alissa and Don Eat Asia)

When making our initial plans for our 2015 Hong Kong trip, our dining options were significantly more fanciful and upmarket, including an ambitious plan to dine at no less than three separate restaurants with 3 Michelin Stars. The serious decline of the Australian dollar over the year really put a damper on those plans, and we realigned our meals to better reflect the changed economic situation. Thankfully, Hong Kong has many excellent restaurants at the more affordable end of the spectrum and we refocused our energies on trying many of the city's best bowls of Tonkotsu Ramen. Having tried Ichiran in 2013 (and revisited it as part of this trip) as well as the equally excellent Kamitora Ramen, Alissa and I decided to visit Butao - the noodle shop often credited as having started Hong Kong's Ramen Craze.

Little Bao, Central, Hong Kong (Alissa and Don Eat Asia)

Although a long time favourite order at Dim Sum restaurants and as a snack throughout Asia, the humble steamed bun or Bao has reached even greater heights of ubiquity in the post-Momofuku culinary world. The Momofuku Pork Bun must be one of the most heavily copied and replicated dishes of modern times, with entire restaurants and menus almost obsessively based around variations on the steamed bun theme, such as Wonderbao in Melbourne. Given its almost viral spread and continuing influence over a decade since the opening of Noodle Bar, it begs the question - have we reached Peak Bao? Not yet, if Little Bao in Hong Kong is anything to go by.

Salon de Joel Robuchon, Hong Kong (Alissa and Don Eat Asia Day 6, Part 1)

We knew it was an outside chance but we had to give it a go. We had to have Tim Ho Wan one more time. Just two serves of the pork buns, please. Three for me, three for Alissa. That's all we needed.

Unfortunately, the IFC outpost of pork bun deliciousness didn't open until 9am, and we simply did not have the time to wait til then plus the cooking time for our char siu bao. If we were to have Tim Ho Wan again, it was gonna have to wait until Singapore.

So, as Alissa sometimes puts it with great concern in her voice; 'but what about breakfast!?!?!!?' Thankfully, our reconnaissance mission to find the best way to Caprice held the answer. Located in IFC and on the way to the Four Seasons is Salon de Joel Robuchon, the cafe side of Robuchon's vast restaurant empire that includes many L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon restaurants around the world. We checked out the food on the way to Caprice, and everything looked delicious and reasonably priced considering it came under the brand of the world's most Michelin Starred Chef.

Yat Lok, Central, Hong Kong (Alissa and Don Eat Asia Day 4, Part 2)

"Now I like pork, and I know I talk about it a lot and how it’s like the best thing ever.

But in fact, the best thing ever is actually goose" - Anthony Bourdain

Before we departed for Hong Kong, my Uncle Keiron implored that I absolutely had to have roast goose everyday. With so many items on our 'to eat' list, it was inevitable that daily goose eating was simply not going to be on the cards. However, it has to be said that no omnivorous food tour of Hong Kong can be complete without trying roast duck's even more delicious big brother.