The long-awaited Hong Kong food trucks have been rolled out after Chinese New Year Holidays 2017. Some of the food truck Hong Kong winners have started to operate at popular tourist attractions across Hong Kong since early February, while the rest of them would be launched in March. Hungry for specialty gourmet food like Lo Mein, crispy Pineapple Bun, BBQ meat sandwich, super grilled squid, new-style dessert and more, let’s have a look!

Background of Hong Kong Food Trucks

Hong Kong is a world-renowned gourmet paradise. However, there were no food trucks on the street except ice cream vans. Considering the vanishing of Hong Kong street food hawkers since the government banned new licenses in the 1970s, the former Financial Secretary Mr Tsang Chun-wah, who was inspired by a Hollywood movie, proposed to introduce food trucks to Hong Kong in February 2015. The Tourism Commission then launched the two-year Food Truck Pilot Scheme. A total of 192 applications were received in mid-2016. Fifty-one candidates were invited to participate in the preliminary selection, and they later presented their signature dishes at a cook-off challenge. Sixteen suitable operators were selected by a panel of representatives from relevant government departments, members of the tourist industry and food experts etc.

Food Truck Hong Kong Locations

The 16 food trucks operate on a rotating basis, each of them will station at one of the eight locations for two weeks. Visitor signboards with the food truck logo have been built along the way so that foodies wouldn’t get lost. If you pass by the locations, don’t forget to grab something nice and fresh to fill your stomach. Beware that there may be long queues in front of the food trucks. To track when and where to find each truck, you may need to use a companion app, HK Food Truck. As the operating time of different food trucks varies, around 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, it would be better to check the app.

Hong Kong Island:

1. Golden Bauhinia Square, Wan Chai (near Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre)
2. Central Harbourfront Event Space (near Star Ferry Pier)
3. Ocean Park (outside the park)

Kowloon:

4. Salisbury Garden, Tsim Sha Tsui (near Hong Kong Space Museum)
5. Art Square, Tsim Sha Tsui (near Hong Kong Space Museum)
6. Wong Tai Sin Square, Wong Tai Sin (near Wong Tai Sin Temple)
7. “Fly the Flyover01” venue, Kwun Tong (facing Kai Tak Cruise Terminal)

New Territories:

8. Hong Kong Disneyland (outside the park)

Food Trucks Hong Kong Winners and Signature Dishes

Among the 16 food vans Hong Kong, some of them are start-up micro-enterprises, while some are the affiliates of large enterprises. A fusion of Chinese cuisines, Western dishes and international gourmet ranged from around HKD 20 to 80 (USD 2.5 – 10) are offered.

Chinese Category:

1. Steamed Rice with turnip and pork soft bone (蘿蔔豬軟骨飯)

• Opening: 24 Feb 2017
• Operator: Chee Kei, an established restaurant chain known for wonton noodles.

2. Soup with fish maw and dried scallops (花膠瑤柱羹)

• Opening: 13 Feb 2017
• Operator: Hung Fook Tong, a famous Chinese herbal product retailer.

3. Pineapple bun with fresh cream (鮮忌廉菠蘿包)

• Opening: 3 Feb 2017
• Operator: Tin Sing Café or Bing Sutt, a typical Hong Kong style coffee house in East Kowloon.
• Other Dishes: Pineapple bun filled with diced pineapple, or stuffed with pork chops.

4. Big chicken steamed bun (雞球大包)

• Opening: March 2017
• Operator: Canton Kitchen, a Dim Sum expert with restaurants in Sham Shui Po and TST.

5. Bamboo charcoal sandwiches with Iberico ham and fried egg (黑毛豬炒蛋竹炭三文治)

• Opening: March 2017
• Operator: Capital Café, a Bing sutt run by Khan, who used to work in the record company.
• Other Dishes: Halal-certified Cantonese pastries such as wife cakes and egg tarts.

6. Lo Mein (Noodles, 魔廚撈麵)

• Opening: 7 Feb 2017
• Operator: Maureen Loh, with a new style Chinese restaurant in Wan Chai.

7. Five-colour dumplings (五色餃子)

• Opening: 3 Feb 2017
• Operator: Mama’s Dumplings, a family-run dumpling restaurant in Yuen Long.

8. Fried rice with Sakura shrimp in Umami sauce (櫻花蝦豆豉醬炒飯)

• Opening: March 2017
• Operator: Pat Chun, an old trademark selling signature sweetened vinegar and soy sauce.

Western category:

9. BBQ pork burger (黯然銷魂漢堡)

• Opening: 16 Feb 2017
• Operator: W. Burger x Table Seven, a burger restaurant in Kowloon City and an experienced food truck event practitioner.

10. The Spaniard grilled cheese sandwich (烤芝士三文治)

• Opening: March 2017
• Operator: Raymond CHU Wai-man and TSANG Pik-yu

11. New-style egg puff and mango pomelo sago with herbal jelly dessert cup (新派雞蛋仔及楊枝甘露涼粉隨意杯)

• Opening: March 2017
• Operator: Xiao Tian Gu, run by a Hong Kong actress and singer, Jolane Koo, with some branches.

12. The Notorious P.I.G. (slow-cooked pork shoulder sandwich, 慢煮豬肩肉三文治)

• Opening: March 2017
• Operator: Beef & Liberty, a hamburger restaurant from London with branches in Hong Kong.

International category:

13. American-style BBQ meat steamed bun (美式叉包)

• Opening: 3 Feb 2017
• Operator: Bao & Bun, using Panda as a logo, an extension of Los Angeles-based Book Brothers.
• Other Dishes: Steamed bun stuffed with barbecued duck, chicken, beef or pork.

14. Super Grilled Squid (神級燒鮮魷)

• Opening: 8 Feb 2017
• Operator: Ho Yuen Express, a family-run noodle house in Wong Tai Sin.

15. Dragon Eye (signature dragon fruit smoothie bowl, 火龍果杯)

• Opening: 16 Feb 2017
• Operator: Princess Kitchen, run by a young Stanford graduate.

16. “Victoria Peak” (BBQ pork cru-batta-wich, 烤豬肉意大利包三文治)

• Opening: March 2017
• Operator: Crunch Munch, run by the third-generation descendant of Garden, the well-known household name of a Hong Kong bakery and confectionery manufacturer.

For pictures of each signature dish of the 16 food trucks, you may want to visit this website.

Some people contend that the food is not representative enough as fish balls, siu mai or beef offal are off the menu. Others argue that the cost of operating a food truck is still too high for traditional local street food hawkers. While the government-initiated food truck pilot scheme is still controversial, Hong Kong certainly needs to make space for the development and the inheritance of local food and culture. What do you think? Which Hong Kong Food Trucks do you like most? Please feel free to leave us comments or contact us if you have any questions.

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