Wan Chai, Hong Kong｜Cheung Hing Kee Shanghai Pan-Fried Buns

Cheung Hing Kee Shanghai Pan-fried Buns is a small eatery that started in TST and has now spread around to several small eateries around Hong Kong after they were recognised by the folks at Michelin as being a recommended place to try for cheap eats back in 2016. This particular branch is on Thompson Road, just outside the Wan Chai MTR Station. Here you can try the very good (pork, pork with black-truffle or prawn) pan fried buns, which are deliciously filled with soup. Take a minute to study the order menu. It is in English and Cantonese. Basically, all you do is chose your set size. Main order is 4 buns of the same dumpling type. Alternatively, you can mix the choice to try more than one type. During our recent visit we opted for the split (two pork an two pork with black truffle), finding both to be very, very tasty and great value for money. How to eat: There are signs inside that describe how to eat the dumplings. In short, the soup inside the dumplings is very hot. If you try to take an immediate large bite, you will probably scald the roof of your mouth. Best to poke a small hole in the top of the dumpling with a chopstick, then use a small spoon to lift up the dumpling and suck out some of the soup. Then take small bites out of the dumplings and remember suck while biting so the soup goes inside your mouth and not all over your hands or serving plate. Then just enjoy! The taste of the dumplings is excellent. During our visit a few weeks ago, we also had a bowl of pork & veg wonton that was also very good. There is vinegar and chilli sauce on the wall side bars so you can add more flavour if wanted. Note: Another fun thing about this place is that you can also watch them preparing the dumplings in the open food station inside the eatery. This is worth doing for a couple minutes if you want to know how the dumplings are constructed before being pan-fried, which can also be seen at the front of the eatery. In the end, Cheung Hing Kee Shanghai Pan-fried Buns is a cheap and fun place to try for very good dumplings and good wonton soup. It is a neat little stop for foodies looking for something different and delicious during visits to Hong Kong.

Amazing little buns! I kept going back more and more. The moment I took the first bite, the juice inside the bun squirted out and it was a mess. Eventually after my 3rd visit, I managed to have a bite without any drips. In my opinion, the signature pan fried buns are good enough. The truffle ones were ok but not worth double the cost and the shrimp ones were good too. This is a must try if you are ever nearby this location.

Delicious and very fresh pan-fried buns. Highly recommend it.