Dim sum is a must for any visit to Hong Kong—many Chinese restaurants serve it a la carte at lunch. In older restaurants, waiters push small trolleys around the room, carrying different dishes in bamboo steamer baskets or on plates. Look inside the baskets and point to what you want; the waiter will serve you and add a stamp to your bill. The traditional trolleys are slowly disappearing, however. Most restaurants now have English-language request forms on which you circle the dishes you want. Favorite dim sum choices are siu mai (small balls of pork, wrapped in a cabbage leaf), ha gow (dumplings with steamed prawns inside) and cha siu bao (steamed barbecued pork buns). Try the daan tart (custard-filled pastry) for dessert.

If you see coconut cake listed, it won't be angel food cake with coconut frosting, but rather a delicious, creamy pudding, usually served in small blocks that look like tofu. Dim sum restaurants tend to get rather crowded, especially on Sunday. Most won't take reservations, so get there early and be prepared to wait. If you are concerned about the use of MSG in a restaurant, it's wise to ask your hotel concierge to check ahead and write down in Chinese the fact that you do not want it used in dishes served to you.

The busy nightlife district of Lan Kwai Fong in Central is packed with stylish eateries priced for every budget (although most are on the expensive end), but it has had some competition recently from a relatively new Central area of trendy bars, cafes and restaurants known as SoHo. Like the New York City neighborhood, its name is derived from its location—in this case, South of Hollywood Road. Take an opportunity to ride the Mid-Levels escalator, which is the longest in the world (0.5 mi/800 m long). A five-minute ride from Queen's Road Central on the escalator delivers you to the hub of the action on Staunton and Elgin streets. Many restaurants are located nearby.

Beautiful Lamma Island is spectacular at night—many people take private boats to the island and then stop off for a fabulous seafood dinner. You can also take the ferry over. Most of the seafood restaurants are at the small village of Sok Kwu Wan, so be sure to get the correct ferry or you'll end up at the busier Yung Shue Wan on the other side of the island. And be sure to keep an eye on your watch—the last boat back to Central leaves around 10 or 11 pm, depending on the day of the week. Specialties vary from restaurant to restaurant, but some of the great dishes are garlic king prawns, deep-fried squid, garoupa (a local fish) and scallops. Aberdeen, with its floating restaurants, is also a popular venue.

Restaurants are generally open for breakfast around 8 am, lunch 11:30 am-2:30 pm and dinner 6-10 pm, but there are many exceptions. Most close for a few hours between lunch and dinner. Hong Kongers generally eat lunch 1-2 pm—businesspeople keep to a strict hour-long lunch break—and tend to start dinner as late as 9 pm, though families often begin filing into restaurants around 7 pm.