Chopsticks | Michelin adds new street food category to guide for first time with Macau and HK

For the first time in Michelin’s history, the red guide has included street food in its selection of best dining destinations with the publication of its latest Hong Kong and Macau edition, the media reported.
A total of 23 addresses in Hong Kong and 12 eateries in Macau earned a “rightful place” in the 2016 Michelin guide’s newly created street food category and represent the authentic dining landscape and habits of the locals, said international director Michael Ellis in a statement.
“In Hong Kong, street food is part of the local way of life: the city never sleeps, the streets are constantly bustling, and Hong Kong residents love to eat out, without necessarily sitting down and spending a lot of money,” Ellis said in a statement quoted by AFP Relax yesterday.
“While street food has its place on the Hong Kong food scene, our inspectors have noted real attention to the quality of dishes on offer and the use of local seasonal produce over the past few years.”
The new category includes street foods like pork fried noodles, Thai rice noodles, Shanghainese pork buns, octopus marinated in soy sauce, Cantonese puddings, waffles, and Korean fried chicken.
The other big news out of the 2016 Hong Kong and Macau guide this year is the anointing of a new three-starred restaurant, T’ang Court at the luxury Langham Hotel in Hong Kong, which serves authentic Cantonese cuisine in the tradition of the Tang dynasty.
“The Cantonese cuisine is perfectly prepared with harmonious flavors and different textures bringing depth and perfect balance on the palate,” Ellis said quoted by AFP Relax.
This season, the restaurant is serving a special biodynamic menu that pairs six courses including stir-fried pigeon and lobster with biodynamic wines from Slovenia’s Movia winery.
According to AFP Relax, award-winning dishes on the restaurant’s permanent include stir-fried Wagyu menu beef with spring onion and wasabi and fried cod with preserved bean paste and fish taro puffs. Inspectors also promoted a total of four restaurants to two stars, while 11 restaurants earned their first star.
Three stars denotes a restaurant that serves exceptional cuisine that’s worth the journey. The addition of T’ang Court brings Hong Kong and Macau’s three-s­tarred count to eight, a lucky number in Chinese culture.