Diners wash cutlery before enjoying traditional dishes at Hong Kong's Michelin restaurant

31 January, 2013

After queuing on the street, diners are made to sit next to strangers in the cramped Hong Kong restaurant before rinsing their own cutlery. Welcome to the cheapest Michelin-starred experience. Ho Hung Kee (Ho Hung's restaurant) was first awarded a coveted star in 2011.

This restaurant serves quick, but simple dishes ranging from congee and fried rice to a variety of Western-style sandwiches. It is located between towers of retail in the teeming shopping district of Causeway Bay.

Patty Ho, owner and daughter-in-law of restaurant's founder, says that she sticks to the old original recipes, because she wants customers to experience a “traditional eating culture”. She also said that Wontons, a traditional dish served in Hong Kong and in China’s southeastern province of Guangdong, are similar to dumplings but their skin uses less dough, into which succulent shrimp and pork servings are wrapped.

This traditional way of preparing the dish has been changed by the modern restaurants, but the Ho Hung’s restaurant continues to use “our original recipe which includes pork that preserves the meaty flavor”. Patty Ho believes that staying true to tradition was one of the reasons Ho Hung Kee was awarded a star.

The chefs in the restaurant start their work at 7am and prepare wontons for roughly 1,000 customers. The surroundings of the restaurant may not be luxurious, but everyday more than a thousand diners come over here – some from overseas to experience the world's cheapest star feed.

Jerry Lin, a Taiwanese tourist said, “I have tried other Michelin restaurants in places like Shanghai, but this one is a restaurant that is very accessible for normal people, we really like it.”

The restaurant was started as a humble street stall in the 1940s and has now been awarded a star among the 61 starred restaurants. Michelin guide’s international director Michael Ellis said it was a surprise for diners to discover inexpensive starred restaurants in the Asian financial hub, which is better known for its courting of expensive luxury experiences. “Ho Hung Kee, along with dim sum restaurant Tim Ho Wan and Pang’s Kitchen, a new addition to the list, make up the least expensive, most affordable starred experience in the world,” Dawn News quoted Ellis as saying.

Ho Hung Kee is planning to open another outlet in a gleaming shopping mall to handle the influx of customers. The new branch offers a wider selection but at the same price range.