Michelin dishes available for only 1 US dollar in Hong Kong

Nov 27, 2009, 3:48 GMT

   Hong Kong - The world's cheapest dishes that were given top awards by the Michelin restaurant guide are available in Hong Kong, according to a new edition of the gourmet guide on sale Friday.

   As well as glitzy five-star hotel restaurants, the new Hong Kong and Macau Michelin guide gives stars to low-cost restaurant dishes costing as little as 10 Hong Kong dollars (1.29 US dollars).

   After its debut the Hong Kong and Macau guide last year was criticized for being too western and elitist. Seventy-eight of the 205 Hong Kong restaurants listed in the new edition are new entries.

   Twenty nine of the listed restaurants are simple cafe-type establishments serving dim sum dishes - small helpings of Chinese food usually served with tea.

   They include the Tim Ho Wan restaurant in Mongkok which serves up beef balls and turnip cake for just 10 Hong Kong dollars, according to Friday's South China Morning Post.

   Michelin guides director Jean Luc Naret admitted the shortcomings of last year's debut guide and said: 'Hong Kong has the most affordable star restaurants in the world.'

At the opposite end of the scale, two Hong Kong restaurants, both at the Four Seasons hotel, got three Michelin stars.