The Ultimate Guide to Hong Kong Dim Sum Dishes

Last updated on June 5th, 2026 at 11:11 pm

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When people visit Hong Kong, dim sum is almost always one of the first foods that comes to mind. It’s what the city is known for, along with the shopping.

Dim sum is everywhere here. Locals call eating dim sum yum cha, which translates to drinking tea, because you also drink tea when you eat dim sum.

Every dim sum restaurant offers a unique selection of dishes, but 99% of them typically feature the following. These are iconic and traditional dim sum dishes you must know.

Want to know what dim sum dishes you should try?

Without further ado, let’s get started!

Hong Kong Dim Sum Dishes List

Siu Mai (燒賣)

You’ll recognize siu mai with its signature yellow skin. Siu mai consists of minced pork and shrimp, but there are different variations. Higher-end dim sum restaurants decorate siu mai with scallops, fish roe, abalone, and other high-quality ingredients.

Street food tends to sell fish siu mai instead of pork siu mai. That’s why, although you might not like the traditional pork siu mai, don’t rule out fish siu mai. I know because I’m one of these people. I only eat fish siu mai. So try both to see for yourself which one you like better.

Har Gow (蝦餃)

Har gow is shrimp dumplings. There’s a thin translucent layer of dough wrapping the shrimp and bamboo shoots on the inside. When you take a bite of har gow, the skin should be thin but not so thin that the shrimp falls out when you lift it into your bowl. The shrimp itself should be tender and juicy.

You’ll likely find this on every table when you go for yum cha. It’s just that one dish you have to get every time.

Har Gow and siu mai are the most traditional dim sum dishes you can get. When you see pictures of these two dishes, you already know they represent dim sum.

Cheung Fun (腸粉)

Cheung fun is silky rice noodle rolls. Similar to siu mai, there are various ways to make this dish. Chinese restaurants put BBQ pork, shrimp, beef, Chinese fried dough, or dried shrimp inside their cheung fun. Pour the soy sauce over the slippery, chewy cheung fun, then split it with chopsticks.

Other ways of making cheung fun include XO sauce, and there’s the street-food edition, where it’s a plain rice noodle roll topped with three different sauces – hoisin, peanut, and sweet soy.

BBQ Pork Bun (叉燒包)

Chinese people love BBQ pork, aka char siu! We eat it as-is and put it in fried rice, cheuRiceun, and buns.

When it comes to char siu bao, the most common type you’ll see served as a Hong Kong dim sum dish is a steamed BBQ pork bun. The white bun is light and fluffy, while the meat inside is filled with BBQ pork and sauce.

There’s also a BBQ pork puff pastry, and some restaurants get creative, using a pineapple bun.

A pineapple bun is a typical baked good in Hong Kong, characterized by a crunchy exterior with a sweet layer on top. The bun can be empty or filled with fillings like BBQ pork. That’s my favourite type of BBQ pork bun, but unfortunately, not all dim sum places serve them this way.

Sticky Rice (糯米雞)

This is probably the most filling dish on this list.

Sticky rice is wrapped in a lotus leaf. When you unwrap the leaf, you’ll find a filling of glutinous rice with pork, mushrooms, egg yolk, and Chinese sausage. It’s sticky, moist, and flavourful with a bit of sweetness.

Fried Turnip Cake (蘿蔔糕)

Fried turnip cake is filled with shredded radish, dried shrimp, and Chinese sausage. It’s deep-fried, so it’s crispy on the outside, looking a little brown, while the inside is moist and soft.

It’s common for people to eat fried turnip cake with chilli sauce. Those who like spicy foods will be tempted to add a dash of chilli sauce to every dim sum dish. It’s common over here, too, so don’t worry if you think people will judge you for it.

A fun fact about fried turnip cake is that it’s especially popular among Chinese people around the Chinese New Year period. It’s a symbol of prosperity, so even though some people might not like it, they still eat a bite of fried turnip cake for good luck and a prosperous year ahead.

Steamed Ribs (排骨)

Cantonese cuisine loves using black beans as an ingredient. Their signature black bean dish is steamed ribs. Black bean steamed pork ribs are a staple of Cantonese food. Hong Kongers tend to like this with rice. The Ricemed ribs are a little salty, so they go perfectly with steamed rice.

SpriRiceoll (春捲)

Spring rolls are a staple in many Asian cuisines, so chances are, you’ve eaten at least one spring roll before

The spring rolls at dim sum are mostly fried and crispy. The filling is usually with shrimp, pork, chicken, or vegetables. You can’t go wrong with this dim sum dish, as it appeals to people of all ages.

Beef Balls (牛肉球)

Beef balls are somewhat similar to meatballs. If you like meatballs, there’s a good chance you’ll like this too.

A beef ball is a ball of minced beef and watercress. To top it all off, restaurants pour soy sauce on top for flavour. The beef ball should be tender and springy at the same time.

Chicken Feet (鳳爪)

When you hear the term chicken feet, there will immediately be people who are turned off by the name alone. Then you look at the dish’s dark red colour, and it eliminates more people from trying it. 

I know the appearance and name don’t scream appetizing to everyone out there, but if you’re adventurous when it comes to food, this is something you must try. At least once.

Chicken feet are marinated with a bunch of sauces, including black bean sauce (see? I told you Cantonese cuisine loves black bean sauce). The skin and tendons are soft, slippery, and flavourful. You can easily slurp the skin and spit out the bones.

It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, especially picky eaters, but when you go for dim sum as a group, you’ll always find at least a few people in the bunch who enjoy this. It’s a classic dish.

Hong Kong Dim Sum Dishes – Dessert Edition

Eating dim sum as a group is incredibly filling, but those with a sweet tooth won’t want to skip out on desserts.

By the way, do not expect Chinese desserts to be as sweet as Western desserts. For many locals, Western desserts are too sweet, so sweetness levels in Hong Kong are generally toned down, unless the target customers are expats, as seen at restaurants.

But Chinese desserts are famous too, so don’t forget to try these.  

Egg Tart (蛋撻)

Egg tarts are jiggly, sweet, and highly addictive. It’s the most famous Chinese dim sum dessert and the one dessert you can’t skip out on during your time in Hong Kong.

They are made with either a flaky pastry crust or a shortcrust pastry. Hong Kongers have strong opinions on which type is better.

Typically, dim sum restaurants serve more miniature egg tarts than the ones you see at a bakery. Since egg tarts are a typical local snack and many HK bakeries sell them, don’t worry too much about getting this dish if you’re full at dim sum. Wherever you go in the city, you’ll eventually pass by at least several bakeries that sell egg tarts. There’s always another chance later.

(Side note – don’t confuse egg tarts with Portuguese tarts. Portuguese tarts are sweeter and often have a caramelized layer.)

Tofu Pudding (豆腐花)

The silky-smooth tofu pudding is a beloved dessert widely available at many dim sum restaurants. It’s soybean curd with sugar and sweetened ginger. It’s soft, smooth, jiggly, and easily slurpable.

The dessert is simple but takes a long time to make, which is why you’ll rarely see any locals making this themselves. Additionally, Hong Kongers appreciate a good meal out, so eating this nostalgic dessert at a restaurant is always a bonus.

Molten Egg Lava Custard Buns (流沙包) 

An egg custard bun is a fluffy, steamed bun that oozes egg custard when you break it apart. It is gooey, creamy, runny, and sweet. In other words, it’s perfect for sweet-tooth lovers. Please be careful when eating this, as the lava inside is quite hot. I’ve burned myself eating this, thinking the inside has cooled down, but nope!

Molten egg lava custard buns might remind you of lava custard moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn festival. They’re pretty similar.  

Cantonese Sponge Cake (馬拉糕)

This brown sugar cake is spongy, fluffy, airy, and moist. Out of the desserts on this Hong Kong dim sum dish list, the Cantonese sponge cake tilts on the less sweet side of the spectrum. So, if you’re looking for dessert but worried about the sweetness level, this is the one for you.

Mango Pudding (芒果布甸)

The name is relatively self-explanatory. It’s mango pudding, but dim sum restaurants like to pour condensed milk over it to make it richer and creamier.

This dish comes in all kinds of cute shapes. Some food spots will serve their mango pudding in a heart shape, while others will serve it in a goldfish shape. It’s often one of the last dishes served in dim sum and is a very popular dessert in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Dim Sum Dishes – Before Eating

As soon as you’re seated at your table, your waitress will ask you what kind of tea you want. There are usually these few choices: black tea (bo-lay in Cantonese), chrysanthemum (gook-fa in Cantonese), jasmine (heung-peen in Cantonese), and iron goddess (teet kwun yum in Cantonese).

Along with tea, there will also be a teapot of hot water on your table. Restaurants vary on whether this costs money, but more people pay for the little extra, since eating dim sum without drinking tea feels illegal.

When the two teapots arrive at the table, it’s customary to rinse everything, from bowls to plates, utensils, and cups, with hot water or tea. After rinsing, use that big bowl on the table to dump out all the dirty water. The waitress will then take the bowl away.

It’s essential to note that this is a cultural habit, not because restaurants are inherently unclean.

Eating Dim Sum in Hong Kong – Tips and Etiquette

1) Generally, one person orders on behalf of everyone. It’s faster and more efficient than passing around a sheet for everyone to look at.

2) The polite thing to do is to fill up other people’s cups first before pouring some tea or water of your own.

3) When there’s no more hot water or tea, rest the teapot lid on the handle. Leaving the pot ajar will signal to the waiter that it needs to be refilled.

4) Hong Kongers also tend to use communal utensils. When the dishes are served on the table, there are a few pairs of communal chopsticks to take a piece of dim sum and/or noodles/rice onto the Rice plate. You then place the communal chopsticks on the table, and the next person will do the same.

5) The biggest table at dim sum restaurants can fit 12 people. The more people there are, the more likely you’ll be placed at a table with a wheel. There is a wheel in the middle where all the dishes are placed on the table. Instead of reaching everywhere to eat, wheel the dish in front of you, grab a pair of communal chopsticks to pick up food, and put it on your plate.

6) Do not place the pair of chopsticks straight up. It reminds Chinese people of paying respects to the dead, and many will be highly offended.

7) Dim sum is best when you go with more people. More people means ordering more and trying a wide variety of dishes. There are only a few pieces of dim sum in each bamboo steamer, the container that restaurants use for dim sum. Going as a big group, a dozen dim sum dishes might not even be enough. So consider ordering fried noodles and fried rice to fill everyone’s stomach. 

Hong Kong Dim Sum Dishes: Restaurant Types

Old School Dim Sum Restaurants

There are mainly two types of dim sum restaurants.

There’s the old-school way of pushing a dim sum cart. A server is responsible for one dim sum cart and moves it around the restaurant. This trolley has multiple dim sum dishes, but you have to pay attention: the server will shout out the options, or you wait for them at your table and ask as they walk past.

You can also go up to the cart, but don’t walk too far. Many dim sum dishes are extremely hot, so the server should use their tongs rather than have you carry them back to your table. 

Modern Dim Sum Restaurants 

The more common way now is to use a dim sum sheet. All the available options are listed on a sheet. You write down the quantity of each dish you want on the sheet before handing it back to the server.

When the dish comes to your table, the server will check it off the receipt to keep track of what has been served and what hasn’t.

There’s also an electronic way to scan a QR code and place your order. It’s easy to keep track of, and you won’t have to worry about losing your dim sum sheet.

What Time Should You Go for Dim Sum?

A minority of restaurants serve dim sum for dinner, but it’s more of a breakfast-and-lunch thing.

Some dim sum places open quite early (I’m talking around 7 am), but I treat dim sum more like brunch. I prefer to go around 11 am because by then you can order main dishes like rice. They don’t usually show up until then. All of the other dim sum dishes will still be available to order unless the restaurant sells out.

How Often Do People Eat Dim Sum in Hong Kong?

Hong Kong people love their dim sum.

Some older members might even eat dim sum every day. It’s a place for them to socialize and enjoy good food.

It’s also common for families to go for yum cha on the weekends. Getting a table at a dim sum restaurant can get quite hectic on Saturdays and Sundays because of the sheer number of people!

Final Thoughts – Hong Kong Dim Sum Dishes

Dim sum will always be around for Hong Kongers. It’s what locals often eat, solo or with friends, family, and co-workers. And it’s delicious!

You can never go wrong with yum cha. It’s one of the best comfort foods in Cantonese cuisine. Countless restaurants across the city are serving dim sum. There’s easy access to all these Hong Kong dim sum dishes, so you’ll never feel deprived. Check Openrice if you’re unsure which restaurant to eat at.

There are many luxury dim sum restaurants in HK, but if you’re visiting HK for the first time, I would opt for a more traditional dim sum experience. It’s not as expensive, and you’ll see many Hong Kongers eating daily or weekly.

A dim sum place is never too far away from almost any major attraction in Hong Kong. No matter if you’re in Hong Kong for 24 hours or 72 hours, make sure you schedule some time to eat some Hong Kong dim sum dishes!

Now to You – Hong Kong Dim Sum Dishes

Want to try all these dim sum dishes and learn about dim sum etiquette? Pin this dim sum guide NOW for you to have a look at!

Xoxo,
Nicole