People like to compare Singapore with Hong Kong. To be fair, Singapore and Hong Kong are very similar. However, it is the small details that count, right? This is a comparison of Singapore vs Hong Kong food.
Street Food
Hong Kong offers more varieties and they are more affordable. You can find street food easily in Hong Kong, from corners of alleys to Mong Kok and Yuen Long.
For Singapore, street food can be found only at temporary night markets in the neighbourhood or perhaps bakeries selling waffles. Decent quality, not as cheap as Hong Kong.
Daily Meals
These are things you eat on a daily basis like rice and noodles.
Hong Kong Dimsum in a Basket
Hong Kong has more Chinese food like roast pork, roast goose and beef noodles. The shops typically only sell specific items like roast meat and rice. Don’t forget about traditional Hong Kong dim sum breakfast!
Unlike Hong Kong, Singapore has more varieties of normal food, from steak and lamb chop to kimchi sets and Japanese cuisines. These can be found in coffee shops and food courts. The normal food in Singapore is cheaper with a wider variety.
Check out my personal favourite food in Singapore!
Types of Cuisine
Hong Kong has really good Chinese food. I mean it is a Chinese country after all. The roast goose and dim sum are the must eat in Hong Kong. Anything that is Chinese is probably very good.
Food in Singapore
On the other hand, Singapore is just a food paradise. There is no one particular distinct Singapore dish, unlike roast meat in Hong Kong. The local authentic dishes here are cheap with more variety. This is because Singapore is multiracial, so you have Malay and Indian cuisines, on top of Chinese cuisines.
When it comes to global cuisines, you can find them in both Singapore and Hong Kong. Both countries are populated by expats and tourists, so you can find quality global cuisines everywhere!
The Expensive Food
HKG vs SIN food
The food between normal meal and fine dining. Food that you eat on special occassions like anniversary, date night, celebrations.
Hong Kong has many fine dining or sub-fine dining restaurants all around, especially Hong Kong Island. The food usually consists of a 4-course meal – soup, starter, main course, drinks. Usually, they are western cuisine.
Singapore also has many expensive dining places, with many levels of ‘luxury’. From a 4-course meal to a 12-course meal, you can find anything in regards to food in Singapore. However, the ‘expensive food’ is much much cheaper in Hong Kong than in Singapore. You can easily get a 4-course rib-eye meal for SDG$20 (HKD$120) when that same meal easily cost you SGD$80 in Singapore.
Fine Dining
The luxury food with Michelin stars and celebrity chefs. Both equally expensive. Full stop. Probably around the same price all around the world.
Well, of course, this list is just a very wide generalisation. There are really expensive food in Hong Kong and really cheap food in Singapore. There really is no point comparing countries because each country is beautiful in its own ways.
The point I would like to bring across here is that it is easier to be poor in Singapore than poor in Hong Kong.
Lunch in Singapore costs SDG$4-5 and it would be just fine. However, the average bowl of noodles in Hong Kong cost up to SGD$7! So, it is extremely challenging to live with little money in Hong Kong. Everything is comparative.
I started trevelling since I was 16 and share my methods here. My goal is to change the world through inspiring others to travel. Follow me on my journey on Instagram.
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