Lynn Fung checks out what’s cooking in our wet markets.

Nowadays, people are more apt to see wet markets as buildings filled with stinky stalls, guts and slime than as dining destinations. But before SARs and bird flu, famous eateries hawked market-fresh dishes alongside raw ingredients out in the open air. Luckily, a handful of the best restaurants—decades old and family-run—have moved indoors to the new market complexes. Here’s our guide to the best of the survivors.

Kan Kee Vegetarian
Bowrington Road, on the cusp of Wan Chai and Causeway Bay, is a good example of how wet markets have evolved over the years. Outdoor butchers, fishmongers and grocers surround the wet market complex itself, which houses the cooked food stalls. Kan Kee Vegetarian is one of the most famous. Before World War II, Kan Kee was a fishball noodles stall but when the family business was handed over to the eldest daughter, a vegetarian, it began to serve vegetarian fare instead. The neighborhood clientele gamely came to give the new menu a go and the veggie dishes went down a treat, with loyal customers slowly becoming part of the story behind the stall. “Mr. Leung’s stew,” for example, is named after a businessman who comes twice a week to order the same simple veggie dish. With no MSG and minimal oil, salt and sugar, the dishes are naturally flavorsome and sweet, owing to the fresh ingredients from the market downstairs. Little wonder that the stall is popular with nuns and models alike. And due to a regular clientele of strict Buddhists, dishes can be made without garlic, chives or onions, none of which are considered vegetarian. Lunch sets ($30) include a selection of three dishes, rice and soup while dinner is a la carte.

Stall 6, 1/F, Bowrington Road Market, 21 Bowrington Rd., Causeway Bay, 2575-7595. Open Mon-Sat 11am-9pm. Closed Sundays.

Qing Zhen
An appealing aspect of wet-market dining is the convivial atmosphere: although a certain number of tables are generally allocated for each stall, you’re not likely to get in trouble if you mix up your tables. The exception to this is at Qing Zhen. Located just a couple of stalls down from Kan Kee, Qing Zhen serves halal food and no pork is permitted to touch any of its tables. Opened and run by a Guangzhou Muslim family, Qing Zhen is over 60 years old and famous for its in-house roasted goose ($26-$76, depending on size). This dish is not only a bargain, but also sufficiently crispy, juicy and succulent to rival Yung Kee. Another worthy mention is the meltingly tender lamb brisket curry, served with rice ($37).

Stall 5, 1/F, Bowrington Market, 21 Bowrington Rd., Causeway Bay, 2574-1131. Open daily 10:30am-6pm.

Chiu Chow Hong
Before the gentrification of Sheung Wan, the area was so rich with Chiu Chow immigrants that it was known as Chiu Chow Lane. For half a century, the proprietors of da-lang (Chiu Chow slang for “eating our own food”) stalls sold cold crabs and soy-marinated goose—famous dishes from the region. In 2004, the indoor market on Queen’s Street was built for the hawkers, but just three of these da-lang stalls agreed to move indoors. One of them is Chiu Chow Hong. A reliable gauge of any Chiu Chow restaurant is their marinated goose and Chiu Chow Hong’s ($68) more than passes the test. Selling only six to eight geese a day, they run out quickly and it’s easy to see why. Not overly marinated and yet flavorful, their goose has the right proportion of fat to meat and a pleasantly firm texture. Another absolute must-have is the baby clams sautéed in garlic and black beans ($45). A hard-to-find dish elsewhere owing to the labor-intensive preparation method, the clams are tiny, succulent and juiciest in the summer.

Stall 13, 1/F, Queen’s Street Cooked Food Market, 38 Des Voeux Rd. West, Sheung Wan, 2559-2523. Open daily 11am-11pm.

Tung Bo
Although Tung Bo may not have as lengthy a history as the others, it has certainly attained urban legend status due primarily to two pervading rumors. The first is that one of the owners is an actor and film crews like to go there for their raucous after-parties. The other is that the chef used to work in a famous five-star hotel (the name is never divulged but the ones regularly bandied about are the Hilton, Sheraton and Harbour Plaza). Tired of haute cuisine, he decided to bring affordable gastronomical delights to the masses. And since Hong Kongers are bargain hunters at heart, Tung Bo is enduringly popular. The rowdy restaurant serves mainly seafood; the typhoon shelter crab and deep-fried mantis shrimps are probably the best you’ll ever taste. Another famous dish is the wind and sand chicken ($220), which is marinated with fermented tofu sauce and deep-fried. It is highly recommended that you reserve the chicken along with your table, as they tend to run out early.

2/F, Java Road Market, 99 Java Rd., North Point, 2880-9399. Dinner only,
from 5:30pm-11:45pm.

Cheong Kee
No nostalgic look at Hong Kong dining culture would be complete without a mention of the great local culinary institution: cha chaan tengs. The first cha chaan tengs were opened in the 50s when local Chinese started to appreciate the colonial idea of going to a coffee shop and relaxing with a cup of tea, a pastry and a newspaper. Since most of the Western-run places had prohibitive prices, locals decided to open some themselves, adapting Western food to Chinese tastes. Cheong Kee is a cha chaan teng located inside the airy and bright cooked-food area of the Happy Valley wet market complex and serving the most Cantonese of comfort foods: luncheon meat with macaroni in broth. But their signature dish is buttered toast. Crunchy on top and soft in the middle, it comes with scrambled eggs and either luncheon meat or crispy fried pork cutlets for $23.

Stall 1-5, 2/F, Wong Nai Chung Market, 2 Yuk Sau St., 2573-5910. Open daily 6:30am-6pm.