The giant metal-clad stalls known as ‘da pai dong’, which emerged in the 1950s, saw some of them close down during Hong Kong’s urban regeneration programme in the 1980s, whilst others moved into shop premises to continue trading. for example, the Jai Hing Roast Meat Restaurant in Wan Chai, Yung Kee in Central and Kau Kee Beef Brisket, all of which originated from old-style street-side dai pai dongs. Later, during the latter stages of the government’s housing estate development programme, a design for food stalls commonly known as ‘mushroom pavilions’ emerged, resulting in most dai pai dongs being confined to designated locations within the housing estates. Consequently, there are now only 28 dai pai dongs operating on the streets across the whole of Hong Kong.
‘Kian Kee’, located in the car park of Shek Kip Mei Estate, is a small stir-fry restaurant of the ‘mushroom kiosk’ variety commonly found in public housing estates. Outside the door, a huge fish tank temporarily houses a variety of lively, swimming seafood, including abalone, mud prawns, crabs, tiger grouper, star grouper, cedar grouper… and so on, with prices that even the estate’s residents find reasonable. Kin Kee is renowned for its dishes packed with wok-heated flavour, and is particularly adept at Hong Kong-style stir-fries such as salt and pepper, black bean and chilli, and hotpot-style dishes.
Stir-fried Cockles with Black Bean and Chilli – . These enormous Scottish clams are fresh and plump, with succulent, flavourful flesh. Stir-fried with black beans and chilli, they are incredibly tasty and go perfectly with rice. Ginger and Spring Onion Braised Oysters – Made with common American barrel oysters, which are plump and succulent but lack umami. Preparing them in a ginger and spring onion stew brings out a rich flavour, compensating for their lack of natural umami. A single pot contains only five or six oysters, which may not be enough to satisfy everyone’s appetite. Having evolved over the years and moved into public housing estates, most of the old street food stalls are no longer small-scale operations, and the surroundings are now very clean.
Address: Stalls 4–5, Cooked Food Area, Shek Kip Mei Village Market, Shek Kip Mei
Transport: Exit A, Shek Kip Mei MTR Station, approximately a 5-minute walk
Telephone number: 852 9233 3740
Chinese (Hong Kong) 
Chinese (China) 
English 
Japanese 
Korean