Signature Series Hong Kong & Taiwan Exclusive Foodie Tour with Matt Preston & Gary Mehigan + Cathay Pacific Flights

After breakfast, it’s time to taste your way through Hong Kong’s best bites. This is your Hong Kong itinerary, your way – while the below experiences are included, feel free to dip in and out as you please.

Signature Highlight: Central Walking Foodie Tour

Cross the bay by coach and join expert local guides with eight of your fellow travellers for a walking foodie tour of Hong Kong Island’s Central District, informed by Matt and Gary’s expert research. One of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods, Central is characterised by steep, often narrow streets offering a glimpse of the city’s storied past. Today, Matt or Gary will join you at one of the stops along the way.

Stops today include traditional bakery Tai Cheong, established in 1954, for a taste of the city’s famed egg tarts. Crispy, flakey and oh-so-buttery, they’ve been a local Hong Kong favourite for decades.

Continue by foot along historic Hollywood Road – finished in 1844, it was the first road ever completed in Hong Kong – to the venerable Man Mo Temple, renowned for its grand spiral incense.

At Graham Street Market, Hong Kong’s last functioning open-air wet market, find a glimpse of the city as it once was. Surrounded by skyscrapers and designer shopping malls, it’s a place seemingly frozen in time amid Hong Kong Island’s ever-changing hustle and bustle.

You’ll also visit a local shop – tried and tested by Gary – to taste one of Hong Kong’s best-known street foods: wonton noodle soup. Topped with egg dumplings (themselves stuffed with seasoned minced prawn), it’s a dish that’s become synonymous over the decades with Hong Kong’s street food scene.

Enjoy stops for freshly squeezed sugarcane juice and more egg tarts at Catherine Bakery. Stopping at two egg tart locations allows you to appreciate Hong Kong’s incredible diversity – even among shops selling similar items – and gives you a chance to compare and contrast the two.

After your foodie walking tour, head to nearby Tai Kwun for lunch. Hollywood Road’s former Central Police Station of Hong Kong has now been reimagined as a sprawling cultural destination, brimming with museum exhibit spaces, art galleries, offbeat book shops and hidden bars (including 001, the city’s first speakeasy).

It’s also home to The Chinese Library, a fine-dining restaurant inspired by founder-chef David Yeo’s cherished collection of Chinese cookbooks. The dining room is exquisite – jade walls, original decor and antique furniture all evoke China’s past – and the menu showcases contemporary interpretations of old classics. Your lunch may include delights such as black truffle har gau dumplings, crispy foie gras puffs or marinated quail and minced pork tossed noodles.

After lunch, enjoy time for a self-guided tour around Tai Kwun before returning to The Peninsula Hong Kong by coach to enjoy time by the hotel’s spectacular pool, or spend the afternoon further exploring Tai Kwun.

Signature Experience: Dinner at The Chairman

The Chairman has a reputation for being one of the most difficult dinner reservations in Hong Kong, and no wonder: with the #4 spot on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024 and a Michelin star to its name, the position as Hong Kong’s culinary darling is seemingly unassailable.

Tonight, enjoy exclusive access with just 11 other travellers in this pared-back, relaxed space and discover Chef Danny Yip’s love letter to Chinese cuisine. The menu’s always changing – driven by seasonality and the availability of local produce – but it may include highlights like crab steamed in huadiao cooking wine or midsummer pickled ginger root served with century egg.

Tour Scheduling:

Please note that Day 2 and Day 3 itineraries may be swapped. Travellers who follow the Day 3 itinerary on Day 2 will follow the Day 2 itinerary on Day 3. Groups on these days have a maximum of 18 travellers, split into two sub-groups of 9. Both groups will experience the Central Foodie Walking Tour and the Sham Shui Po Foodie Walking Tour, plus lunch at The Chinese Library and Yung Kee.

For an intimate and ultra-exclusive experience, travellers will be split into groups for certain meals. Travellers will dine at a traditional dai pai dong, The Chairman and the private kitchen secret warehouse dinner on alternate nights. Groups on these evenings have a maximum of 12 diners. Travellers will dine at all three throughout their trip.

After breakfast, it’s time to taste your way through Hong Kong’s best bites. This is your Hong Kong itinerary, your way – while the below experiences are included, feel free to dip in and out as you please.

Signature Highlight: Sham Shui Po Walking Foodie Tour

One of the oldest and densest districts in Hong Kong, Kowloon’s Sham Shui Po has become a trendsetter in recent years, with quaint cafes, artisan shops, tiny art galleries and sensational street food aplenty. Today, join eight other travellers and expert local guides as you seek out the neighbourhood’s most delicious eats, tried and tested by Matt and Gary’s expert research. You’ll be joined by either Matt or Gary on your culinary adventure.

Start the Hong Kong way, with a visit to a local cha chaang teng (tea restaurant or cafe) for a taste of their eclectic menus, often including quick noodle dishes, pineapple buns slathered in butter, thick French toast (dripping in golden syrup) and plenty of hot milk tea. Their lightning-fast service is legendary, with most diners in and out in 20 minutes.

Stops today will include time at a local shop for a taste of one of Gary’s favourite Hong Kong bites: a Sichuan beef toastie. “It’s like dandan noodles in a sandwich.” Served with a numbing, homemade chilli, it’s absolutely to die for.

A Michelin Guide-listed cheung fun (steamed rice roll) shop makes for an incredible meal: silky-smooth, best topped with lashes of hoisin sauce, chilli and sesame seeds, it’s easy to see why this has endured as a staple dim sum dish.

You’ll also stop by a family-owned noodle shop, where the dough is hand-kneaded daily with bamboo poles. Both spots offer an increasingly rare taste of 21st-century Hong Kong’s culinary history.

Signature Experience: Lunch at Yung Kee

Hong Kong is unquestionably the siu mei (Cantonese barbecue) capital of the world, and even amongst such revered competitors, Yung Kee is widely considered one of the city’s best. With family recipes that have been passed down through three generations – the restaurant opened in 1942 under its late founder, nicknamed ‘Roast Goose Fai’ – its roast goose and suckling pig sit at the perfect crossroads between juiciness, crispiness and smokiness.

After lunch, return to the hotel and enjoy the afternoon at leisure. Tonight, prepare your palate for another delectable dining experience.

Signature Experience: Dinner at a Dai Pai Dong

Wok hei (translating literally to ‘breath of the wok’) refers to the wonderfully complex aroma that derives from the interplay between rapidly caramelised sugars, smoking oil and serious browning; it can only be achieved when using cooking temperatures far higher than those typically used for western cooking methods, and mastering wok hei can take a lifetime.

This is what makes the dai pai dong (open-air food stall) an incredible dining experience: it is the home of the city’s best wok hei, and homestyle stir-fry dishes, shared seating and massive flames all come standard. While a vital part of Hong Kong’s living culture, in recent years numbers of authentic dai pai dong numbers have dropped to just a few dozen. Joined by just 11 other travellers, it’s an incredible way to taste a little of Hong Kong’s old culinary magic.

Want to continue celebrating with some self-guided, after-dinner discovery? Hong Kong has some of the best bars in the world, including Central’s ultra-cool Bar Leone – crowned #1 in Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2024 and the first bar to debut in the coveted top place. Alternatively, head to 001, hidden deep within Tai Kwun, to experience the city’s first ‘secret speakeasy’ bar, or any of Hong Kong’s blockbuster venues, including Penicillin (ranked #24 in Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2024), Quinary (ranked #26) or Savoury Project (ranked #19).

Tour Scheduling:

Please note that Day 2 and Day 3 itineraries may be swapped. Travellers who follow the Day 3 itinerary on Day 2 will follow the Day 2 itinerary on Day 3. Groups on these days have a maximum of 18 travellers, split into two sub-groups of 9. Both groups with experience the Central Foodie Walking Tour and the Sham Shui Po Foodie Walking Tour, plus lunch at Chinese Library and Yung Kee.

For an intimate and ultra-exclusive experience, travellers will be split into groups for certain meals. Travellers will dine at a traditional dai pai dong, The Chairman and the private kitchen secret warehouse dinner on alternate nights. Groups on these evenings have a maximum of 12 diners. Travellers will dine at all three throughout their trip.

After breakfast, it’s time to discover Hong Kong your way. Design your perfect itinerary, picking from one of the exciting included optional experiences below.

Alternatively, spend your day shopping up a storm through Mongkok’s Sneaker Street or Ladies’ Market or enjoy the day at your own pace, soaking up The Peninsula Hong Kong’s extraordinary facilities.

Design Your Day: Hong Kong

• Signature Experience: Historic Hong Kong
  • Immortalised in the films of Bruce Lee and Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong’s history has captured the imagination of millions. Perfect for first-timers to Hong Kong, this experience with a local guide is your chance to hit all the must-see gems. After a short walk across the road to the ferry terminal, catch the Star Ferry across the harbour to Hong Kong Island just as the city starts to stir. Enjoy a traditional early breakfast at Luk Yu Tea House, where dim sum is an art and hospitality a science. Frequented by celebrities and modern businesswomen alike, it’s an extraordinary glimpse into 1930s Hong Kong. Finish with a journey up the iconic Peak Tram for jaw-dropping views over the city, and lunch at a local hidden gem – a siu mei (Cantonese barbecue) restaurant specialising in roast goose that’s been tried and tested by Matt and Gary.
• Signature Experience: Day Trip to Lamma Island
  • Take a short walk across Salisbury Road to the ferry terminal and get ready for an adventure to one of the city’s satellite islands. 30 minutes from Hong Kong Island by ferry, Lamma Island often seems more Canggu than China, with nature treks, relaxed cafes, great beaches and local markets in abundance. Taste the island’s famous catch at the incredible Lamma Rainbow Seafood Restaurant – known for their lightly seasoned Cantonese seafood dishes – before enjoying the afternoon at leisure and returning to Hong Kong Island by ferry.
• Signature Experience: Discover Modern Hong Kong Tour
  • If you’re craving dynamite dim sum, this is the tour for you. After crossing Salisbury Road to the ferry terminal, catching the iconic Star Ferry and walking to the restaurant, you’ll lunch at Lung King Heen – 2024 recipient of the highest possible score by La Liste and two Michelin stars. Your menu may include whole abalone puff with diced chicken, barbecued suckling pig, braised goose or sauteed Australian beef tenderloin – all in the scenic dining room offering sweeping views over Victoria Harbour.
• Signature Experience: Afternoon Tea at The Peninsula Hong Kong
  • Anna Maria Russell, seventh Duchess of Bedford, invented afternoon tea. The Peninsula Hong Kong perfects it. Their afternoon spread – served alongside an extensive selection of classic, flavoured and flowery teas among The Lobby’s colonnaded and high-ceilinged interior – offers an experience to remember. While the menu changes seasonally, selections may include cloud-soft scones, honey mousse and foie gras sandwiches.
• Signature Experience: Cooking school
  • Head to a local cooking school and uncover the secrets of Cantonese cooking from masters in their field at Hong Kong New Oriental Culinary Art. In a relaxed and casual environment, learn how to make beautiful dim sum (including egg tarts!) before sitting down with your class to enjoy the fruits of your labour.

Later, prepare for another evening of delectable dining.

Signature Highlight: Dinner at a Secret Warehouse Venue

Private kitchens have taken Hong Kong by storm in recent years, with off-the-map locations, exclusive memberships and diners sworn to secrecy. Restricted to just 12 diners, this intimate dinner with Matt and Gary is guaranteed to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Tour Scheduling:

For an intimate and ultra-exclusive experience, travellers will be split into groups for certain meals. Travellers will dine at a traditional dai pai dong, The Chairman and the private kitchen secret warehouse dinner on alternate nights. Groups on these evenings have a maximum of 12 diners. Travellers will dine at all three throughout their trip.

After breakfast, transfer to Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) for your included two-hour flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE), where you’ll meet your transfer and travel into the city by coach.

Welcome to Taiwan! A land of forested mountains, dazzling lakes and hidden hot springs, Taiwan is famed for its diverse cuisine, delicious street food and brilliant bubble tea. With far-reaching origins across the provinces of China, alongside Japanese influences and the traditional flavours of indigenous Taiwanese groups (such as the Hakka community), it’s an up-and-coming foodie destination unlike anywhere else in the world. An unmatched variety of bold, flavorful dishes – blended seamlessly with local, regional and international influences – mean that in Taiwan no two dishes are ever the same.

“The variety of what’s on offer – from unusual ingredients seldom seen here to the range of culinary influences – sets Taiwan apart as a must-see destination,” Matt Preston says.

Often missed when discussing the foodie cultures of nearby Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and more, the capital city of Taipei offers a wonderful blend of sizzling night markets, legendary nightclubs and quaint tea spots.

Signature Highlight: Lunch at Dalai

This small, local shop specialises in lu rou fan, a braised pork and rice dish that’s traditionally served with rice, blanched greens and hard-boiled eggs. Braised in a rich meat broth packed with aromatics, it’s a wonderful introduction to Taiwan’s unique flavours, including using the native si gua melon (also known as loofah, made famous for its use as a shower item!). With Matt and Gary at the restaurant – suggestions at the ready – you’ll be able to sit back and truly savour the food as it comes.

Signature Highlight: Taipei Street Eats Tour

Time Out declared Taipei’s Yongkang Street the coolest in Asia, and this afternoon you’ll have the chance to sample your choice of its best eats. Matt and Gary will join you at one of the stops along the way, with dishes including rice noodles with intestines, chicken heart, burdock with fish paste, braised pork rice and eggs and luo bo gao (turnip cakes). Scallion pancakes, soybean pudding, oyster omelette and other moreish bites await.

As part of your Taipei Street Eats Tour, you’ll also have the chance to visit a shining example of Taipei’s extraordinary boba (bubble) tea scene. It’s here in the 1980s that the drink was invented, before spreading to California and the rest of the world. “This is how locals like their bubble tea,” Matt says. “They like it classic. The tea’s good, the bubbles are soft and small and there’s no mucking around – just a great cup of tea.”

Continue exploring the surrounding Ximending area, the largest pedestrian zone in Taiwan, before checking in at your hotel after 3pm.

Signature Accommodation: Mandarin Oriental, Taipei

Despite opening in 2014, this iconic five-star hotel is steeped in 1930s Art Deco opulence, with further inspiration taken from the grandest French chateaus of old. Mandarin Oriental’s trademark spin on approachable luxury is here in spades, and facilities include Michelin-starred house of fine Cantonese cuisine Ya Ge, sophisticated den of timeless mixology M.O. Bar, a tea lounge, cake shop and one of the city’s best day spas.

Signature Experience: Dinner at Raohe Street Night Market and Beer Street

Even in a city as legendary for its night markets as Taipei (and there are dozens), one name reigns supreme: Raohe Street Night Market. This is your chance to hit up some of the city’s more extraordinary curbside dishes, from cold onion salad, stir-fried clams and shrimp balls with mayonnaise to – if you dare – more esoteric delights like spicy mala duck blood and stinky tofu. Don’t miss a chance to try the market’s famous black pepper bun: one of Raohe Night Market’s signature dishes, it’s received a Michelin Bib recommendation because of its taste.

Tour Scheduling:

On Day 5, guests will be transferred in groups of 18, with activities organised in two sub-groups of 9. Lunch on Day 5 at Dalai will be enjoyed by the entire group.

Travel time: Flight – approx. two hours / Driving – approx. 40 minutes

After breakfast, get ready for another day of exploration in Taipei. Feeling like a more leisurely pace today? No problem – while the below experiences are included, feel free to dip in and out as you please.

Signature Highlight: Dadaocheng Cisheng Temple Walking Foodie Tour

Leafy Cisheng Temple in Dadaocheng offers a uniquely laidback taste of Taiwan, with more than twenty food stalls shaded by the temple’s grand banyan trees. Frequented primarily by local worshippers – Cisheng is dedicated to goddess Mazu, guardian to sailors – it’s a wonderful place to acquaint yourself with the wider oeuvre of Taiwanese classics. You’ll have the chance to sample your way through your choice of the region’s best delicacies, including pork congee, crispy pork belly cooked in red yeast rice, pig livers and poached squid slathered in soy sauce. Matt and Gary will be at this location, eager to take the opportunity to try the food with you.

Continue with a visit to WANGTEA Refinery Tea Factory for a calming tasting experience – complete with an authentic tea ceremony – and an authentic glimpse into one of Taiwan’s most beloved industries.

Enjoy lunch at the Michelin-listed Halal Chinese Beef Noodles (Da’an), renowned for only using the best Taiwanese beef. Fresh, chewy noodles are topped with all-day beef stock, thick cuts of braised beef and handfuls of fresh herbs – a symphony of flavour and texture in a bowl.

Finish the day with a gondola ride from bustling Taipei to the heights of Maokong Mountain, once the largest tea-growing area in Taipei and still known for its concentration of traditional teahouses and plantations. It also offers some of the best views of the city, so sit back and soak it in.

Signature Highlight: Farewell drinks at M.O. Bar

Finish the afternoon’s explorations with an hour of pre-dinner sundowner drinks at Mandarin Oriental, Taipei’s M.O. Bar. Magnificently designed around a central island bar, the venue offers the perfect place to say goodbye to Matt, Gary and your fellow travellers, with expertly crafted cocktails, fine wines and a wide selection of international and Taiwanese whiskies (additional charges may apply).

Signature Experience: Dinner at MUME

Named for the Latin word for the plum blossom endemic to Taiwan, MUME champions under-the-radar local ingredients and modern Nordic cooking techniques. This high-wire culinary balancing act means that every plate, garnished lusciously with herbs and flowers, is equal parts beautiful and achingly delicious. Named one of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants for 2024, this is a dinner to write home about.

Tour Scheduling:

On Day 6, guests will be transferred in groups of 18, with activities organised in two sub-groups of 9. For a more intimate and exclusive experience, dining times at MUME will be staggered throughout the evening for each guest.

Bid farewell to your fellow travellers as your once-in-a-lifetime Hong Kong and Taiwan culinary journey comes to an end. After breakfast, you’ll be transferred to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) for your flight home.

Departure & Transfers:

Checkout on your final day is at 12pm. Your included flight departs from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE). Your transfer will meet you at your hotel and take you to the airport.