Chef Lai Wai-hung, seen through a window, picks up a duck's tongue as he works in the kitchen of the Michelin star-awarded Hung's Delicacies restaurant in North Point yesterday. Michelin has added a cheap restaurant category to its new Hong Kong and Macao guide unveiled yesterday. AFP

HONG KONG: The new Michelin Guide Hong Kong Macau 2010 came out yesterday, with its second edition more heavily focused on inexpensive local restaurants - or as the guide director said it, the most inexpensive "starred restaurants in the world".

The guide went on sale in Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast Asia, featuring 29 simple shops selected from 245 Hong Kong establishments. That's 18 more than were featured in last year's guide.

"Guide readers can choose a starred restaurant in a very luxurious place or go to a starred restaurant in a very simple place," Director of the Michelin Guide Jean-Luc Naret said. "For example, some of the starred restaurants are simple shops serving local food, making them the most affordable starred restaurants in the world. Diners can enjoy gourmet meals for as little as HK$50 per person."

To designate the simple and local food stalls, a simple shop pictogram is produced. Among the 29 simple shops, three are given one star, Hung's Delicacies, Loaf On and Tim Ho Wan.

"The Guide is not only used by tourists but also the locals, thus our Guides usually have a localized version," said Naret. More exciting establishments are found in areas like San Po Kong, Sham Shui Po, Sham Tseng, Sha Tin and Yuen Long, showing that this year's Guide is sticking more to the native cuisine as it expands to cover more local eateries.

Naret said this year guide is more diverse and appealing with an enhanced selected list of restaurants.

"We'll improve year after year," he said, "Last time was the first year we made the Guide and maybe we had not matured enough."

"This year's Guide includes meals costing less than HK$100, showing that they are about to accommodate the local food culture," said food expert and restaurant owner Lau Kin Wai, "it takes time for them to understand the local standard."

Another improvement may be in the team of inspectors who visited the restaurants. People who live in Hong Kong were contracted to act as inspectors, in contrast to last year's Guide, whose inspectors came from other regions. The principal reviewers this year came from Hong Kong, who worked with experts from other regions. Among the four, two are Chinese and one is French.

Consistency is one of the principal considerations for guide inspectors. The inspectors' reviews of the restaurants were based on the quality of the food served. They wrote about their visit including their personal experiences and subjective assessments. Selected restaurants were visited multiple times by different inspectors over the year to ensure the quality of food at the restaurant was consistent. Stars were awarded to individual restaurants based on a team consensus.

This edition is thicker with 478 pages, 62 pages more than the previous Guide. There are 245 establishments included from Hong Kong. That includes 205 restaurants and 40 hotels. There are 53 establishments with 38 restaurants and 15 hotels from Macao. Seventy-eight new restaurants and seven new hotels from Hong Kong are included, while eight new restaurants and one new hotel from Macao are selected.

(HK Edition 11/27/2009 page1)