How to have a Michelin-star dinner for £10

You go to Hong Kong. Yes, really.

As I have argued again and again, good food, glorious food does not have to be expensive (if you don't believe me, I can take you to meet my grandmother), however, there is a certain Asian chef who put his money where his mouth is.

Reading about this in today's Times, I was beyond thrilled (and then sad of course because it is a teeny tiny bit difficult for me to go to Hong Kong), to find out about Mr. Mak Pui Gor who owns a Michelin-star canteen (!) in Hong Kong, and that dinner there will cost you a mere 10 pounds. Mr Blumenthal (as in Heston Blumenthal, as in 3-Michelin-star, second-best-restaurant-in-the-world- 2009- Fat- Duck Heston Blumenthal) also graced the canteen with his presence and reportedly also gasped at the £10 bill, despite his order of a dozen or so dishes (he's a connoiseur, he had to try everything, what did you expect?!).


Nevertheless, despite the housing rents being sky-high in the region, Mr. Mak refuses to increase Tim Ho Wan's (that's the canteen) prices because he 'loves the fact that my food is not really beyond anybody’s means'. We do too. We also love the simple, authentic comfort food he focuses on, insisting that people go there for the food, and not for the fancy decoration or service, so there's no point in increasing the food prices to pay for this. However, Mr. Mak did expand and now there two more canteens such as this one, one in the Sham Shui Po district of Kowloon and one on Hong Kong Island in the gigantic IFC shopping mall.

When he expands to the UK as well, expect a post.