HKTDC Food Expo

This is my first year at Food Expo; every year HKTC hosts Food Expo for a couple days in Mid-​August. This year it is from Aug 13 – 17 10am-​10pm (except last day, closes at 6pm) and I went on a Saturday around 1:30pm. I didn’t get advance tickets which are supposed to be free. I had to head to the ticket counter, luckily the line was short, and paid $ 40 via octopus for the exhibition including Gourmet Food and the Home Delights expo. I think it’s kind of worth it but it’s so big and so much to see anyway.
If you’re going into Food Expo expecting to get great deals and consume gourmet food, you’re gonna have a bad day. With that said, the food isn’t bad per se, but remember, they’re stalls so they’re kind of overpriced stall foods. Granted some food are «cheap» but none have really been restaurant quality. I came in expecting lunch and I did get full, but I also spent a lot of money, upwards of $ 300 for mediocre food. It’s definitely not worth it, however, you’re really there for the experience. It’s really huge so once you see something, you’re not gonna want to mentally bookmark it and go back.
There was a vast variety, although you will find stalls similar to Wine and Dine Festival. There were a lot of Wine stalls offering tastings too. I saw Northern Chinese lamb kebabs, $ 30 grilled scallops (in 3s) $ 30 imitation abalone slice with jellyfish, $ 40 for 3 – 4 pieces of iberico char siu, $ 80 for iberico porkchop, $ 130 for ribeye, $ 90 for roast steak, $ 45 for Spanish yogurt, lots of different types of ice cream (Nice Pop, Lab Made, Italian Gelato, etc) $ 90 for 2 Japanese peaches, $ 100 for 5×10 packs of floral tea, GNC 50% off, Nature Bounty buy 4 get 1/​buy 8 get 3 off. Lots of Korean seaweed -$ 20 for pack, lots and lots of abalone, even saw one at $ 48k. Fish maw ranging upwards of $ 1200, $ 350 for Hokkaido King crab legs. $ 50 for truffle oil scrambled egg topped with black truffles, $ 100 for a5 wagyu? Farmer’s Market, lots of different types of honey, etc, you can try many types of drinks like tea, juices, shakes, powder shakes, lots of different types of steaks and meats, cheese, etc. There were even fishballs, at $ 20 for a stick. There was also a huge JAX Coco stall where I bought some coconut oil (not really a great deal but I got suckered in-​$ 170 for 400ml)
My personal favourites:
(Gourmet Food Section)
$ 100 48 month jamon 20g, (you can get a whole leg for $ 10k+!)
$ 80 for 48 month jamon, (can you tell I love jamon)
$ 20 for a bite of molecular gastronomy food — foie gras with orange mousse and jamon with nitrogenised melon jelly
$ 10 Abalone
Unfortunately, it got really crowded by 3pm and it was basically human traffic jam at 4pm. I couldn’t stand it anymore so I left around 4:30 to the Home Delights Expo right next door. Luckily I went through most of the food Expo in Hall 3 and all of Gourmet Food Expo. However, I completely skipped Hall 1 of Food Expo, I was too tired by the end of it. I personally enjoyed the gourmet Food exhibit more, so I would definitely think it’s worth it to go in as well (separate ticket)
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Tips: BRING CASH! Most places are cash only. Free advance tickets, go EARLY. Or on a weekday. Don’t go hungry if you don’t want to burn money on. Wear comfy shoes, bring bags. I hear they do a lot of sales on the last day or towards the end. $ 10 entry after 6pm
Favourites: Lots to see, lots of variety. Cheap entry.
Meh: packed after 3:30pm. Most food were overpriced and nothing really stood out.
Last words: Great way to spend your Saturday or Sunday and escape the heat.