Kwan Kee Claypot Rice

How can no one talks about their eal?
This place is island side’s shout out to temple street’s claypot scene. Two locations. Queues are common in winter season. All normal dishes to serve all sort of craving: sea salt and pepper fried prawns, sweet and sour pork, minced pork in soy sauce with eggplant etc.
But dang dang dang, we are all here for the claypot, or hotpot. Don’t underestimate their hotpot. We finished everything when we get the big bowl!
Yes, clay pot. You can hardly fail. Preserved duck with sausage is our last shot and was a no go. But all the rest are safe and delight for paleo. Eal eal eal. Melt right away for your first bite. Tender, fresh, pondering (?!). And true you can swallow all the overcooked rice attach to the bowl. Like eating some crunch. Be generous for your soy sauce pouring/​dipping. Try this first man.
Did I say you need reservation to be considered for a table?!

Oh my gosh, this place was amazing. It was «closing» when I went at 8:30 pm on one day, but the next day I arrived at 7pm, waiting to eat. It wasn’t bad, just a few other people in the place. There was a beef dish and a chicken dish, and as an American, while I like the chicken, it’s difficult to eat because of how they carve it. Lots of little bones and lots of cartilage — call me spoiled, but boneless chicken breasts without shards of bone are what I’m used to.
Otherwise, the flavor was fantastic, and it was by far one of the better places I ate in Hong Kong. There was a tiny bit of a language barrier, but you can get by with pointing and speaking clearly. Definitely a good place to go, and worth the wait.

This hole in the wall restaurant is THE place for the most authentic and delicious claypot rice in HK. Kwan Kee has been around for years and is one of the most popular restos in old town Sai Wan.
I always order the preserved sausages claypot rice (腊味煲仔饭) — steamy, flavourful, fermented meat on a bed of fragrant and perfectly crunchy toasted rice. The other options such as chicken with preserved sausages or pork short ribs with black bean sauce are also very rave-​worthy.
The only caveat is that you must either make a reservation or you have to come before 6pm during dinner service. If not, you will likely be out of luck because they only served a limited number of claypot rice every day in a very small and busy restaurant. With the MTR line now open up to Sai Wan, it makes visiting this area much more accessible which I think is an unique trip in itself if you are interested in seeing a more historical and cultural side of HK. There are tons of traditional shops selling all kinds of dried seafood and Chinese herbal goods.
I highly recommend checking this place out for those willing to venture further into a part of town that is a little run down but full of character.

My favorite place to go every time when I go back to HK. Their clay pot rice and clay pot dish are the best. Can’t wait to eat this place again.

This is quite a popular spot for claypot rice as it gets listed on places like CNN Travel.
Food: I’ve been here several times and have had the opportunity to try several dishes here. Lamb stew, pork bone stew, chicken marinated in wine, claypot rice. All very good. Lamb stew and pork bone stew come on the temporary stoves, so be careful if you are with kids. The pork bone one comes in a peppery broth that is quite yummy. Their claypot rices do have the crispy rice at the bottom, which makes for successful claypotting!
Seating: The seats are on plastic stools and they are mostly indoors with 2 – 3 tables that are outdoors.
Reservation: Try to call and make a reservation, especially if you are going at a peak time. Be aware that once you arrive you may need to wait a little as well as the table you are waiting for finishes up.
Return? Of course. Better if we have planned in advance and have made reservations or come late at night. (They seemed to be cleaning up at 11:30 and people who came in around 11:00pm couldn’t order claypot rice anymore.)

My dad and I agree that Kwan Kee makes the best claypot rice we’ve ever had anywhere. One of my uncles who lives in Kowloon didn’t try this place until a few years ago when I ate here with him, and he said it was better than anything he had in Kowloon too.
Call this place in the morning if you want to eat here, so that you can make a reservation for that night and not have to wait in line. I’m actually not completely sure of how this place works; every time I’ve eaten here, we had to call ahead in order to get a table for that night (and we did that because one time the woman working here told us very angrily we wouldn’t get a table without a reservation), but I always see people lined up outside waiting for a table anyway. It may be that they wait until all the people who reserved are done, and then take the remaining tables until the restaurant closes.
This place is super old school with its décor, cooking style, and attitude. You sit on little wooden stools around tiny tables in a packed little room. You can be seated outside too if you want to (or I guess sometimes you’ll have to), which may be okay since the claypot will keep you warm anyway.
The claypot here is far superior to anything I’ve ever had in the US, and better than other claypot places I’ve tried in Hong Kong. Every time I’ve been here, they get the crispy part along the bottom of the bowl just perfect. The Chinese sausages here are really great too and you can really taste the difference in the rice when you add them. The other plate that we always get is the chicken (貴妃雞). Aside from the claypot, this chicken is probably the most popular dish here.
There’s also at least one branch location in Sai Wan, so if you really want to try this place but can’t wait that long, you can try the branch. It also fills up, but I think the wait at the branch is more reasonable.