Islam Food - Tak Ku Ling Road Outlet

A true legend of Hong Kong's halal dining scene, Islam Food (清真牛肉館) has been a cornerstone of Kowloon City since the 1950s — its roots stretching back even further to the founder Mr. Ma's restaurant ventures in Mainland China in the 1920s and his first bun-themed establishment in Hung Hom. Today, the restaurant operates two outlets within the Kowloon City neighbourhood, both of which have won the hearts of locals and visitors alike, Muslim and non-Muslim, with a queue almost always snaking out the door during peak hours.

What Islam Food does is rare and remarkable — it serves an entirely halal menu rooted in Chinese culinary tradition, drawing on Xinjiang and Northwestern Chinese cooking techniques to produce dishes that are bold, deeply flavoured, and utterly satisfying. The result is a dining experience that feels simultaneously Chinese and distinctly Islamic, with beef and lamb at the heart of nearly everything.

The undisputed star of the menu is the pan-fried beef bun (牛肉煎包) — a masterpiece of a dish in which a meaty, ultra-juicy beef patty is encased in a thin dough and pan-fried to golden perfection. The moment you bite into it, the broth inside erupts with flavour. It has earned the restaurant multiple awards over the decades and is reason enough on its own to make the journey to Kowloon City. Equally celebrated are the lamb dumplings and the beef xiaolongbao — a halal reworking of Shanghai's beloved soup dumpling, with pork replaced by beef or lamb, achieving a result that comes remarkably close to the original in texture and satisfaction. Other must-orders include the Sesame Sauce Chicken, Cumin Fennel Lamb, Lamb Curry, Beef Brisket Curry, Stir-Fried Beef with Leek, Chinese Cold Cut Platter, and Dried Scallop Egg Fried Rice — a sprawling menu that makes sharing among a group the most rewarding way to eat here.

Recommended by food critics, television programmes, and generations of loyal diners, Islam Food is rightly considered one of Hong Kong's great culinary institutions — a must-visit on any trip to the city.