Kowloon Tong Food Inside Festival Walk Mall and Around Baptist University Road

You Need Both the Mall and the Streets to Eat in Kowloon Tong

Festival Walk has 30 restaurants across its LG2 to L2 levels, but if you only eat there you will miss the real daily food of the district. The streets around Baptist University and City University hold canteens, cha chaan tengs and noodle shops where a full meal costs HKD 30 to 50. For most residents, the mall is an occasional dinner out. The university area is the actual weekday lunch.

Kowloon Tong has fewer places to eat per square kilometre than nearly any other residential district in Hong Kong. The scarcity is by design: three universities sit here, so the food supply splits between student priced canteens and mid market mall chains. There is no third option. Plan around that binary.

Festival Walk: the Mall That Takes 80 Percent of Your Choices

Where To Eat Inside The Mall

Festival Walk opens daily 07:00 to 23:00. Its anchor tenants are Simplylife (bakery and cafe), PizzaExpress, Greyhound Café (Thai inspired) and IKEA Café. A meal for one at these spots runs HKD 80 to 200. The food court on LG2 has fast food chains at the lower end of that band. Arrive by 12:00 if you want a table at Simplylife or Greyhound on a Saturday. Both fill by 12:30 and the wait hits 30 minutes.

What Happens After 22:00

Festival Walk closes at 23:00 every day, but the last order at most restaurants is 22:00 or 22:15. Arrive at 22:30 and your only option inside the mall is the convenience store on LG2. That is a failure case you can avoid. Go to Kowloon City instead, 10 to 15 minutes on foot or one MTR stop to Lok Fu. Kowloon City keeps hundreds of restaurants in one square kilometre and many serve until 02:00 to 04:00.

University Canteens: Open to Anyone at Half the Price

Canteens You Can Walk Into

City University has canteens on Tat Chee Avenue. Hong Kong Baptist University has canteens on Renfrew Road. Both are open to the public. No student ID required. A meal at either costs HKD 30 to 50, about 40 percent of the Festival Walk average. The food is simple: rice plates, noodle soups, stir fries and cold drinks. Linoleum floor, fluorescent light, tray return. That is not a problem. That is the point.

Street Level And After Dark

The street level options around these universities are cha chaan tengs and noodle shops at the same price band. They close earlier than the canteens, usually 21:00. The canteens are the better bet for a dinner after 19:00. For a weekday breakfast, cook at home or grab a bun from the 7 Eleven on Renfrew Road. Most full time residents cook dinner at home. The prevalence of home cooking in Kowloon Tong is high because the street level options are thin after dark and the mall closes at 23:00.

Grocery Backup and the Wet Market Alternative

Supermarkets Versus The Wet Market

Taste supermarket on LG1 of Festival Walk covers daily groceries. ParknShop at Lok Fu Place, one MTR stop away, is larger and cheaper. For fresh meat and produce, the Kowloon City Wet Market is a 15 minute walk or one stop on the MTR to Lok Fu. If you are cooking at home, the wet market is worth the walk. The quality at Taste is good but the price is above the wet market.

Delivery Covers The Gaps

Food delivery platforms Foodpanda, Deliveroo and KeeTa cover the whole district. You can order from Festival Walk restaurants and Kowloon City options. Delivery time from Kowloon City is 20 to 30 minutes. From Festival Walk it is 10 to 15 minutes. Late night delivery after 23:00 comes from Kowloon City only.

The Single Thing That Most Often Goes Wrong

The mistake is walking to Festival Walk at 22:30 expecting dinner, finding the restaurants closed, and not knowing that Kowloon City is 10 minutes away. Remember: the mall locks down its kitchens by 22:00. If you want a meal after that, head for Lok Fu or Mong Kok before you start looking. The university canteens close even earlier, around 20:00 for dinner service. Plan your eating window or end up at a 7 Eleven.