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Aqua’s panoramic vista from the top of a Kowloon skyscraper is integral to its glass interior design, and a carefully calibrated lighting system ensures that attention is directed through the glass panels to the outside. By way of a bonus, it benefits from regular pyrotechnic displays over the harbour. There are two menus: Japanese (Aqua Tokyo) and Italian (Aqua Roma).
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Chiu Chow cuisine is a sub-division of the Cantonese school from the coast around Shandong. It is very popular in Hong Kong but hard to find outside southern China. This is a great place to sample some of the regional specialities, such as cold crab, e-fu noodles or chicken in chin jiu sauce. Wash it down with the concentrated caffeine of Iron Buddha tea, a brew that makes espresso seem mild.
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This has long been a raucously noisy Cantonese institution, serving good dim sum from old-fashioned trolleys wheeled around by uniformed staff. City Hall is Hong Kong Island’s civic centre, and the restaurant is a vast, well-lit space with views across the harbour. Much loved by tourist parties and local family groups alike, but not for the individual diner.
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Di Vino is as it sounds: a smooth and savvy wine bar and restaurant. It always has an interesting menu and serves free tapas-style appetisers. A popular social hot spot, with trendy clientele sipping Italian wines and well-mixed cocktails. During summer, seek out the balcony at the rear. A good place to meet people.
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Dynasty’s palatial dining hall, with its tasteful decor and selected antiques, forms the nightly backdrop for a recital of classical Chinese music played on the traditional erhu and pipa. But don’t let that detract from the food. The chef is a highly regarded barbecue expert, but the kitchen excels in all areas. Look for seasonal delicacies, particularly the snake soup in winter.
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Celebrity-owner Yeung Koon Yat is the king of bao yu (preserved abalone from northern Honshu in Japan), the undisputed master of their lengthy and complicated preparation. Local food lovers will pay huge sums for a taste. The bao yu are bank-breakingly expensive, but other Cantonese dishes are, in contrast, surprisingly reasonable. The opulent kitsch decor features photos of Yeung pressing palms with an endless procession of dignitaries, celebrities and politicians.
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The historic Peninsula Hotel’s French haute cuisine legend is a high-society magnet, serving flawless food in splendid surroundings. One of the few restaurants where a jacket and tie are required at dinner. The standard of the food is Michelin-star level and the service would give any restaurant in the world a run for its money. Die-hard food lovers should book the ‘chef’s table’, offering a rare opportunity to observe the workings of an outstanding kitchen.
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Brash and moneyed, Harlan’s aims to attract Hong Kong’s hoi polloi—and succeeds. The dining room is regularly packed with rich, famous and infamous faces. The harbour-front location in Hong Kong Island’s newest and most upmarket mall falls right with the A-list business crowd. The menu features fine ingredients prepared with panache. Scarily expensive, but bound to impress as larger-than-life chef Harlan Goldstein does his rounds.
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Hoi King Heen offers endlessly creative fine dining for those in the know. Chef Leung is justly famous for his ability to incorporate novel ingredients into his classic Cantonese repertoire. Take note of the chef’s recommendations as the dishes represent his naturalistic approach. The menu changes on a seasonal basis but never fails to delight.
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This is serious Sino-chic, featuring an intoxicating mix of the antique and upto- date. The menu offers classic northern Chinese cuisine with a contemporary twist. Hutong represents the shape of Chinese restaurants to come and is frequently booked solid, so book well in advance.
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This outstanding Chinese vegetarian restaurant features a menu of meat and fish substitutes like ‘roast goose’ (actually braised rolled bean curd skin) and ‘crispy deep-fried eel’ (fashioned from preserved shiitake mushrooms) and ‘taro fish’ (moulded to shape and garnished with a pea for the eye). The dining room has views over Victoria Park, service is knowledgeable and efficient and the place is scrupulously clean. A very healthy option for dinner parties of one to 12.
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This long-established French restaurant has the feel of a subterranean wine cellar. The traditional Gallic menu eschews modern notions of lightness and offers rich, tasty and satisfying food. A bold wine list reveals regional French vintages rarely found in Asia. Service can be slow, but staff are friendly and helpful.
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This traditional Cantonese tea house in the heart of Central is legendary for two underworld assassinations and a badmannered and dismissive staff. Chauffeurs tend the lined-up Mercs outside while tycoons and criminal kingpins in dark glasses talk over their yum cha. Tourists take second place, but the food can be excellent. Service is markedly improved when the dining room isn’t busy. Established in 1933.
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A perennial favourite with a unique ambience that was much loved by ‘Fat Pang’, as former British governor Chris Patten was known locally. The current clientele is a mixture of romantics and businessmen who enjoy its quiet intimacy. Check out the Michelangelo-inspired artwork and cello-backed dining chairs that lend an air of peeling decadence. The satisfying modern Australian menu overflows with French, Asian and Middle Eastern influences. The waiting staff are well disciplined yet relaxed and communicative. Don’t miss the suckling pig.
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Despite its designer-label boutiques and towering structures, this part of Central can seem lacking in the evenings. Mezz (on the mezzanine floor) is packed with office workers and managers at lunchtime, but offers a relaxed environment in the evenings. The fresh, light, modern Australian-inspired food is created for fast-moving executives, delivering generously on flavour but holding back on the calories. Friendly young staff in trendy uniforms deliver anything from lemon risotto with Parmesan to lobster linguine.
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This seafood emporium offers wide-angle views across the harbour and serves an ever-changing collection of jet-fresh oysters. An international menu of fish and seafood favourites makes an attractive alternative. The wine list is well chosen to accompany the marine menu and the welltrained staff know their Kuamamotos from their Sydney Rocks.
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This historic stand-alone building in its own grounds on Victoria Peak is like an alpine hunting lodge transported to the tropics. It can seem incongruous, but the bustling atmosphere and high demand for seats both inside and out sets it apart. The landscaped garden offers great views over the south side of Hong Kong Island and makes for an unusual alfresco dining room. Lively and colourful, with a very international menu featuring a mixture of ingredients and cooking techniques from around the world, it’s a good venue for Sunday brunch. Book ahead.
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This Far East franchise of the famous London chain serves well-prepared pizza and pasta from a straightforward menu. Situated next to the Mid-levels escalator, the glass-walled building has a goldfishbowl effect. The pizza is among the best available in Hong Kong and the regular menu is supplemented by monthly specials. Simple, tasty and much loved by parents of small children.
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A Hong Kong branch of the legendary Peking duck restaurant in Beijing. The main event is, of course, the crispyskinned Peking duck, served with pancakes, shredded scallions and hoi sin sauce. The expansive dining room is patrolled by highly organised and efficient staff well versed in handling foreigners. After donning a pair of white gloves, they carve the birds theatrically at the table. Leggy waitresses in cheongsams split to the thigh greet diners as they arrive by lift.
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A visit to this ornate hotel restaurant takes in fish ponds stocked with golden carp, an arched wooden bridge and tiled canopies. The kitchen serves top dim sum and oceanfresh seafood prepared in a bewildering variety of methods. The classical interior, with its many private rooms, is very popular for wedding parties—a great opportunity to soak up local culture.
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Spoon is nine-Michelin-star man Alain Ducasse’s Far East outpost, located smack on the waterfront. French quality—and prices—with a contemporary menu of all things good. Diners can get creative by choosing ingredients from the menu from which the chef will conjure some magic. There’s also a top-grade wine list and peerless attention to detail in the service.
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Sublime Italian dining in one of the most elegant hotel restaurants in town. Gifted chef Umberto Bombana established the kitchen over 10 years ago and has delighted diners ever since with a breathtaking and refined interpretation of his national cuisine. The regular clientele include tycoons and government ministers. Very far from cheap, but a great investment for lovers of gastronomy. When in season, the white and black truffles are not to be missed. Call ahead for reservations.
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Seafood comes from heaven in the eyes of Hong Kong locals, and on special occasions no substitute will do. Victoria City, which has several branches around the city, is recognised as one of the best places to prepare it. It also does some of the best dim sum and is well worth the trip. The highlight is steamed garouper— first select the fish from the tank and then wait while it’s dispatched, gutted and steamed. Steamed crab is another speciality. The open, bright room can get very noisy at lunchtime, but it’s often half deserted in the evenings.
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Water Margin is an attempt to update the traditional Chinese restaurant concept for the 21st century. An airy, wispy and delicate minimalist temple to nouvelle chinois, it draws crowds of ambitious ABC (American-born Chinese), CBC (Canadian-born Chinese) and BBC (British-born Chinese) diners who enjoy the sophisticated ambience and ambitious menu. It’s well worth a visit as it is a design showcase that gives an insight into Chinese aesthetics of the future. Trendy and expensive, with a range of unusually creative dishes.
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Visiting the Yung Kee is like taking a trip through a ’70s time warp to the set of a kung fu classic. Local restaurant critics like to pan it, but it’s full to overflowing every night. A true Hong Kong landmark, with a rags-to-riches history spanning almost 70 years, it is justly famous for its roast goose, dim sum and the obligatory 1,000- year-old eggs—a very difficult-to-acquire taste. For a truly authentic experience, aim for the fourth floor with its spiky model dragon, complete with flashing electronic eyes. Obligatory for tourists, but packed with locals too. Not recommended for the individual diner.
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