Favourite Hong Kong restaurants of Greg Pearce, architect and designer
Pearce likes two sorts of restaurant - those with strong interior design and ones that are the opposite - undesigned - and comfortable.
As an architect and interior designer, I like two distinct types of restaurant interior: those that try very hard and get it right, and undesigned, unpretentious, comfortable places that just sort of happen.
(7/F Block B, PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street, tel: 2156 0888) falls into the first category. Designed by Joyce Wang, its intimate scale, masterfully balanced materiality, flattering lighting and sense of seclusion is admirable. Only a handful of tables overlook the raucous bar below, lending a sense of privilege to the room. Yet there is sufficient table diversity to accommodate either a quiet tête-à-tête or a larger groups of friends.
It's hard to find in Hong Kong places in my second category. The high rent and trend culture result in a scarcity of unselfconscious and sparsely decorated restaurants. My example is (9 Praia de Hac Sa, Coloane, Macau, tel: +853 2888 2531). The tourist haunt is a great place to kick back and indulge in localised Portuguese dishes, set among scruffy gardens, with stray dogs and an assemblage of vernacular sheds haphazardly linked by galleries of schmaltzy memorabilia. It feels like someone's somewhat dilapidated family home. Fernando's epitomises that modernist manifesto: "Form follows function".
For authentic Hong Kong food, (Chinaweal Centre, 414-424 Jaffe Road, Wan Chai, tel: 2834 6268) is a landmark with an almost manic energy and festive buzz. They have three locations near each other but I like the one that truly is "under the bridge" — the Canal Street flyover. My must-have dish is grilled razor clams with heaps of garlic.
(Wo Yick Mansion, 263 Queen's Road West, Western district, tel: 2803 7209) is a tiny dai pai dong that is always packed. Piping-hot claypot rice is the house speciality. This is a wintry favourite. Grab an outdoor table if you can, but indoors is good fun, too.
The chefs at (shop 7, Queen Street Cooked Food Market, 38 Des Voeux Road West, Sheung Wan, tel: 9278 8227) formerly worked at the much-missed M at the Fringe. This surprisingly civilised culinary experience is an unexpected and charming counterpoint to its rudimentary surroundings. Two special dishes come to mind: roast suckling pig and pan-fried foie gras.
I enjoy off-the-beaten-path bars with a hip but easy-going vibe. (shop 1, L/F, Welley Building, 97 Wellington Street, tel: 2810 6969) is a speakeasy that is remarkably difficult to find — as it should be, Ring the bell on an unmarked black door behind some wet-market stalls and stacks of rubbish. If your name's on the list, you'll be ushered to its darkened stairway. Their skilful bartenders are true mixologists. (Pak Tsz Lane, Central, tel: 2815 8887) is a tiny, friendly bar also in the wet-market area, down another narrow alley. Be prepared to share a table with its eclectic patrons.
