Favourite Hong Kong restaurants of David Lai, culinary director, Fish School, and chef/owner of Neighborhood

The one place I eat at more often than any other is Mak’s Noodle (77 Wellington Street, Central, tel: 2854 3810), which is near my restaurant, Neighborhood.

I order the same thing: beef tendon noodle with soup served on the side, gai lan and a bowl of wonton. I consider this a perfect meal – simple, light, and well done. It is expensive compared to other noodle shops but their soup is clean and complex, unlike the MSG shortcuts you’d find at other cheap places in town. You don’t need to be fancy to do something properly.

 Hong Kong was once a late-night dining paradise but, for a number of reasons, late-night dining options have largely dried up. Therefore I was thrilled to find a Japanese gem called Hidden (room D, 3/F Prosperous Commercial Building, 54 Jardine’s Bazaar, Causeway Bay, tel: 2504 1511)  earlier this year, where chef Suzuki prepares kushiage (fried skewers) and other izakaya fare. It is open until 4am. Apparently it’s also an industry hangout and on any given night after 11pm you may find a few chefs eating at the counter.

 For special occasions there is Amber (7/F Landmark Mandarin Oriental, 15 Queen’s Road Central, tel: 2132 0066). Few restaurants in town devote such consistent effort to improve and execute fine dining so dynamically. I nearly worked for chef Ekkebus at Amber 10 years ago and now he’s a good friend. Besides the normal menu, he also prepares updated versions of labour-intensive classics such as lievre à la royale  (wild hare in blood sauce) or poulet en vessie  (chicken poached in pig’s bladder with truffle).