Favourite restaurants of Manuel Palacio Ramos, co-owner of Pirata and The Optimist
Sushi in Wan Chai, Korean fried cauliflower in Sheung Wan and a taste of Manhattan in Admiralty are some of Manuel Palacio Ramos’ favourite eats in Hong Kong
Being a restaurateur and working 16- to 18-hour days, I don’t get to eat out as often as I’d like. The few times I manage to sit down during the day is when I have a food tasting with our chefs or when I pick up a little food between service, like a ham platter. Ham is my obsession: Parma, Iberico, recebo, you name it, I can’t stop eating it.
During the week, chances are I’ll finish late and head to the 7-Eleven for noodles, but when I’m not too tired I’ll grab some sushi at Okonomi (15 Canal Road West, Wan Chai, tel: 2833 2876). It’s fast, fresh and open until 2am. I head home with a good bottle of Amarone and we call it a night.
When it comes to my favourite and the most reliable restaurants in Hong Kong, I’m not very original as I always go where I know I am going to enjoy myself: Yardbird (33-35 Bridges Street, Sheung Wan, tel: 2547 9273) because it’s casual and I love the music, the service and their Korean fried cauliflower, also known as KFC.
At Ho Lee Fook (1 Elgin Street, SoHo, tel: 2810 0860) I can’t get enough of the dumplings while Carbone (9/F Lan Kwai Fong Tower, 33 Wyndham Street, Lan Kwai Fong, tel: 2593 2593) has replicated the atmosphere of the original New York restaurant (their T-bone is damn good).
When I want to treat myself I head to Amber (The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, 15 Queen’s Road Central, tel: 2132 0066). I really enjoy their selection of dishes and their incredible selection of wine. A visit here makes you feel like having a good bottle of wine, the room is impeccable and they have my favourite glassware in Hong Kong. I love to drink out of good glassware.