Tapas, sushi, pizza: Hong Kong restaurant picks of a busy executive and charity worker
- Jacqueline Chow tells us where she takes visitors for dim sum, and where she goes for guilty pleasures – Hong Kong milk tea and cocktail buns
- She admits some of her recommendations are in fact her daughters’ favourite places
Businesswoman Jacqueline Chow is an executive with marketing consultancy the Icicle Group and an active supporter of schools and charities including the Social Alpha Foundation, SAHK (formerly Spastics Association of Hong Kong), Ebenezer School for the Visually Impaired and Ebenezer New Hope School, and the YWCA preschool education department.
I am happy to try new dishes and cuisines, even though I am relatively health conscious and prefer vegetables and seafood instead of meats.
Where a property player dines with guests to sell them on Hong Kong
Ammo (Lower level, Asia Society, 9 Justice Drive, Admiralty, tel: 2537 9888) is one of my favourite restaurants. I love the high ceilings, setting and interior design. The current chef, Douglas Forrest, has created a menu that offers a great selection of tapas dishes including desserts.
It’s in the Hong Kong Asia Society, where I usually take a walk around and look at their art exhibitions before or after the meal.
For visitors new to Hong Kong, dim sum lunch is a must. My family and I love Seventh Son (3/F, The Wharney Guang Dong Hotel, 57-73 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, tel: 2892 2888). It’s always top quality and standard.
For more of a celebration, Gaddi’s (1/F The Peninsula, 22 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, tel: 2696 6763) is worth the price along with its service.
Almost every Sunday, my whole family enjoys a casual lunch at the [members-only] Hong Kong Country Club’s Garden Room (188 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Deep Water Bay) where there is an outdoor seating area with a big lawn. We love alfresco dining when the weather is good. Sometimes we go to Sai Kung for seafood at Loaf On (49 See Cheung Street, Sai Kung, tel: 2792 9966).
Other restaurants I visit often are Sushi Ono (9/F, 11 Stanley Street, Central, tel: 2521 0008) and, in the same building, Gyotaku (12/F, tel: 3902 3813). They both serve good quality omakase set lunches and dinners as well as casual Japanese dishes. Gyotaku, however, offers more hot dishes.
Where a Hong Kong restaurateur and craft beer lover likes to eat
I love Hong Kong milk tea and cocktail buns for tea, but they are truly unhealthy and addictive. I usually buy them from a couple of local tea cafes near my office. One is Sing Heung Yuen (2 Mee Lun Street, Central, tel: 2544 8368) and also at Lok Heung Yuen Coffee Shop (8-12 Gilman’s Bazaar, Central, tel: 2522 1377).
A lot of my recommendations are because my daughters like them. Their all-time favourite place is Sevva (25/F Prince’s Building, 10 Chater Road, Central, tel: 2537 1388) so I have to include that here. They also love Classified (various locations including Shop 313, The Forum, 8 Connaught Road Central, Central, tel: 2147 3454) for their pizza, pasta and Western dishes.
Lastly, they like going to Cipriani (12/F Bank of China Building, 2A Des Voeux Road Central, Central, tel: 2501 0222) and, for high tea, Island Gourmet (5/F Island Shangri-La, Two Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, tel: 2820 8550).
