The three best Hong Kong restaurants to try in December, for classy Cantonese, a meaty feast and more
- We loved everything at Ding’s Club in Central, opened by a former actor, and drooled over the gratin dauphinois at La Petite Maison
- It wasn’t our intention to mainline on meat at The Hunter, but we didn’t regret it
We tried a varied lot of restaurants in November – everything from cheap and cheerful vegetarian and Thai to an upmarket Cantonese place opened by a former actor. These three are top of our list for a return visit in December – and they should be top of your must-try list too.
Ding’s Club
We spotted actor-turned-celebrity chef Steve Lee Ka-ding at his restaurant, Ding’s Club, on the night of our review, but he was busy giving face to big spenders in a private room. Our meal was excellent, and we loved everything, from the char siu (flambéed tableside) to the wok-fried rice noodles with sliced beef and sprouts. It’s expensive, but if you order carefully and ignore the set menus, you can make it out for about HK$500 per person.
Ding’s Club, 23/F H Queen’s, 80 Queen’s Road Central, tel: 2327 1398. About HK$650 without drinks or the service charge.
La Petite Maison
It’s safe to say that La Petite Maison’s salade Nicoise is one of the very best salads I’ve tried (although to be fair, I don’t eat salad very often). Crisp greens covered in a delicious dressing, made even better by the soft chunks of tuna and salty bites of anchovy. The other dishes were good, too, especially the lamb cutlets and the gratin dauphinois.
La Petite Maison, 1/F H Queen’s, 23-29 Stanley Street, Central, tel: 2887 1113. About HK$750 without drinks or the service charge.
The Hunter
We didn’t deliberately set out to have a very meaty meal at The Hunter in Central, but that’s how it turned out. Pan-roasted quail, bison tartare, hanger steak and osso buco agnolotti – all were delicious. The only non-meat course we had, apart from a too-acidic geoduck with yuzu (which was the only dish we disliked) was a substantial, and meaty-textured, Spanish octopus. Save room for the s’mores Alaska.
The Hunter and the Chase, 3/F-4/F The Place, 139 Queen’s Road Central, tel: 2915 1638. About HK$425 without drinks or the service charge.