Feast or Famine | Hong Kong high-end restaurants booked out by diners with nowhere else to go

You would never know the food and beverage industry is in crisis - to get a table at some of the most popular restaurants you have to book two months ahead

My friends and I joke that we’re planning meals the way we did on holiday in Tokyo – we make a reservation for our next visit before leaving the restaurant

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Amber at the Landmark Mandarin, a two-Michelin-star fine-dining restaurant in Hong Kong’s Central district, has been inundated with bookings recently. Photo: Landmark Mandarin Oriental

Published: 10:15am, 21 Nov 2020Updated: 3:08pm, 21 Nov 2020

“I’m sorry but we’re fully booked at that time – do you mind coming for lunch at 1.30pm?”

I never thought I’d be happy to hear those words, but I was, when the receptionist said them to me as I tried to book a prime lunch time table at Amber at the Landmark Mandarin, a two-Michelin-star fine-dining restaurant in Hong Kong’s Central district, close to two weeks before my friends and I wanted to eat there.

Despite the imminent threat of a fourth wave of coronavirus cases, many Hong Kong restaurants – the ones that survived the initial onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic that, sadly, saw many closures – are doing better than most anticipated. They’re doing so well that I’m not the only Hong Kong food lover who has taken to booking meals far in advance – sometimes more than two months ahead.

I already have several restaurant reservations for January and February, at places such as Hansik Goo, Batard and The Chairman. If you want to celebrate Christmas or New Year at a high-end restaurant, you’ll probably have to join a waiting list, because many of them are already full.

Advance bookings have been all the rage for Hong Kong’s restaurants of late despite varying lockdown restrictions. Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto

It’s not just expensive places that are doing well: you can see lines of people waiting for seats or takeaway at many cheap and mid-range restaurants in Hong Kong, too.

My friends and I joke that we’re planning our meals in the city the way we did when we were on holiday in Tokyo – we make the reservation for our next visit before we leave the restaurant.

.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}Feast or Famine | Hong Kong high-end restaurants booked out by diners with nowhere else to go

Feast or Famine | Hong Kong high-end restaurants booked out by diners with nowhere else to go