Opinion

Susan’s best: stand-out meals I ate in Hong Kong in June, from Sushi Mamoru to Barry Quek’s Whey to Jing Alley for Sichuan lunch

Top restaurants in Hong Kong are booked out months in advance as the dining scene bounces back from the pandemic, but never mind

From memorable sushi to my stand-out fish dish of 2021 so far and two farewell visits to Jowett Yu’s Ho Lee Fook, there was plenty to savour

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Sichuan restaurant Jing Alley served a great fried chicken - a dish usually associated with Cantonese restaurants. Photo: Susan Jung

Susan Jung trained as a pastry chef and worked in hotels, restaurants and bakeries in San Francisco, New York and Hong Kong before joining the Post.

Published: 7:21pm, 30 Jun 2021Updated: 8:18am, 1 Jul 2021

June was a very busy month for me when it comes to eating out – 16 meals, and that’s not counting the inexpensive lunches I usually have.

Anyone who’s been wondering how the Hong Kong restaurant industry is faring amid Covid-19 should just try booking a prime-time table at a popular place.

If you want to eat dinner at Chinese restaurant The Chairman – number one on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list – you will probably have to wait until 2022, unless you get lucky on the waiting list or don’t mind eating at odd hours; it’s booked out for the rest of the year. Godenya – a tiny restaurant in Central that pairs sake and Japanese food – is fully booked until November. For prime-time lunch or dinner at French restaurants Bâtard or Jean May, you should call three months in advance.

Just over a year ago, the food and beverage industry was foundering as restaurateurs wondered how they were going to survive under dining restrictions that included closing at 6pm.

My, how things have changed, although I do wonder if everyone is eating out so often because we’re worried that the fifth wave of cases might start.

I had two great sushi meals – one at Uehara (tel: 2359 4700), in Tai Hang, which I’ve been to many times, and the second at a new place, Sushi Mamoru (tel: 2133 5700). I love Uehara because the chef is equally adept at otsumami – snacks and cold dishes – as he is at the sushi. They were so good that I broke my resolve to abstain from alcohol.