A Hong Kong alfresco dining spot to die for, ramen to rave about and five-star restaurants worthy of a splurge: churro chain founder’s top eats

Juan Gimenez, co-founder of churro chain Twist & Buckle, says One-ThirtyOne in Sai Kung creates an atmosphere that other alfresco places aspire to

For local eats he’s a fan of LockCha and Dim Sum Square Kitchen, while his go-to for a top bowl of ramen is Afuri Ramen + Dumpling

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Land and sea tartare, comprising Australian wagyu beef, Gillardeau oyster and Kristal caviar, at Caprice, one of the Hong Kong restaurants Twist & Buckle co-founder Juan Gimenez visits when he wants to splash some cash. Photo: Caprice

Published: 3:15pm, 27 Oct 2021

Argentinian Juan Gimenez is the co-founder of Twist & Buckle, which serves authentic churros at shops in Jordan and Tsim Sha Tsui. He spoke to Andrew Sun.

I’m someone who’s rarely hungry. I try my best to keep up with all the latest openings and trends locally and abroad and that means a lot of eating and drinking. I rarely visit a place twice, and the ones I do repeat are the simplest and most authentic.

Usually I lean more towards Hong Kong food, venturing to a lot more local places – whose names I struggle with – than I ever thought I would. One that I was introduced to by an industry colleague, and I really like, is LockCha (K.S. Lo Gallery, Hong Kong Park, 10 Cotton Tree Drive, Admiralty, tel: 2801 7177).

A close second is Dim Sum Square Kitchen (LG/F, Tern Centre Tower 2, 78 Jervois Street, Sheung Wan, tel: 3521 0868).

Twist & Buckle co-founder Juan Gimenez. Photo: Twist & Buckle

Custard buns at Dim Sum Square Kitchen. Photo: May Tse

When I’m not munching dim sum I do enjoy a good ramen and one of my favourites – walking distance from our Tsim Sha Tsui branch of Twist & Buckle – is Afuri Ramen + Dumpling (I.T Orange Forest, 2/F, The One, 100 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, tel: 2815 2177).