The same old restaurants keep opening over and over again in Hong Kong. Give me something new
- Does Hong Kong really need so many modern Cantonese, ‘authentic’ Italian or organic healthy vegan concepts, or can we go for something a little different?
- It’s not easy brainstorming new ideas, but here are some for free: Caribbean, proper Mexican, and fine-dining Filipino cuisine
Why does it feel like the more new restaurants that open, the fewer places I want to eat at? Launches happen every week in Hong Kong, but lately it’s like déjà vu with the same formulas over and over again.
Like Hollywood movies, there are a lot of remakes and reboots. Do we really need more modern Cantonese, “authentic” Italian, or organic healthy vegan concepts? Or am I just jaded and tired of newly sprouted and highly touted establishments that disappoint?
More significantly, do we really crave these cuisines? Sure, an executive chef’s creativity is a major factor, but to extend the Hollywood metaphor, not every cook is a Scorsese or Tarantino. Most new eateries are more like Fast And Furious sequels – flashy, predictable, promising more than they deliver. You also leave thinking: “Wow, so much was spent on so little substance.”
New doesn’t always mean novel. Hong Kong has a wonderfully diverse restaurant scene, but it can always be better. It’s not easy brainstorming new ideas, but if I was a restaurateur, here are some under-represented cuisines I would happily dish for dinner.
1. Caribbean food
Not just Jamaican jerk chicken and ackee and saltfish, although it would be nice if someone opened such a takeaway in Chungking Mansions. Previous places that offered jerk dishes always made it too sweet and not spicy enough, like a barbecue sauce infused with wimpy peppers.