Pasta, ‘amazing’ char siu, homey Chinese food: favourite Hong Kong restaurants of a UK-schooled chef back working in his home city
- Max Wong, executive chef of modern Italian restaurant Posso in Sheung Wan, reveals where he eats in Hong Kong – he was born in the city – and London
- He names a restaurant with ‘amazing char siu’, a late-night go-to and his place for a Chinese cuisine splurge, and reveals where he’d take visitors to the city
Setting aside his academic training in forensic chemistry, Max Wong learned European cuisine, including Italian cooking, and is now executive chef of Posso, a modern Italian restaurant in Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island. He spoke to Andrew Sun.
I was born and raised in Hong Kong, then went to the UK when I was 14 years old. I grew up, I had a lot of homey Chinese food. That’s my roots.
When I started my own restaurant, I decided what would distinguish my cuisine was seafood and pasta because that’s what I like. But I am an adventurous eater. Anything new or intriguing, even insects and bugs, I’ll definitely have a try.
I’m also a Japanese food lover. Kozy Okonomi-yaki Teppan-yaki (9/F, Circle Plaza, 499 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay. Tel: 2591 1281) does a very family-style, casual teppanyaki, and they’re open till 2am so it’s perfect for people in our industry.
Dough Kitchen (21B Brown Street, Tai Hang. Tel: 2688 7008) is a shop that just focuses on pasta and that’s where I would go if I feel like having pasta dishes.
For other types of European cuisine, I like Cornerstone (Hilltop Plaza, 49 Hollywood Road, SoHo. Tel: 6809 9771). It’s cosy, the food is very ingredient-oriented and they combine Asian and European flavours very well.
These kind of cooked food markets is deeply rooted in Hong Kong culture and represent a big part of local cuisine. They have good food, atmosphere and experience with the singing, dancing and opening beer bottles with chopsticks.
For more European cuisine, I would take them to Vea (30/F, The Wellington, 198 Wellington Street, Central. Tel: 2711 8639). I always find food that mixes cultures very interesting. That’s why Vea is one of my top choices, combining solid French cuisine with high-end Cantonese, using products like abalone and sea cucumber.
I hadn’t been back to London for a while until this time last year. I found so many different and fascinating restaurants have popped up doing a vast range of good food from different cultures, in casual and fine dining.
The first place I would eat at is Manteca (49-51 Curtain Road, London. Tel: +44 20 7139 5172), a homemade pasta place. The sauces are fascinating. It’s one of my favourites.
For classic British Sunday roast, the Guildhall branch of Hawksmoor (10 Basinghall Street, London. Tel: +44 20 7397 8120) is classy and crowded in a historic building. They also do a perfect sticky toffee pudding that I cannot resist.
At Posso (12 Kau U Fong, Sheung Wan. Tel: 9870 0898), what we are excited about for 2024 is launching new pasta making classes to teach everything from dough making to shaping, while enjoying some wine and Italian munchies. It’s a great Sunday activity for friends and family.
