Hong Kong’s gastropubs add fuel to the city’s global dining scene

The gastropub genre is a relative novice in the gastronomic world - the term having been coined in the early 1990s in London, when the new owners of The Eagle pub in Clerkenwell wanted to serve meals with their drinks. Previously, a traditional English pub used to serve cold food, such as a ploughman’s lunch or pasties with their drinks. According to Eat magazine, the world’s first gastro-style pub was the Spinnakers Brew Pub in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, which opened in 1984. Known as a brew pub, it was custom-built serving craft beers and food.

A typical gastropub should have the ambience of a friendly local pub serving quality drinks and comfort food with a gourmet touch - think fries with truffle oil or duck fat chips, chicken poppers with blue cheese or dry-aged burgers.

One of the city’s oldest pubs is the Dickens Bar at The Excelsior Hong Kong, which opened in 1972. It was known as being a great English pub serving curries and English comfort food. The menu has evolved without losing its English-food theme, according to chef de cuisine Chang Chi-wai. “I make dishes that go with drinks,” says the chef who previously worked at the Hong Kong Football Club. “We still have classic British dishes like fish ‘n’ chips, shepherd’s pie and chicken and leek pie, but we have gone with the market trend of introducing fusion.

“Our Guinness and beef ribs has some Sichuan spicy sauce and, as the venue in the hotel basement attracts as many locals and Westerners, they serve seared quail legs with crispy ham and honey pepper sauce; and octopus carpaccio done with avocado and peppercorn chilli sauce. They are popular signatures on the menu,” Chang says. “Many dishes are done with beer, even the lobster is made with fish stock and beer.”

There are three desserts on the menu, including toffee date pudding with caramelised pear and rum vanilla cream. “It’s done with dates and smoked chocolate,” Chang says.

Prive Group’s Common Room has its own twist on the gastropub, serving plates for sharing. “Common Room serves up world-inspired tapas dishes with influences from all over the world,” says Prive Group head chef Tez Pun. “There is something for everyone, and pairs very well with our award-winning mixologist’s cocktail creations.

“We offer a good mix of fusion flavours and a lot of comfort food options with a twist. We use fresh ingredients like live lobsters, and spend a lot of time prepping for dishes.