Agave
Miles away from home and miserable, you’ve been trying to converse with your hotel’s security guard in Spanish, only to be greeted with a blank stare. Such is your loneliness that you need to drown your sorrows in a veritable vat of tequila – and fast. Fortunately, the warm, mosaic interior of Agave beckons you with a lemony-salty finger. If you focus hard enough on your manhole-cover-sized frozen margarita ($76), you can almost transport yourself back to the hacienda. Put away unhealthy quantities of tequila and bar snacks until the world feels good again.
33 D’Aguilar St., Central. 2521-2010.
Balalaika
Recreate St. Petersburg in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui by donning a Cossack hat and falling headlong into this re-created Russian cabin, complete with entertaining Russian minstrels. Classic Russian cuisine is served daily, perfect for those of you with a longing for the loving ministrations of sweet old babushka. With over sixty types of vodka on offer, Balalaika is a great place to begin a genuine Russian style booze-up, although how much time they spend in Russia sitting in a color-changing novelty freezer drinking comically titled communist cocktails (Che Guava and Lenin Colada, to be precise, $75 each), is seriously debatable.
2/F, 10 Knutsford Terrace, Tsim Sha Tsui, 2312-6222.
Delaney's
Like a pot of gold at the end of a slightly sordid rainbow, Delaney’s is a well-loved face around Wan Chai’s bar scene. Travelers from Ireland seeking a little solace have been known to frequent its well-stocked bar, which serves Delaney’s Ale and Lager, Draft Guinness, Harp and Kilkenny. Have the cockles of your heart warmed with good craic, Irish stew and – surely the height of fusion cuisine – Guinness chicken wings. Suffice to say, maudlin songs about “The Old Country” do not come as standard. G/F-1/F, One Capital Place, 18 Luard Rd., Wan Chai, 2804-2880.