https://www.scmp.com/rss/322197/feed Bernice Chan's Diner's Diary lets you know the latest news in Hong Kong's fast-paced restaurant scene, from the latest promotions to new eateries you need to try. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong hotel is done with celebrity chefs Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Pierre Gagnaire and is going Japanese instead. The five-star hotel, a fixture in the city’s Central business district for more than 50 years, is collaborating with restaurant group Maximal Concepts to transform what was the Michelin-starred Pierre, its kitchen led by Gagnaire, into … The Aubrey, “an eccentric Japanese izakaya” in January 2021. Matt Reid, co-founder of Maximal Concepts, would not go... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3102707/goodbye-pierre-hello-aubrey-izakaya-mandarin-oriental-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3102707/goodbye-pierre-hello-aubrey-izakaya-mandarin-oriental-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Sep 2020 09:45:08 +0000 Chef Roland Schuller cannot think of anywhere he would rather than be than Hong Kong when there’s a global health crisis. Four years ago, when we last met at the Kee Club in Hong Kong, where he was head chef, he told us he had plans to go to Peru. The Zika virus outbreak in South America put paid to that. Instead the Austrian lay low in Hong Kong for several months, before taking a job in Bangkok three years ago. And now he’s back in Hong Kong because of the coronavirus outbreak – at Umberto... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3089118/hong-kong-safest-place-world-says-chef-who-left-bangkok?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3089118/hong-kong-safest-place-world-says-chef-who-left-bangkok?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Jun 2020 04:15:15 +0000 On my way home from work on March 11, I received a WhatsApp message from a friend in the hotel industry telling me she had heard that Rech by Alain Ducasse in the InterContinental Hong Kong was closing that evening, and that all the kitchen staff and servers would be laid off. It was shocking news. A big name like Ducasse and a Michelin star retained for three consecutive years was not enough to keep the restaurant going. I checked the hotel’s website and the fine dining contemporary French... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3075926/no-tourists-fine-dining-restaurants-hong-kong-must-adapt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3075926/no-tourists-fine-dining-restaurants-hong-kong-must-adapt?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Mar 2020 01:15:14 +0000 One of the biggest occasions of the year for Western restaurants – Valentine’s Day – may be only days away, but several establishments in top Hong Kong hotels have temporarily shut their doors ahead of February 14 because the coronavirus outbreak has caused such a slump in business. The outbreak, which has killed more than 400 people and is confirmed to have infected more than 20,000, almost all of them in China, has further reduced visitor arrivals in the city, which had already dropped... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3048916/closed-coronavirus-top-hotel-restaurants-hong-kong-are?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3048916/closed-coronavirus-top-hotel-restaurants-hong-kong-are?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Feb 2020 09:00:15 +0000 The decor is still decades old – for now – at Petrus, but the menu has gone from multi-page to minimalist at the Island Shangri-la hotel’s 56th floor fine-dining restaurant under new executive chef Uwe Opocensky. A single sheet is enough to contain its new lunchtime menu, for example. There are four appetisers (two cold, two warm), two meat and two seafood options for main course, and two desserts. There are no descriptions of the dishes, just a short list of ingredients – reminiscent of the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3037217/first-taste-new-petrus-menus-shangri-la-hotel-fine-dining?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3037217/first-taste-new-petrus-menus-shangri-la-hotel-fine-dining?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Nov 2019 10:45:04 +0000 If you’re a fan of the avocado, there’s a restaurant in Hong Kong that can fulfil your cravings. The aptly named Avobar, an import from London, it’s in the new K11 Musea mall in Tsim Sha Tsui, in the Food Playground or food court area. Staff wear T-shirts with the words “sex” and “drugs” crossed out and “avocuddles” below. Cute, but how’s the food? We were among the first to be invited to try the Avobar menu – the chef had literally stepped into its newly completed kitchen only that day, and in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3027159/avocado-everything-avobar-new-hong-kong-mashed-smashed-sliced?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3027159/avocado-everything-avobar-new-hong-kong-mashed-smashed-sliced?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Sep 2019 10:30:12 +0000 Last week’s announcement that German chef Uwe Opocensky had closed his eponymous restaurant and would leave the group behind the Beef & Liberty restaurants to return to the hotel industry surprised the Hong Kong hospitality industry. So which hotel was he going to work for? We had to find out. Reached on Monday, Opocensky was playfully evasive. “I got an amazing offer. Six or seven months ago different players came to me and I saw the possibility to grow further. It has nothing to do with my... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3023513/fine-dining-isnt-popular-hotel-buffets-dont-work-chef-uwe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3023513/fine-dining-isnt-popular-hotel-buffets-dont-work-chef-uwe?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Aug 2019 04:15:05 +0000 Knife skills are the stock in trade of any chef. For Chinese chefs in particular, mastering the use of a kitchen chopper is not easy. At The Chinese Library, a restaurant in the Tai Kwun heritage and arts centre in Hong Kong’s Central district, executive chef Junno Li Zhenlong proves his expertise with the blade in a series of dishes that show off his intricate knife skills. One is the “golden lion” in which a mandarin fish is descaled and deboned, then carefully sliced into thin strips that are... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3021023/ultimate-knife-challenge-we-try-carving-soft-tofu-flower-using?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3021023/ultimate-knife-challenge-we-try-carving-soft-tofu-flower-using?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Aug 2019 04:15:11 +0000 American fast-food chain KFC has just opened a new outlet in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay shopping district, where it is debuting several new dishes. There’s a grilled chicken combo with waffle fries and salad (HK$138/US$17.50), an oven-glazed hot wing platter (HK$88), and a “chizza” – a boneless chicken fillet topped with cheese, corn and pineapple pieces (HK$88). And, just in time for Mid-Autumn Festival on September 13, there’s a “spicy chicken and nuts mooncake”. It sounded so peculiar we had to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3018947/kfc-unveils-chicken-mooncakes-new-hong-kong-outlet-among-other?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3018947/kfc-unveils-chicken-mooncakes-new-hong-kong-outlet-among-other?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Jul 2019 08:00:10 +0000 Shake Shack fans in Hong Kong, the wait is over. The American fast food chain’s burger created in a collaboration with fine-dining Chinese restaurant The Chairman was revealed on Wednesday. Called The Chairman Shack (HK$80), the burger features an Angus beef patty topped with 12-hour slow-cooked caramelised onion, griddled ox tongue, pickled radish, Sichuan pepper, fermented bean sauce and butter lettuce. The ox tongue has been braised with five spice powder, and the beef patty is brushed with... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3018023/shake-shack-x-chairman-burger-taste-test-not-enough-zing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3018023/shake-shack-x-chairman-burger-taste-test-not-enough-zing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Jul 2019 08:17:05 +0000 When The Excelsior Hong Kong closed in March, it left Hongkongers with nowhere to buy Lord Stow’s famed egg tarts without making the trip to the tarts’ home, Macau. Fans of the buttery sweet treat wondered if they would ever be able to purchase them again in Hong Kong. Here’s some good news: the delicious pastries with the slightly browned egg custard are back – this time at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong in Central, in a pop-up running until October 1. The Lord Stow’s egg tart stand is in the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3017382/breaking-hong-kong-egg-tart-news-lord-stows-back-now-mandarin?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3017382/breaking-hong-kong-egg-tart-news-lord-stows-back-now-mandarin?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Jul 2019 04:15:13 +0000 The Chairman, the first Chinese cuisine restaurant in Hong Kong to crack the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, is to collaborate with fast-food chain Shake Shack on a limited edition burger and shake in July. The restaurant in Central, renowned for its steamed flower crab dish, entered the World’s 50 Best list in 41st place, it was announced this week in a ceremony at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. It is the only Hong Kong restaurant to make the list. “We could not be more excited to craft you... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3016304/shake-shack-hong-kongs-best-restaurant-collaborate-burger-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3016304/shake-shack-hong-kongs-best-restaurant-collaborate-burger-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Jun 2019 05:33:42 +0000 “The best way to buy sweet potatoes is to feel them. You want them to feel heavy because if they are light, they don’t have as much starch,” says chef Daniel Cheung Long-yin. We are shopping for lunch with the Chinese executive chef of the Kowloon Shangri-La hotel at Tai Po market in Hong Kong. He has stopped at a vegetable stall which, he says, sells the best sweet potatoes. He picks up some that are 20cm to 25cm long, and yellow. He will clean them thoroughly and steam them for about 30... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3011711/shopping-top-chef-hong-kong-wet-market-we-spot-chow-yun-fat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3011711/shopping-top-chef-hong-kong-wet-market-we-spot-chow-yun-fat?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 May 2019 08:00:11 +0000 In April last year, Impossible Foods made its Asia debut in Hong Kong with CEO and founder Dr Pat Brown presenting its plant-based Impossible Burger patty, cooked in various ways by chefs Uwe Opocensky of burger chain Beef & Liberty and May Chow of Little Bao. Since then the product has been put on the menus of 150 restaurants around Hong Kong and some 180,000 have been sold, mostly as vegan or vegetarian burgers. Now, less than a year later, Impossible Foods is back with version 2.0 of the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3002803/plant-based-impossible-burger-20-now-hong-kong-we-give-it-taste?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3002803/plant-based-impossible-burger-20-now-hong-kong-we-give-it-taste?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 Mar 2019 05:45:10 +0000 Fans of chef Julien Royer’s food won’t have to fly to Singapore any more – the French chef of two-Michelin-star Odette — which on March 26 was named No 1 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list – is opening a restaurant in Hong Kong, Louise, in June. The restaurant, at PMQ in Sheung Wan, is being opened with Yenn Wong’s Hong Kong-based Jia Group and will occupy the space where Aberdeen Street Social is now. That restaurant, opened in 2014 with British celebrity chef Jason Atherton, will close on... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3002896/top-french-chef-singapore-julien-royer-open-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3002896/top-french-chef-singapore-julien-royer-open-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Mar 2019 09:40:22 +0000 For Italians, the thought of putting pineapple on pizza is sacrilege. That’s what Franco Pepe, known as the world’s best pizzaiolo, or pizza maker, thought, too – at first. His restaurant in Italy, Pepe in Grani was crowned best pizzeria in the world in 2017 and 2018 by 50 Top Pizza. Chefs all over the globe recognise him as the godfather of pizza, for his pillowy soft dough that becomes a light base when baked in minutes in his specially-designed oven. Pepe started thinking about making a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3001463/pineapple-pizza-worlds-best-pizzaiolo-approves-and-hes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3001463/pineapple-pizza-worlds-best-pizzaiolo-approves-and-hes?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Mar 2019 05:35:04 +0000 Lin Heung Tea House, the famed dim sum spot on Wellington Street in Central that has been a draw for visitors and locals alike for decades, will close its doors at the end of February, ending its 101-year presence in Hong Kong. One of the last traditional tea houses left in Hong Kong, it’s known for its chaotic atmosphere, as lunchtime diners flock like magpies to trolleys coming out of the kitchen for freshly steamed dim sum in bamboo steamers. The staff are less than hospitable, and customers... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2187136/hong-kongs-oldest-tea-house-closing-what-i-will-and-wont-miss?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2187136/hong-kongs-oldest-tea-house-closing-what-i-will-and-wont-miss?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Feb 2019 10:45:20 +0000 When opening a shop in Hong Kong it’s all about location, location, location. Chef Margaret Xu Yuan has just opened a new dessert shop that offers a small collection of beautifully handcrafted treats that are her interpretations of traditional Chinese snacks. The only challenge is that her shop, Go cakes, is located in the new home of Chinese opera, Xiqu Centre in West Kowloon. The origins of Macau’s legendary Portuguese egg tarts While it’s a contemporary-looking building and only a few... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2185443/instagram-worthy-chinese-dessert-shop-hong-kong-tucked-away?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2185443/instagram-worthy-chinese-dessert-shop-hong-kong-tucked-away?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Feb 2019 07:45:32 +0000 The announcement in December that Stone Nullah Tavern would close was a shock to regulars and fans of the Hong Kong restaurant known for its cheap drinks, hearty burgers and s’mores served in a skillet. But for the Wan Chai establishment’s owner, Todd Darling of Red Sauce Hospitality, it’s strictly a business decision. “Stone Nullah Tavern wasn’t as productive [as it could be]. We’re not a big company and we need to be maximising resources,” he said. Wan Chai newcomer Samsen – Thai noodles from... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2183107/why-stone-nullah-tavern-had-shut-it-wasnt-making-enough-money?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2183107/why-stone-nullah-tavern-had-shut-it-wasnt-making-enough-money?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Jan 2019 04:45:31 +0000 Restaurants in Hong Kong are vying for diners’ attention with tempting promotions. It being the season for white truffles, every second one is serving the prized fungi on everything they can think of – pasta, seafood, beef. One restaurant seems to have topped them all by not only adding the requisite truffles, but some bling too. How Hong Kong’s luxury lemmings fall for all the latest food trends Emporio Antico, on the 18th floor of a building in Wan Chai, has a new dish this month – golden... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2177949/us152-tagliolini-topped-gold-flakes-have-we-hit-peak-pasta-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2177949/us152-tagliolini-topped-gold-flakes-have-we-hit-peak-pasta-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Dec 2018 03:55:05 +0000 Tuesday was the biggest food event of the year for Hong Kong and Macau – the launch of the 2019 Michelin Guide to the two cities. And it was a shock to see Alain Ducasse at Morpheus in Macau garnering two stars right off the bat. The French super chef’s restaurant at the Morpheus Hotel only opened in June and, frankly, for all that the place looks pretty and the tableware is beautiful, the food is not up to par. The ‘god of cooking’? Not Alain Ducasse or Joël Robuchon, says chef Even before I... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2177575/alain-ducasses-new-macau-restaurant-worth-two-michelin-stars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2177575/alain-ducasses-new-macau-restaurant-worth-two-michelin-stars?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Dec 2018 04:14:33 +0000 New Zealand expats in Hong Kong are going to miss one of their favourite restaurants when it closes in mid-December. Motu Kiwi in NoHo is shutting after three-and-a-half years because owners, Vinish “Vini” Nath and Jo Ching, say they are running out of funds to keep it going and need a break. The narrow restaurant near the Mid-Levels escalators doesn’t seat many people, but the ones who do manage to squeeze in rave about the food; it includes dishes such as deep-fried whitebait with manuka... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2176641/new-zealand-restaurant-hong-kong-motu-kiwi-close-not-one-last?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2176641/new-zealand-restaurant-hong-kong-motu-kiwi-close-not-one-last?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Dec 2018 07:00:59 +0000 This week the hottest table in Hong Kong is at Amber in the Landmark Mandarin Oriental hotel in Central – and it’s not because culinary director Richard Ekkebus has a new “silver fox” look. The two-Michelin-star contemporary French restaurant is serving its “Feast for the Future” – though it’s actually a last hurrah, an epic 14-course menu of signature dishes from its 14-year existence before it closes for renovations on December 9. The entire seventh floor of the hotel, which currently houses... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2176827/get-ready-amber-20-michelin-starred-hong-kong-restaurant-looks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2176827/get-ready-amber-20-michelin-starred-hong-kong-restaurant-looks?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Dec 2018 03:43:29 +0000 Mark your calendars – World Pasta Day is October 25, and not only is it a good opportunity to dig into some delicious food but a chance also to help Hong Kong’s neediest. From October 25-31, 22 Hong Kong restaurants will each serve one special pasta dish, part of the price of which will go to Foodlink Foundation, a charity that helps the city’s poor. Michelin Guide’s new international director led global expansion Among the restaurants taking part are Grissini, Ciak In The Kitchen, Eat.it,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2169587/world-pasta-day-eat-so-others-can-these-hong-kong-italian?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2169587/world-pasta-day-eat-so-others-can-these-hong-kong-italian?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Oct 2018 00:16:28 +0000 Dishes at Man Wah, the fine-dining Chinese restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, are going to be more creative under the newly installed Chinese executive chef Wong Wing-keung. Wong will also head the kitchen at Yee Tung Heen in The Excelsior Hong Kong, making him one very busy chef. But he has managed to find time to think up some interesting menu items for Man Wah, which we sampled at a recent media tasting. Chotto Maki in Central review: made-to-order fusion maki sushi One of them is... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2165450/michelin-star-man-wah-restaurant-central-fresh-dishes-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2165450/michelin-star-man-wah-restaurant-central-fresh-dishes-new?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Sep 2018 05:01:25 +0000 Self-taught Hong Kong chef May Chow made a name for herself in 2013 when she opened Little Bao, a tiny restaurant known for its “Chinese burgers”: halved steam buns with funky, flavourful fillings. The restaurant on Staunton Street in Central district’s SoHo area quickly became popular for its pork belly bao and desserts of either green tea or salted caramel ice cream sandwiched between deep-fried buns. There are constant queues outside the small space, into which only 20 diners can squeeze at a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2164962/hong-kong-chef-may-chow-opens-new-little-bao-restaurant-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2164962/hong-kong-chef-may-chow-opens-new-little-bao-restaurant-more?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Sep 2018 04:31:33 +0000 The Michelin Guide has named a new international director following the departure of Michael Ellis after seven years in the position. In a short announcement on its website, Michelin Guide said Gwendal Poullennec had replaced Ellis, and he seems well qualified for the job. Hong Kong and Macau’s best restaurants in the 2018 Michelin Guide Having joined Michelin in 2003, Poullennec has spent the past 12 years overseeing the international launches of guides in New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, Hong... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2164813/michelin-guides-new-international-director-would-appear-well?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2164813/michelin-guides-new-international-director-would-appear-well?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Sep 2018 07:48:36 +0000 Alfonso Iaccarino is a bit jet-lagged but happy to be in Macau, where he was visiting his newly transformed restaurant in the Grand Lisboa hotel. During our weekday lunch he made the rounds saying hello to guests, some of whom he has met before, and giving out big hugs. Favourite Macau restaurants of a Hong Kong jewellery designer Most of the 71-year-old’s time is spent in a small town called Sant’Agata sui Due Golfi near Sorrento, on the Amalfi coast in southern Italy. There he operates a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2162636/how-macau-fine-dining-italian-restaurant-became-casual-family?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2162636/how-macau-fine-dining-italian-restaurant-became-casual-family?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Sep 2018 05:17:27 +0000 Wing Wah Noodle – whose noodles Asia’s top chef, Gaggan Anand, said were the best in Hong Kong – closes on August 31, but it’ll be back, somewhere in Hong Kong, under new ownership. The registered trademark of Wing Wah Noodles in Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore was sold to LHGroup, which owns such restaurants as Banqueting House, Gyu-Kaku, Lucky House seafood restaurant, and MouMouClub, it was announced in early August. Closing after 68 years: Wing Wah in Wan Chai, famous egg noodles LHGroup CEO... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2162030/best-noodles-hong-kong-live-wing-wah-noodle-return-under-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2162030/best-noodles-hong-kong-live-wing-wah-noodle-return-under-new?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Aug 2018 09:30:30 +0000 A leading Singapore chef said last week the Michelin Guide’s failure to award three stars to any Lion City restaurant would deter gourmet tourists from visiting – but the Singapore Tourism Board professes not to be worried. The city state’s “diverse and richly textured dining scene” comprised more than Michelin-starred restaurants, its director for retail and dining, Ranita Sundramoorthy, said in a statement to the Post. Straying into hyperbole, the statement pointed to “myriad dining events” as... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2157923/michelin-guide-singapore-theres-more-lion-city-dining-red-book?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2157923/michelin-guide-singapore-theres-more-lion-city-dining-red-book?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Aug 2018 04:35:03 +0000 The Michelin Guides’ international director has defended the dining bible’s sponsorship in Asia by businesses and tourism boards, which has prompted questions about how independent the guides are. Michael Ellis said Michelin would continue to seek sponsorship for the annual guides, and equated this to sponsorship of sporting events or newspapers soliciting advertising as a form of financial support. “If you look at any event, whether a sporting event, tennis match, sailing events, Formula One,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2156989/michelin-guides-wouldnt-exist-without-sponsors-says-director?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2156989/michelin-guides-wouldnt-exist-without-sponsors-says-director?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Jul 2018 08:33:15 +0000 With so many restaurants in Hong Kong opening and closing, it can be hard to keep track of those that are still around. One that has stayed the course is Olé Spanish Restaurant in Central, which is not only celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, but 20 years in the same location. Not many others can boast such a feat. Owner Carmelo Lopez, 69, hails from Madrid and recalls that, when he moved to Hong Kong over 30 years ago, there were two Spanish restaurants in the city, which he said sold... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2156573/classic-hong-kong-restaurants-oles-spanish-owner-20-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2156573/classic-hong-kong-restaurants-oles-spanish-owner-20-years?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Jul 2018 04:48:29 +0000 Peruvian chef Virgilio Martinez has been on the go lately. Three weeks ago, his restaurant in Lima, Peru, Central was named sixth best in the world at the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards, held in Bilbao, Spain. Less than a week later, he moved Central to a much bigger location. Now he is setting his sights on Hong Kong with Ichu Peru in H Queen’s, a new tower in the city’s Central business district that houses art galleries and restaurants. There have been a few delays – it was originally... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2154551/central-lima-central-hong-kong-one-worlds-top-10-chefs-his-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2154551/central-lima-central-hong-kong-one-worlds-top-10-chefs-his-new?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Jul 2018 04:46:18 +0000 How’s this for a comedown? A top Hong Kong restaurant is making way for a children’s attraction, months after losing its Michelin star. Seasons restaurant in the upmarket Lee Garden Two mall in Causeway Bay will close on July 15, to be replaced with what landlord the Hysan Development Company describes as “an exciting kids-oriented project”. The French Revolution: Why three top chefs are going it alone in Hong Kong The French fine-dining restaurant opened just over four years ago in a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2153685/top-hong-kong-restaurant-shut-kids-attraction-replace-it-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2153685/top-hong-kong-restaurant-shut-kids-attraction-replace-it-year?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Jul 2018 04:15:37 +0000 After 68 years, Hong Kong restaurant Wing Wah in Wan Chai, best known for its egg noodles made using a bamboo pole, will shut its doors at the end of August. The shop has already advertised its impending demise by covering its banner with Chinese characters saying “closing down”. As a result, when we recently visited the shop at 2pm on a weekday, there was still a large line outside the small restaurant. Hong Kong’s 7 best wonton noodle restaurants It took us almost 15 minutes to get a table –... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2153105/wing-wah-noodle-shop-wan-chai-close-after-68-years-we-go-final?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2153105/wing-wah-noodle-shop-wan-chai-close-after-68-years-we-go-final?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Jun 2018 10:16:24 +0000 Harlan Goldstein liked to call himself “Hong Kong’s celebrity chef”, used to serve truffle pappardelle and Hokkaido scallop carpaccio, and boasted of selling a HK$150,000 (US$19,000) bottle of wine. He had a 30th-floor restaurant in Causeway Bay’s Midtown called Penthouse by Harlan Goldstein. And he had a Michelin star apiece for Gold by Harlan Goldstein, and Strip House, both in Hong Kong’s Lan Kwai Fong entertainment quarter. Now he’s put his name on a fast-food kiosk in a basement in Mong... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2152004/penthouse-basement-hong-kong-chef-harlan-goldstein-opens-fast?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2152004/penthouse-basement-hong-kong-chef-harlan-goldstein-opens-fast?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Jun 2018 06:47:20 +0000 Sammy’s Kitchen was supposed to bring down the curtain on 49 years of serving diners in Sai Ying Pun last September, but it turns out it’s still open. Ivy Yip Fung-yee, daughter of Sammy Yip, told the Post that some regular customers know the Hong Kong-style restaurant is still open, but others still assume it closed last year. “We have some customers who call to ask where we’ve moved, and I tell them we’re still in the same location,” she says. Five best Peking duck restaurants in Hong Kong:... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2149836/hong-kong-restaurant-where-its-not-about-money-sammys-kitchen?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2149836/hong-kong-restaurant-where-its-not-about-money-sammys-kitchen?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Jun 2018 07:30:43 +0000 When we arrived at Yat Lok Barbecue Restaurant in Tai Po Market, the shutters were down. It was supposed to open in a few minutes but it seemed like no one was inside. This was four years ago, when the Post was on a mission to find the best roast goose in Hong Kong, and Yat Lok was definitely on our list. We had an appointment with the chef-owner, Chu Kin-wah. Around 20 minutes after the shop’s supposed opening time, the roller shutters came up and Chu beckoned us inside. The decor for the roast... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2149312/best-roast-goose-hong-kong-just-memory-now-yat-lok-closed-tai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2149312/best-roast-goose-hong-kong-just-memory-now-yat-lok-closed-tai?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Jun 2018 11:04:22 +0000 American Restaurant, a Hong Kong institution for more than half a century, has closed. Hoardings went up a few months ago for “renovations”, a telltale sign that it might not reopen, and now there is signage that another restaurant is replacing it. It was a go-to place for big groups of diners, mostly expatriates keen to indulge in large plates of food washed down with bottles of Tsingtao beer. The waiters, who looked jaded and would have been in their sixties, were accustomed to inebriated and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2149211/now-closed-american-restaurant-hong-kong-fixture-68-years-thats?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2149211/now-closed-american-restaurant-hong-kong-fixture-68-years-thats?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Jun 2018 23:47:01 +0000 The restaurant that replaced Dan Ryan’s in Pacific Place quietly closed at the end of May. On May 28, Operetta announced on its Facebook page after less than two years of business it was its last day of operations, but that Lai Sun Dining was “cooking up a new concept”. Operetta floundered from the start in August 2016, claiming to offer Mediterranean dishes like pizza, pasta, charcoal-grilled meats and pastries at “reasonable” prices – a relative concept when its set lunches ranged in price... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2149090/iconic-hong-kong-restaurant-dan-ryans-replacement-operetta?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2149090/iconic-hong-kong-restaurant-dan-ryans-replacement-operetta?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Jun 2018 04:01:36 +0000 British wine expert Robert Joseph complains that the wine industry is changing at the speed of a snail. The author of several books, founder of the International Wine Challenge and producer asked aloud this week why winemakers and merchants won’t move with the times. He was giving a talk at Vinexpo Hong Kong, a major trade fair, called “The Future of Wine Has Changed”. With technology, climate change and consumer habits fast evolving, wine cannot be made, packaged, marketed and sold the way it... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2148888/future-wine-how-china-climate-change-and-technology-will?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2148888/future-wine-how-china-climate-change-and-technology-will?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Jun 2018 11:00:37 +0000 Every week property broker David Lawton is contacted by a handful of would-be Chinese clients. “They all say the same thing – ‘I want a chateau’,” says the chairman of WI&NE, a network of specialists based in Bordeaux, southwest France, who handle all aspects of investing in French vineyards. In the past decade, 200 French chateaux have been bought by Chinese investors, he says. And no wonder, when the value of Bordeaux wine estates goes only one way: up, by 1-2 per cent a year, he says. While... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2148665/how-buy-french-chateau-seminar-lures-chinese-vinexpo-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2148665/how-buy-french-chateau-seminar-lures-chinese-vinexpo-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 May 2018 11:46:55 +0000 Bernice Chan Bernice Chan Almost every seat was taken in one seminar room on the first day of Vinexpo Hong Kong 2018, with an audience of mostly wine producers keen to find out more about the latest trends in the China wine market from a panel of experts. They heard that consumer patterns and preferences are shifting, with young wine drinkers buying online and moving away from established brands, both domestic and imported. “Before, [older wine drinkers] saw scale as evidence of success, but wine is agriculturally... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2148428/china-wine-market-millennial-drinkers-are-buying-online-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2148428/china-wine-market-millennial-drinkers-are-buying-online-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 May 2018 05:21:06 +0000 After my colleague Enid Tsui attempted to dine at Jimmy’s Kitchen three weeks ago and had to leave because there was nothing available in the kitchen, we went back to the iconic restaurant in Hong Kong’s Central district after an apparent revamp of the dishes and minor renovation of the dining room. For a Monday lunchtime the place was three-quarters full, mostly locals who must have deep pockets – set lunches here start at HK$228. Jimmy’s Kitchen closes to restore standards and traditional... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2147269/appeal-hong-kong-classic-restaurants-retro-menu-lost-us-series?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2147269/appeal-hong-kong-classic-restaurants-retro-menu-lost-us-series?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 May 2018 05:00:40 +0000 Mavericks, a restaurant in Pui O, Lantau, popular with weekend hikers, beach-goers and surfers and South Lantau residents is being forced to close in mid-May. The restaurant’s owner says it’s because of a jump in rent, but the operator that sublets the space to Mavericks says the restaurant on Pui O Beach was not interested in catering to its core business. Adrienne Ng is the founder and managing director of Treasure Island Group (TIG), which runs outdoor camps for children and companies doing... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2142486/why-hong-kong-beachside-restaurant-closing-mavericks-chef-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2142486/why-hong-kong-beachside-restaurant-closing-mavericks-chef-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Apr 2018 12:00:49 +0000 Is British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay going vegan? According to his Twitter post he is. On Monday he tweeted: “Going to give this #vegan thing a try … Yes guys you heard that right. Gx”. The jaw-dropping post was made together with a picture of what could be a vegan pizza for the opening of Ramsay’s latest venture Gordon Ramsay Street Pizza in London. Going to give this #vegan thing a try ... Yes guys you heard that right. Gx pic.twitter.com/iJZb8WMlH8 — Gordon Ramsay (@GordonRamsay) April... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2142233/gordon-ramsay-turning-vegan-hong-kong-chef-who-went-vegan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2142233/gordon-ramsay-turning-vegan-hong-kong-chef-who-went-vegan?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Apr 2018 05:16:16 +0000 Hong Kong fans of Shake Shack won’t need to wait until the end of April or early May when the famed American burger chain is set to open at IFC Mall – they can bite into their favourite burgers on Saturday, April 14. On that day, the Atrium at IFC will be transformed into Madison Square Park – where Shake Shack first started in 2001 – and from 11am to 4pm customers can try signature items such as the ShackBurger, ’Shroom Burger and crinkle-cut fries that can be washed down with ShackMeister Ale... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2139477/shake-shack-pop-hong-kong-give-taste-things-come-official?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2139477/shake-shack-pop-hong-kong-give-taste-things-come-official?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Mar 2018 09:48:25 +0000 Harlan Goldstein, the self-proclaimed “celebrity chef of Hong Kong”, is back – but this time he is about to open a restaurant in Pattaya, Thailand. Called Harlan Goldstein’s Comfort, the restaurant – which has the tagline “Food for Friends” – will open on March 28 and serve an eclectic menu of various cuisines. Jamie’s Italian restaurants in Hong Kong to focus more on local tastes Goldstein abruptly resigned from Hong Kong-based ZS Hospitality Group in September 2016 due to what he says were... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2136094/iconoclast-chef-hong-kong-back-pattaya-new-restaurant-thai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2136094/iconoclast-chef-hong-kong-back-pattaya-new-restaurant-thai?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Mar 2018 00:15:00 +0000 William Lyon lets out an exaggerated guffaw when asked about recent rumours that Jamie’s Italian was closing its Hong Kong restaurants because business is poor. “If I look at the churn in this building [Midtown Soundwill Plaza II in Causeway Bay], we’re the only Western restaurant that has managed to remain in this building in the same incarnation as it was in the beginning,” he says. (Penthouse is also still there, but its previous co-owner, chef Harlan Goldstein, is no longer involved after... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2134856/jamie-olivers-italian-restaurants-hong-kong-focus-more-local?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2134856/jamie-olivers-italian-restaurants-hong-kong-focus-more-local?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Feb 2018 05:02:40 +0000 Octavium is Italian chef Umberto Bombana’s latest project. The discreet restaurant, which opened quietly in July, didn’t even release its phone number – you had to be in the know to be able to snag a reservation in the 32-seater restaurant with a private dining room. But come March 1, customers can have a taste of what all the buzz is about, as the restaurant in an office tower in Central will be open for lunch, offering both an à la carte and pasta set menu. An art entrepreneur’s favourite... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2133899/octavium-central-otto-e-mezzo-chef-opens-lunch-experimental?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2133899/octavium-central-otto-e-mezzo-chef-opens-lunch-experimental?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Feb 2018 04:47:48 +0000