https://www.scmp.com/rss/36671/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Johannes Pong Johannes Pong Anybody with rudimentary knowledge of Chinese culture will recognise Hangzhou as a byword for refined gastronomy. The city, which has stood on the bucolic banks of the West Lake for over 2,000 years, is the southern terminus of China’s Grand Canal and served as the country’s capital during the Southern Song dynasty. Centuries before the first public restaurants opened in France, Hangzhou had taverns, nightclubs, speciality restaurants – vegetarian for Buddhists, spicy food for merchants from... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3344553/why-hangzhous-2-michelin-star-ru-yuan-restaurant-unlike-any-other?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3344553/why-hangzhous-2-michelin-star-ru-yuan-restaurant-unlike-any-other?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2026 04:15:08 +0000 Fourteen years ago, Alain Ducasse opened his first Hong Kong restaurant – Spoon, at the InterContinental in Tsim Sha Tsui. The French chef, who has 23 restaurants in seven countries, and a total of 18 Michelin stars, was back in Hong Kong last week to open his latest establishment, Rech by Alain Ducasse, which replaces Spoon. It is the first international outpost of the Parisian seafood restaurant that opened in 1925 and was taken over by Ducasse in 2007. Alain Ducasse’s newly opened Rech in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2077019/alain-ducasse-his-new-hong-kong-restaurant-rech-places-city-he?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2077019/alain-ducasse-his-new-hong-kong-restaurant-rech-places-city-he?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Mar 2017 22:31:13 +0000 For Hindus, there is an ever rotating roster of travelling gurus and swamis whose lectures they can attend, either in or out of India. If you are of a certain social standing, it is customary to invite a holy person to one’s home for a bhiksha, Sanskrit for “alms” – food given as a charitable act. Much respect is given to the visiting spiritual teacher, from the ritual welcoming of the guru into the household with a decorated coconut, a plate of sacred items including lights with wicks soaked in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2073020/culinary-art-bhiksha-how-feed-visiting-guru?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2073020/culinary-art-bhiksha-how-feed-visiting-guru?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Feb 2017 22:03:10 +0000 Mention Bordeaux and one immediately thinks of a luscious glass of red. In June, though, there were Chinese touches in the French wine capital. That’s when it unveiled the 10th edition of the Bordeaux Fête le Vin (Wine Festival) which this year took place from June 23-26 and to which two Hong Kong chefs were invited to play a part. The setting was magical. Along the promenade on the banks of the river Garonne, the region’s winemakers set up pavilions near the scintillating Miroir des Quais – the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2001838/tastes-and-culture-hong-kong-light-bordeaux-wine-festival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2001838/tastes-and-culture-hong-kong-light-bordeaux-wine-festival?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Aug 2016 08:53:28 +0000 In 1898, the Russian empire coerced a lease of the Liaodong peninsula from the Qing dynasty. Almost equidistant between Beijing and Pyongyang, the new port city was dubbed “Dalnyi” – Russian for “remote”. Thanks to its cold waters, China’s northernmost ice-free port city, in Liaoning province, boasts the country’s best abalone, sea cucumbers and shellfish. It’s also one of the cleanest and greenest of Chinese cities. Come summer, the constant cool ocean breeze has locals and tourists flocking to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1992172/dalian-dining-all-about-abalone-sea-cucumbers-and-sea-urchins?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1992172/dalian-dining-all-about-abalone-sea-cucumbers-and-sea-urchins?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Jul 2016 22:03:38 +0000 Canggu, on the southwest coast of Bali, may be best known as a hipster and surfer hangout but its oldest hotel also offers cooking classes with a difference. The Hotel Tugu Bali, the resort's grande dame, sits by the quiet surf beach, surrounded by its vast collection of Indonesian relics. But the hotel is not stuck in the past. The cooking class at Tugu Bali offers visitors a new perspective on Indonesia's centuries-old culinary traditions. The instructor is a celebrated chef in Asia and has... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1761798/learn-secrets-cooking-balinese-dishes-luxury-resort?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1761798/learn-secrets-cooking-balinese-dishes-luxury-resort?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Apr 2015 22:09:38 +0000 Tuen Ng might only be the Dragon Boat Festival for some, but for most it means jung or glutinous rice dumplings. Wrapped in bamboo leaves, jung (zongzi in Putonghua) can be bought all year round. While some families still go through the laborious process of wrapping their own dumplings come festival time for ritual gift exchange, giving out coupons to redeem at restaurants is the modern urban custom for busy Hong Kong families. Wu Siu in Tuen Mun is in her 80s and still makes her own jung every... https://www.scmp.com/article/1004452/home-made-rice-dumplings-turn-city-glutinous-paradise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1004452/home-made-rice-dumplings-turn-city-glutinous-paradise?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Is Hong Kong's air pollution a bigger health threat than last year's radiation leakage from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant? That was the question posed at a recent dinner held in Hong Kong to convince the public that food from Japan is free from radiation and safe for consumption. Hiromi Iijima, a food exporter from Ibaraki prefecture, one of a dozen producers at the event, said: 'My nose allergies are acting up here; I'm not used to the Hong Kong environment. In Ibaraki, we don't have this... https://www.scmp.com/article/996884/japans-food-exporters-tell-us-why-we-can-breathe-easy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/996884/japans-food-exporters-tell-us-why-we-can-breathe-easy?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:00:00 +0000 From its inception in 1963, The Mandarin and its bars were certainly the more elegant epicentre of whatever nightlife Central had to offer. From the swank supper club, the Button, in the 1960s, to the Harbour Room, a cabaret in the 1970s, to the still extant Captain's Bar and The Chinnery, the iconic venues provided a more upscale alternative to the sailor scene in Wan Chai. The moodily modern M bar is the newest of the hotel's bars. Compared to the positively ancient (by Hong Kong bar and... https://www.scmp.com/article/989891/refined-flavours-rose-hinted-glasses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/989891/refined-flavours-rose-hinted-glasses?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The Wet Deck on the 76th floor of W Hong Kong is the city's highest alfresco rooftop pool bar. And it's definitely worth going for a drink while the wintry sun is still up, even though the route to the bar is almost a walk of shame past the parents chaperoning their frolicking kids splashing by the poolside (the parents wish they were joining you). But turn the corner, the down-tempo beats are louder, and hey, it's almost happy hour. Grab a high table by the edge bordered by grass and glass,... https://www.scmp.com/article/987104/towering-achievement?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/987104/towering-achievement?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Since the Sars outbreak I have stopped singing at clubs like Liquid and Drop. Most of them are now closed on weekdays. Because of Sars I don't want to sing in crowded closed areas anyway. It's very dangerous. I am considering singing at beach parties and on junk trips instead. When I have to do a recording I make sure I clean the microphone first. But my tutoring business has tripled. It has been a long time since I worked full-time but since Sars I have been tutoring seven days a week. I am... https://www.scmp.com/article/415017/behind-mask?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/415017/behind-mask?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 May 2003 16:00:00 +0000