[Editor’s Note: Daniel Calvert no longer lives in Hong Kong. This guide was last updated March 2020]
An Education In Cantonese Food
Dining at Seventh Son is like an education in Cantonese food. Its dim sum is of Hong Kong’s highest quality, and its sucking pig is the best you will ever have. Pang’s Kitchen is the Chinese version of a family-run Parisian neighbourhood bistro. Jowett Hu (Ho Lee Fook‘s chef) and I go down for a meal probably once per week. We take a couple of bottles of natural wine (corkage is only around 100HKD), and it always feels like they’re welcoming us into their home. The signature dish is sweet and sour pork with strawberries, and for very good reason.
You’ll likely find me at The Chairman every Monday. It’s becoming a bit of a habit. Danny Yip‘s take on Cantonese cuisine is unique, and his commitment to local high-quality produce is second to none. There are always new dishes to try, but the steamed fresh flower crab with aged Shaoxing wine is a clear winner.
For good, inexpensive dim sum, go to Dim Sum Square. It looks touristy, which it very much is. But it’s still very good.
Strictly Hong Kong-Style
There are no other restaurants in Hong Kong like Australian chef Shane Osborn’s Arcane. It’s very unique. Very elegant. Very nice food. The dishes somehow remind me of London and prove that food doesn’t need to be fussy to be good.
Matt Abergel‘s Japanese restaurant-bar, Ronin, is one of my favourite restaurants in Hong Kong right now. Japanese cuisine is typically very subtle, but Matt is aggressive with the seasoning, in all the right ways. The results are delicious.
Sitting in the terrace of Vietnamese restaurant Le Garçon Saigon is a great spot for lunch. The chef is very good at what he does, and the food is delicious.
Where To Drink French Wine
Korean fried chicken and a bottle of Champagne is a damn fine way to end the working week, which is how the team at Belon usually spend Sunday afternoons at Hof & Soju. Another of my favourite pastimes is drinking bottles of French wine and ordering pizza on the patio in the little garden out the back of wine shop Premier Cru. A good industry tip is to go to the Caprice Bar at the four seasons to enjoy their French cheese and wine. For a very reasonable price you can experience the food of chef Guillaume Galliot, chef de cuisine of Caprice restaurant. Sometimes, he’ll be kind enough to bring us a couple of dishes – but don’t tell him I told you that.
No Shame In Their Game
I have no shame in admitting my love of Shake Shack because their burger game is just so good.
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