Seeing and Doing
Hop off in Central for a classic dim sum lunch at Yung Kee on Wellington Street. Established in 1943, it’s one of HongKong’s most enigmatic heritage restaurants, spread over three storeys with original tiled floors, carved wooden screens and golden dragons with glowing red eyes. From here you can walk uphill for an afternoon at Tai Kwun, a colonial-era police station rehabilitated into something-for-everyone arts and culture hub. Amid its museums, galleries and courtyards, are a clutch of brilliant new bars and restaurants, including the glamorous Chinese Library, all parquet floors, exposed beams, shuttered windows and jewel tones. The food here is exceptional and designed for sharing.
The sloping streets, alleys and atmospheric laneways of Central help to make this, one of the oldest and most dynamic areas of the city, such a draw for visitors looking to experience the true spirit of HongKong. Some of the city’s first merchants would’ve rattled their goods carts up and down the streets that connect Central’s hillier back streets with the glass-and-steel skyscrapers on Queen’s Road.
Mosey around the curio stalls of Cat Street Market (Upper Lascar Row) and shop for accessories and souvenirs at stalls that line the stone slabs of Pottinger Street, before heading for the antiques shops and art galleries on Hollywood Road. A few streets along in SoHo and Lan Kwai Fong, modern art galleries sit cheek by jowl with atmospheric temples, cafes and curio shops. If you spot a bright red door on Wyndham Street, that’s your gateway to Hong Kong’s finest destination for modern Indian cuisine. With a menu that spans all over India, Chaiwala is a great spot for vegetarian and non-vegetarians.
Kowloon: Explore the new West Kowloon Cultural District. Within its manicured waterfront lawns you’ll find the impressive M+, designed by Herzog + de Meuron, with a focus on the visual arts; as well as the new Hong Kong Palace Museum, containing countless treasures on loan from the Palace Museum in Beijing, from ancient calligraphy to royal robes and rare ceramics. Preserve some energy for Yau Ma Tei’s Temple Street Night Market – undoubtedly one of Asia’s most dazzling street markets.
One of the city’s newest creative spaces, The Mills, is housed in a 1960s cotton mill in the former textile district of Tsuen Wan. Here you can find experiential retail and cultural events, exhibitions and studio space, and up on the roof, the verdant urban oasis that is The Park, as well as The Deck, where a rooftop vegetable garden provides for The Mills’ restaurants.
Eating and Drinking
Kau Kee is a legendary institution that has been serving up steaming bowls of beef brisket noodles for almost a century now, earning it a much-coveted spot on the Michelin-recommended ‘Bib Gourmand’ list for several years now.
Ding Dim has made its mark as a traditional dim sum restaurant offering up simple and accessible fare. Coupling quality with reasonable prices, it’s an obvious and easy choice for anyone tempted by some HongKong dumplings – highlights being their classic Xiao Long Bao.
Another former police dormitory a five minutes walk from Tai Kwun is the PMG, a colonial brick building garlanded by attractive balconies now houses boutique shops, restaurants and bars (Louise is a lovely French spot), as well as doubling as a performance space and arts hub. It holds about six to eight exhibitions a year, and is a fun place to catch films and see indoor and outdoor theatre performances.
At Mott 32, it’s not uncommon to find yourself dining next to a rock legend or two, the basement Cantonese restaurant of the Standard Chartered Bank Building. Must-have dishes include the velvety quail egg, pork and black truffle siumai dumplings, roast pork with Yellow Mountain honey, and sautéed string beans with diced wagyu beef.
One-stop skyscrapers mean you can eat, drink, dance and gaze at the city without scuffing your shoes. The H Code building in Central houses some of the city’s hottest spots; try chef Olivier Elzer’s “yakifrenchy” Japanese-French fusion fine dining at Clarence followed by perfectly executed Gibsons at low-lit speakeasy The Diplomat.
Or head to the Landmark, starting with drinks at the futuristic Artifact Bar, before dining at one of the complex’s seven Michelin-starred restaurants.
Room 309: This is not somewhere you’re going to stumble across. Firstly, you’ll have to find The Pottinger hotel, squeezed between party zone Lan Kwai Fong and an old HongKong ‘ladder street’. Then, you’ll have to nip in the lift to The Envoy, the hotel’s third floor bar, request a key and finally ‘check-in’ to what looks like a tiny Victorian apothecary. Windowless, candlelit with just a couple of dozen seats, Room 309 is perfect for drinks à deux. In contrast to the décor, the cocktails – peanut butter and banana Old Fashioned, yogurt and lemon gimlet – are ultra-high-tech, with ingredients slowed dripped and passed through a centrifuge to pull out every drop of exquisite flavour.
Just a stroll east of Central, if you can’t make it up to The Peak, a meal at Salisterra, the restaurant on top of The Upper House hotel, is a good stand-in. You’ll get a sweeping view of the harbor from the 49th floor.
Sham Shui Po: With its streetscape of colourful Chinese signs, brightly-coloured button shops, and atmospheric old tong lau (tenements), Sham Shui Po is one of Hong Kong’s most lively neighbourhoods. The best way to get a real taste of the neighbourhood is on an evening food tour, munching around its noisy tea houses, dusty bakeries and hole-in-the-wall noodle stores. You might still bag an electronics bargain at Apliu Street Flea Market, but it’s just as much fun to sift through vintage cameras, retro radios and quirky gadgets that might make for a novelty gift. While you’re in the area, try to bag a seat at Tim Ho Wan, a Michelin-recommended dim sum joint known for its delectable (and affordable) BBQ pork buns, steamed egg cake, bean-curd skin with pork and shrimp and pan-fried carrot cake. If you can’t find a seat there, worry not – the area abounds with old, established family restaurants, as well as noodle cafes, dumpling stores, beancurd factories and Chinese sweet shops selling traditional favourites alongside new twists with a regional bent, such as the durian pancake. The Kung Wo Beancurd Factory, an eatery now well into its 65th year is where regulars gorge on the traditionally made sweet tofu pudding and beancurd puffs and, as a result, make it one of the busiest restaurants in all of Hong Kong that doesn’t serve the obvious dim sum and tea.
Mido Café in Kowloon is about sampling a flavour of 1950s Hong Kong that’s almost disappeared. Arrive in the late afternoon when the light is most cinematic; head upstairs and sit in a booth under the ceiling fans, next to the green-painted windows overlooking the Tin Hau Temple (the one that lent the famous Temple Street Market its name). The staff will give you an English menu that contains a host of unlikely possibilities, such as Ovaltine and Horlicks – both casual dining staples for Hongkongers. Try the Hong Kong-style French toast (a deep-fried peanut butter toast served with maple syrup) with lemon tea, plus the fried rice, baked pork chop or deep-fried wontons. Walk-ins only
Where to Stay
The Fleming hotel: In a hotel landscape dominated by somewhat predictable business behemoths, this medium-sized boutique hotel stands out for its meticulously thought-out concept and its strong sense of place. Located in Wan Chai, the Soho of this mighty metropolis. Don’t miss nearby the delicious restaurant 22 Ships and The Fringe Club – hosting live jazz, blues and much more in a Victorian-era building and Mizunara: The Library, a quiet whisky bar hidden above Lockhart Road, serving exquisite cocktails.
The Pottinger: This small hotel has a lot going for it: there’s the central location in the heart of town, halfway up one of HongKong’s historic ladder streets; one of the best cocktail bars in town, The Envoy; and chinoiserie-chic rooms with ultra-comfy beds.
Residence G Hong Kong: With just 29 rooms, this really is a boutique hotel. Tucked away in a less-visited quarter of one of Kowloon’s busiest areas, it cleverly manages to make small interiors look desirable. It’s a good-value spot to nest in for a few nights.
Little Tang Hang: The Tai Hang district is one of HongKong island’s most characterful neighbourhoods. Little Tai Hang sits in a purpose-built complex which also houses serviced apartments. Guests can enjoy a charming old area whilst staying in uncluttered modern comfort
Butterfly Hotel: For location and price, this 80-room hotel is hard to beat. Wellington Street is in the heart of Central, meaning no open views or respite from the city’s pulse, but the convenience factor is extremely high.
Escaping the City
HongKong is so much more than its skyscrapers; there’s also top hiking, golden beaches and old-fashioned fishing villages to explore. You can find them all on Lamma Island – along with some of the best seafood in the city. Lip-smacking seaside shack Lamma Rainbow Seafood Restaurant offers a free open-top ferry service for booked guests or you can hop on the local ferry and hike over from Yung Shue Wan, passing sea caves and stilted homes along the way.
Even if you’ve never set foot on the Aqua Luna, you’ve probably seen the highly photogenic red-sailed Chinese junk that plys Victoria Harbour. You can do daytime trips to Stanley, but the 45-minute evening cruise from Central (or from Tsim Sha Tsui’s Pier 1) is when HongKong’s skyline is most spectacular. It’s fun lying on cushions with a drink in hand, while one of the world’s most fabulous harbours unfolds before you. Sailings during The Symphony of Lights – a light show that taking place nightly around 7.30pm-7.45pm – cost HK $70 more than other evening tours, but it’s not really worth paying extra.
Explore an abandoned island! No one lives full time on the tiny island of Yim Tin Tsai anymore, but former residents return at weekends and operate a 15-minute ferry service (reservations recommended) from Sai Kung for visitors interested in exploring. It’s a highly evocative lost landscape. Yim Tin Tsai means ‘Little Salt Field’, which is how the inhabitants, the Chan clan, once made their living. In the 19th century, they all converted to Catholicism and built St Joseph’s Chapel, which has been restored several times (and has received a UNESCO Award of Merit). The real draw are the abandoned village houses. Listen to the creaking bamboo and imagine the ghostly rustle of past occupants (either that, or there are snakes in the undergrowth – don’t go poking about too much in flip-flops). Ferries operate Sat, Sun, public holidays: from Sai Kung at 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm; from Yim Tin Tsai at 12.20pm, 2.20pm, 4pm, 5pm
The museum of coastal defence on the mountain or the teaware museum in the park are two lesser-known museums off the beaten path worth a visit.