Got a craving for Welch’s Grape Soda, Charleston Chews, Strawberry Quick, A&W Cream Soda, Mint Double-Stuff Oreos, or Blow-Pops by the 100-pack?

Several grocery stores in Hong Kong specialize in American products, also stocking an impressive selection of U.S. junk food! (more…)

It was only a matter of time before competition for Hong Kong’s best pizza started to heat up. As we witnessed earlier with burger joints, frozen yoghurt places and bubble tea stands, the window of opportunity to be the only one of your kind is very brief in this city.

Tuesday I headed over to a slightly out of the way corner of Causeway Bay to try Slices, the newest contender for best New York-style pizza. (more…)

Papabubble, the artisan candy shop first founded in Barcelona in 2004, now has a branch in Hong Kong. The franchise, which specializes in hand-made and custom candy creations, has several stores around the world, including Tokyo, Taipei, and Seoul.

A quick peek inside Papabubble reveals an assortment of brightly-colored candies and fun, whimsical designs. (more…)

When the weather gets cold in Hong Kong, one positive is that a few local delicacies become available to help ward off the chill. Perhaps the most ubiquitous of these winter remedies is something very simple – a hot Vitasoy soy milk. (more…)

Back in early March we talked about how Hong Kong’s lack of decent pizza has been holding up the city’s reputation. For pizza lovers, especially former New Yorkers, being able to get a ‘slice’ is an important lifestyle issue. Thankfully, it appears we’ve turned a corner.

Paisano’s, which has had a branch in Sai Kung for years, has finally opened shop on Lyndhurst Terrace in Central. The pizzeria serves a large variety of pies, pastas, subs and salads. The place is more like a N.Y. pizzeria in offering pizza by the slice. Since its opening, about a month ago, Paisano’s has been packed! (more…)

Order a milk tea champagne!

There are two Hong Kong companies that continually impress me. One of them is Lane Crawford (they seem to do everything right!) and the second is Tsui Wah. A few months ago, Tsui Wah added a brand new drink to their menu. It’s fun, smart, and perfectly suited to Hong Kong.

Called milk tea champagne, it arrives at your table in a bottle wedged in a bucket of ice! The drink combines two local favorites, Hong Kong style milk tea with the city’s predilection for champagne. (more…)

LKF Tower, which houses the LKF Hotel as well as popular spots Tazmania Ballroom, Azure, and Finds, has two new attractions. The recent additions, Lily and Bloom, opened by the people behind Volar and Halo, occupy an interesting two-level space.

Lily, on the sixth floor, is primarily a lounge, while Bloom on the fifth level is a restaurant and raw bar. The two are connected by an ornate wooden staircase.

The vibe at Lliy and Bloom is much different from the group’s previous venues, or for that matter, anything else in the neighborhood. (more…)

♪♫ “Hello, is it me you’re looking for?”

Last week I hopped on the MTR and headed out to Quarry Bay. My mission was to try out the new pizza place, NYPD (New York Pizza Delivery,) which just soft-launched their first branch in Hong Kong.

I had high hopes for NYPD. The owner had commented on Hong Kong Hustle after reading our post about the city’s lack of New York style pizza. As I walked towards the place I wondered if this could finally be it. (more…)

Will the city’s most exclusive address finally be able to enjoy a fish-ball fish-cake noodle at 3:30 am? Perhaps not, but a new branch of Tsui Wah is currently under construction on The Peak.

The restaurant chain, known for their local delicacies, is essentially a diner, offering a large menu that includes Western and Chinese favorites alongside many uniquely Hong Kong-style dishes. Tsui Wah is also well known to the city’s nightlife denizens as their branches are both conveniently located and open late.

But can Tsui Wah succeed in what must be an extremely pricey location? (more…)

Born in Italy, perfected in New York!

If you ask a transplanted New Yorker, what’s the best pizza in Hong Kong? They’ll surely answer: there isn’t any!

Not all pizzas were created equal
Though pizza originated in Naples, Italy, it was popularized, internationalized and significantly innovated on by Italian immigrants who settled in New York. Selling pizza by the slice for example, is a New World creation. The standard New York pizza of today is sort of a larger, more affluent cousin to the pizza from Naples.

While endless varieties of pizza exist, the measuring stick of modern pizza is New York pizza. And it is New York pizza that is astonishingly absent from Hong Kong. (more…)