Strolling through Sheung Wan the other day I happened upon a curious sight. On a block known for its crumbling old buildings, a brand new store has arrived. The tasteful look of the shop (a wooden facade with several stories of flags flapping in the wind,) was unmistakably French, as was the name, Monsieur Chatté. What are they selling? (more…)

There are several reasons why I normally don’t do restaurant reviews. Stated simply, personal tastes differ; standards differ; individual dining experiences may be different; and restaurants can be inconsistent. I don’t want the reputation of Hong Kong Hustle in doubt because the chef was out sick the night that you decided to visit, or you ordered an obscure dish that the restaurant doesn’t specialize in. But I’m willing to break my rule on the rare occasion that I discover someplace truly special. The newly relaunched Chez Moi restaurant on 10 Arbuthnot Road in Central is one of those cases. (more…)

Last night on a whim I headed over to the Java Road Cooked Food Centre for the first time in a few years. Located in North Point, it’s similar to the Wong Nai Chung Cooked Food Centre in Happy Valley. Situated above a live market, it feels as though you’re dining seaside at an outdoor restaurant. To summarize briefly, good food, reasonable prices and unique market ambiance make the place a Hong Kong classic. (more…)

Longing for that feeling of eating seafood sitting at an outdoor restaurant? How about in the middle of winter… in the center of Happy Valley? For those who miss summer trips out to Sai Kung or one of Hong Kong’s islands, but can’t take the cold or the time to leave town, the Wong Nai Chung Cooked Food Centre aka the Happy Valley market offers nearly the same experience. (more…)

Where to find that spicy deli mustard perfect for your Summer bbq? Or that real Vermont maple syrup that elevates pancakes to the next plateau? Hong Kong’s reputation as a shopping bonanza isn’t just limited to clothing and electronics. It’s time for a trip to Hong Kong’s upscale supermarkets! (more…)

I had a busy night on Friday, but I managed to stop by the opening of a new contemporary Japanese restaurant called Zuma. Located at 15 Queens Road, Zuma is above Gucci and the upscale supermarket Three-Sixty.

Hong Kong’s love of Japanese food
Hong Kong has an insatiable appetite for Japanese food. Ask any local what their favorite cuisine is, and Japanese food typically tops the list. I might even wager that there are more Japanese restaurants per person in Hong Kong than anywhere else outside of Japan! The price and quality of the restaurants runs the full spectrum. Here you can find everything from the newly opened Nobu (located in the InterContinental hotel,) to a hidden street of bargain-basement Japanese restaurants in an unfashionable factory area of Hung Hom. (more…)

Last Sunday there was a huge food and beverage show (HOFEX) at the Hong Kong Convention Center. I spent the afternoon walking around sampling food from dozens of different countries. All of the booths were looking for people to distribute their products, so there were samples to try every few feet!

My friend Brian is the distributor of Pravda Vodka in Hong Kong, and he had a huge booth set up (equipped with two bars!) in one of the halls. During the convention they sponsored several different competitions including a bartender bottle-juggling contest. Check out one of the routines!

There have been two notable new arrivals from America in the last few months. Krispy Kreme, the infamously tempting doughnut shop, and Burger King have both opened new branches in the city.

Krispy Kreme has two locations - one in Causeway Bay, a high-traffic shopping mecca, and the other (pictured above) in Soho, the trendy neighborhood home to dozens of restaurants offering international cusine in a two-block area.

It’s interesting that Krispy Kreme is occupying the former site of Starbucks Coffee, which itself had an extremely successful launch in Hong Kong a few years ago. The Soho branch is directly next to the Mid-Levels escalator (search my archives for previous entry) which moves over 45,000 people per day! It’s a high-profile location and an excellent choice for making an introduction.

On the subject of American chains arriving in Hong Kong, it’s worth noting that before Starbucks opened people questioned their ability to do well since, the argument went, there was a cultural tie to drinking tea rather than coffee in H.K. The skeptics were proven wrong. Starbucks has been a runaway success, and has expanded greatly. The same naysayers have said that American-style doughnuts are too sweet for Hong Kong - let’s see what happens!

Burger King has adopted a different location strategy. Despite being located at the top of Victoria Peak in the newly renovated Peak Tower (a main tourist destination overlooking the city,) Burger King has attracted residents from all over the island. On a recent Sunday, the place was completely packed with more locals than tourists - with not a single seat available!

Fast food pioneer McDonald’s is extremely successful in Hong Kong and they are ubiquitous throughout the territory. Until recently however, Burger King had only a single branch open in Hong Kong - located inside the terminal of the airport, which limited its customers to only ticketed passengers who had proceeded through immigration. Opening a location on The Peak is perfect to build the brand with the massive number of tourists from China and other parts of Asia as well as to provide familiar, inexpensive food for Western foreigners.

I’ve seen a lot of cool birthday cakes in my day, but this one, well, takes the cake!

Made by the dessert chef from Dragon-i to celebrate the owner Gilbert’s birthday, this was truely a masterpiece. Gilbert is a huge music lover and a d.j., so this was an excellent personalized design.

The turntable is nearly 100% anatomically correct. I love the white chocolate tone-arm. The only thing that’s missing is the cartridge, and perhaps the chef only saw it without the cartridge anyway. I’d give it top marks on creativity and vision!

If you’re walking around Hong Kong and you see what looks like an improvised food stall built into a ramshackle little hut, you’ve just spotted a ‘dai pai dong’. You can tell them by their green painted color. They sit in front of buildings, next to the sidewalk. Usually they have several round tables and folding stools set up for their customers to sit and eat. Typical dai pai dong fare is instant noodles or congee.

Dai pai dongs are vanishing now because they can only be owned by the original owner or handed over to a spouse. For a little history, the government granted “big license stalls” to families of civil servants who had died or were injured during World War II. Over the years the government made the stalls non-transferable, and then came up with incentives to have license holders relinquish their stalls for a fee. Only a handful of true dai pai dongs remain open to this day. In the photo below you can see a dai pai dong that just closed (next to one that remains.)