Chinese New Year is just around the corner (Kung Hei Fat Choy!). Begin the Year of the Rabbit the right way by sharing a CNY meal to welcome the new lunar year together. Here’s our guide to some of Hong Kong’s best Chinese New Year restaurants for dining out or trying a menu at home this year.
A sumptuous seafood feast
Celebrate the bountiful New Year with a buffet of 200 foods from around the world at The Astor. You’ll be spoilt for choice with roast beef ribeye and lamb plus traditional favourites like honey-glazed barbecue pork and Peking duck. Seafood lovers can enjoy unlimited oysters, lobsters, crabs and more, along with a delicious selection of hot dishes and sashimi and sushi delivered from Japan. Save room for dessert too! The buffet is serving Scottish whisky trifle, Aussie lamingtons and Italian mango tiramisu.
Also, if you’re looking for traditional dishes to celebrate Chinese New Year, from 22 to 29 January, The Astor is adding braised e-fu noodles with crab and shrimp, Shaoxing drunken chicken rolls, ‘Lo Hei’ and more to their buffet.
Between 22 to 25 January, the buffet prices start from $558 for lunch and $798 for dinner, with discounts for children and seniors. For all other dates in January, it’s from $358 and $628, lunch and dinner. You can also add on all-you-can-drink wines, sake, Korean rice wines and soft drinks for $90.
The Astor
B1, Eaton HK, 380 Nathan Road, Jordan
2710 1901 | theastor.com
Spring into the Year of the Rabbit with afternoon tea and dim sum
What better way to usher in prosperity and harmony than with an oceanfront vista at the Fullerton Ocean Park Hotel. This year, popular restaurant Jade is offering delicious dim sum and a Chinese New Year Reunion Feast for $1,088 per person or $7,128 for a table of six. Menu highlights include traditional CNY favourites like crispy suckling pig, double-boiled sea whelk soup with sea cucumber, and braised fish maw and goose web with oyster sauce.
For a special daytime celebration, the Lighthouse Lounge has a delightful afternoon tea. Think savouries and sweet treats, infused with Chinese ingredients and delivered on an elegant three-tiered silver stand. Indulge in crab swiss rolls, Sijichun tea mousse and rich tangerine-peel cheesecake alongside freshly baked walnut scones.
Other offers at the Fullerton include a mouth-watering lunch and dinner buffet at Lighthouse Cafe. Plus, there’s a selection of Chinese New Year puddings and delectable hampers that make great gifts for family and friends.
The Fullerton
3 Ocean Drive, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
2166 7408 | fullertonhotels.com
Celebrations at The Ritz-Carlton
Cantonese favourites at Tin Lung Heen
Michelin favourite Tin Lung Heen at The Ritz-Carlton has reinvented its menu for the ultimate Chinese New Year lunch and dinner. Enjoy a diverse range of Cantonese dishes from 22 January to 5 February to honour the Year of the Rabbit. Pan-fried scallops served with house-made crispy rice crackers are highlights on the lunch menu ($768 per person). You’ll also find braised abalone with goose web symbolising smoothness and good luck.
For dinner, look forward to seafood flavours – we like the sound of the king-sized razor clams stir-fried with chives and garlic! – delivering prosperity to families and friends for $1,688 per person.
Puddings, hampers and casseroles
The hotel is combining local art with nostalgic flavours in its Chinese New Year takeaway offerings this year. For example, the glutinous pudding with demerara sugar ($298) will transport many diners to the festive table of childhood Chinese New Year celebrations. And the radish pudding with X.O. sauce ($358) will fill your belly! The hotel has also launched two new opulent hampers (from $2,688) inspired by the traditional embroidery of local artisan Miru Wong.
Also available for order is The Ritz-Carlton’s Classic Winter Casserole (poon choi), perfect for an intimate dinner or hearty feast with family and friends (from $688). Expect 18 premium delicacies including whole abalone, fish maw, sea cucumber, conpoy, dried oysters, king prawns and more.
1 Austin Road West, International Commerce Centre
2263 2263 | ritzcarlton.com
Chilli Fagara – A spicy start to the year
Add some spice to your New Year celebrations with Chilli Fagara’s signature Sichuan flavours and ultimate Ma La Tang spread. From 16 January to 5 February, welcome the Year of the Rabbit with prized lobster tail and fragrant pork knuckle or true-to-traditional chicken and vegetarian delicacies. The braised chestnuts with spare ribs in spicy sauce is a must-try on the menu ($388) along with with the stir-fried vegetables with ginger sauce, served in a bird’s nest of crispy noodles ($288). Hoping to impress with a Chinese New Year gift? Chilli Fagara has also created premium hand-curated hampers, sure to impress gourmands (and chilli lovers!).
7 Old Bailey Street, Central
2796 6866 | chillifagara.com
Authentic delicacies with a Jiangsu Club twist
Have you ever tried Su cuisine? It’s considered a culinary treasure of China! Try it at Jiangsu Club, which is celebrateing the Year of the Rabbit with authentic Su dishes. Menu items reflect regional cooking techniques and knife craft. Featuring a signature golden chicken broth with 16 ingredients, Jiangsu Club’s prosperity pot or poon choi is perfect for groups of six to eight people ($2,280). What’s more, all orders come with an extra portion of homemade golden chicken broth to reheat at home.
Alternatively, the fortune feast for $780 per person or the prosperity feast for $1,280 offer a wide range of flavours from the Jiangsu region. Want to stick with à la carte? The eight treasures duck for $728 is not to be missed. After your meal, tease your tastebuds with an elegantly packaged sweet red date cake ($138) or turnip pudding ($168), to bring a year of happiness.
2/F, Alliance Building, 130-136 Connaught Road, Sheung Wan
6230 8973 | facebook.com/jiangsuclub
New Year, new dim sum
Duddell’s colourful, stylish venue in Central is serving authentic and innovative Cantonese cuisine this Chinese New Year. The offerings feature limited edition puddings, gift sets and hampers. You’ll also find dim sum specials, celebratory set menus and takeaway poon choi starting from $2,388.
The new Chinese New Year Dim Sum lunch selection includes delicately crafted bites such as goldfish-shaped shrimp dumplings, with mullet roe, crispy lava sesame balls, and pan-fried New Year Cake for lunch or dinner. While you’re at it, check out the seven new dishes on the à la carte menu. They include double-boiled chicken soup ($468) , sauteed lobster ($1,088) and fried glutinous rice (HK$468.)
Duddell’s two tasting menus offer the likes of deep-fried shrimp paste puff with honey-glazed dried oysters, Yoshiyama abalone and braised pork knuckles, all for $1,088 per person for six courses and $1,988 for eight.
Level 3, 1 Duddell Street, Central
2525 9191 | duddells.co
Rosewood – hop into the new year!
Legacy House and Holt’s Cafe at the Rosewood are serving indulgent treats to ring in the Year of the Rabbit. You can book the main dining room or a private room for a special celebration! The star of the à la carte menu is a mouth-watering crispy chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, ready to share over lunch or dinner for $480. Other highlights include spicy poached spotted grouper fillet and braised sea cucumber with sun-dried oysters and black moss.
For the ultimate traditional feast, there’s an eight-course dinner ($2,380 per person), with the likes of double-boiled fish maw soup with pearl oyster. For lunch, indulge in six courses including crab meat dumpling with bird’s nest and chilled taro pudding for dessert. The dim sum menu’s had a CNY makeover too, with baked lobster puffs, scallop dumplings and more.
All about providing a contemporary twist on Hong Kong’s traditional Cha Chaan Teng, Holt’s Cafe is offering an exclusive Chinese New Year brunch for one day only. It’s being held in their stylish parlour on 22 January, for $888 per person (discounts for children). Or, from 24 to 27 January, enjoy a four-course “A Taste of Traditional Canton” CNY set lunch. It’s priced at $480 per person.
Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
3891 8888 | rosewoodhotels.com
Auspicious experiences and tantalising treats
Four Seasons is marking the Year of the Rabbit with some guaranteed crowd-pleasers. For example, the three-Michelin-starred Lung King Heen has created four exquisite New Year puddings. These include a new water chestnut pudding with lotus roots and snow dates for $508. As a time-honoured tradition, their signature poon choi will be available until 5 February, from $4,288.
For a full celebratory feast, sample the limited-time lunch and dinner set menus. The main highlights? Crispy suckling pig, braised sea bass and crab meat soup with glutinous rice dumplings drizzled in sweetened almond cream. Over at The Lounge and Gallery, enjoy a Chinese New Year afternoon tea or interactive cooking experience. Or try Argo’s Chinese New Year Lunch Buffet overlooking the heart of Central ($888 per adult).
Four Seasons is also offering an auspicious getaway, including dining packages and discounts. The deal inclues themed treatments at the spa and a selection of Chinese New Year hampers too.
8 Finance Street, Central
3196 8888 | fourseasons.com
Ring in the Year of the Rabbit
Man Ho at the JW Marriott is a great choice for diners interested in symbolic plates of Cantonese dishes for CNY. Sticking to tradition? Their Michelin-starred poon choi for dine-in or takeaway ($988 per person) and sought-after puddings priced from $348 will be a hit with family and friends. From 21 to 31 January, the à la carte menu showcases a range of specialties including abalone yusheng, braised dried oysters and sautéed Macau sole fillet. For an indulgent spread, the “Ru Yi Chinese New Year Reunion Set” boasts tried and true favourites. It’s priced at $18,888 for ten guests, and includes baked crab shell stuffed with lobster meat, abalone with sea cucumber and more.
Preorder your Chinese New Year gifts, pudding and poon choi here.
JW Marriott, 88 Queensway, Admiralty
2810 8366 | marriott.com
Do you have a venue to be included? Contact us at editor@expatliving.hk!
For more ideas on where to dine in Hong Kong, check out our restaurant reviews.
