Keeping up with new restaurants in Hong Kong, let alone new chefs and new menus, can be tricky. Our restaurant news round-up will keep you in the loop about the city’s ever-evolving dining scene. From the latest eatery to open its doors to celebrity chefs to Hong Kong brunches and cool new bars, it’s all here!
New Restaurants and Bars
Pane e Latte
Italian for “bread and milk”, this newie in Stanley serves up high-quality artisanal breads, pastries and pizzas, baked fresh daily. The Italian bakery feel is replicated in the traditional long marble countertop, where you can browse and pick from the offerings on display. The seaside location is handy too, helping to evoke the colourful cliffside homes in Positano, on the Amalfi coast – and the window awnings and cushion covers in soft gelato colours help too. As for food highlights, there are many, but we struggle to go past the Bomboloni (an Italian doughnut) and a loaf of fresh Pugliese focaccia. There’s a simple all-day breakfast menu, too, and – it goes without saying – great Italian coffee, wines and cocktails.
G/F, U-c Court, 25 Stanley Market Road, Stanley
paneelatte.hk | @paneelattehk
G Room Bar & Lounge
They had us at “whole lobster paella”! Gaia Group has just opened G Room Bar & Lounge at K11 MUSEA. The menu features Western-Asian tapas – think Mediterranean-style dishes but with a Southeast Asian twist – in an innovative space that combines fine dining, music, art and technology. Aside from the aforementioned paella (HK$598), which features crisp Asian-style fried rice, premium Iberico ham and whole Boston lobster – there’s also a spesh-sounding seafood platter ($298) with everything from calamari to Thai fish cakes. We’re eyeing off the bespoke cocktail selection, too – in particular, the G Room Sangria Jar ($428), with fresh seasonal fruit in a blend of Spanish red wine, white wine, moscato and premium rum.
Shop 504, 5/F, K11 MUSEA, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, TST
2332 6662 | gaiagroup.com.hk
The Meat Co.
The cliché that steak is a blokey food is put to the sword (or carving knife) at The Meat Co., a new “female-forward steak frites concept” that has opened in Eaton HK’s Food Hall. The dining destination is helmed by an all-female team, with the idea being to support Hong Kong’s women who are underemployed in comparison to the male population. Premium USDA Angus Striploin is used in the signature steak frites here, with prices starting from a very affordable HK$138, including fries, fresh coleslaw and a choice of sauces. Hungrier diners can up the portion size of both the steak and the fries.
Shop 6, Level LG, Eaton HK, 380 Nathan Road, Jordan
FB & IG: @themeatco.hk
Giacomo
Fans of fab Italian (aren’t we all) will be happy to hear that an elegant southern Italian fine-dining restaurant, Giacomo, has launched in Crowne Plaza Hong Kong Causeway Bay. After stints at big-name venues such as 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana, Michelin-star trained chef Keith Yam is making his debut as an Executive Chef at Giacomo, with signature dishes featuring high-quality, globally-sourced seasonal ingredients, including “sun-kissed herbs and vegetables of the south”. Along with artisanal hand-made pastas with divinesounding sauces, there are signature meat dishes such as lamb with a winter black truffle sauce, and heavenly desserts like chocolate and hazelnut gelato. Meanwhile, the interior features classical Italian touches and a floor-to-ceiling window along bustling Leighton Road.
G/F, 8 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay
3980 3008 | fb.com/Giacomo.hk
ARGO Cocktail bar
ARGO has opened in the Four Seasons as part of the hotel’s wider transformation that included makeovers to all guest rooms. The name derives from the ancient myth of Jason and the Argonauts – hence the adventurous drinks list. In particular, the bar celebrates six staple ingredients that may be endangered in the future: honey, cacao, vanilla, coffee, rice and apple. There are local ingredients on show – from bee farm HK Raw Honey, for instance – and the bar also encourages collaborations with movers and (cocktail) shakers. It has already launched ARGO Gin, created in conjunction with the award-winning Australian distillery Never Never Distilling Co.
G/F, 8 Finance Street, Central
fourseasons.com/hongkong
Moxie
The Arcane Collective has opened its third restaurant, Moxie, in Landmark Central. Head Chef and Arcane veteran Michael Smith leads a team who plan to deliver smart-casual breakfast, lunch and dinner options for diners keen to underline their relationship with food, health and the environment. The restaurant will support a community of specialist and artisan farmers, growers and suppliers, both locally and internationally. Vegetarian and seafood options abound on the menu, with items such as Moxie’s Three Grain Mapo Tofu, and Seared Fremantle Octopus with Broccolini, Fresh Burrata and Salsa Verde. There’s also a dessert of Warm Chocolate Tart with Espresso Chantilly, which pretty much has our next booking confirmed. The interior theme is “natural and vegetal”, with plenty of natural oak.
Shop 203, 2/F Alexandra House, Landmark Central
moxie.hk.net | IG @moxie_hk
Oolaa TKO
There’s now a fourth Oolaa venue (after Soho, Star Street and Tung Chung), with the opening of a Tseung Kwan O outlet in the seaside Capri Residential District. You can expect the same combo of breakfast, brunch and all-day à la carte menus, plus daily happy hour and home delivery, along with ever-changing weekday set lunches and weeknight specials. Highlights from the comprehensive menu include a range of salads, pastas, burgers, pizzas and flatbreads, and mains that run the gamut from sizzling fajitas to grilled steaks and pistachio-crusted rack of lamb, with a bunch of tasty sides.
Shop G16, G/F, Capri Place, 33 Tong Yin Street, TKO
2369 2866 | oolaatko@oolaagroup.com
Steak King
Hikers and cyclists alike have been loving Mui Wo lately, and they’ll love it even more with the opening of Steak King’s new butcher shop, deli and coffee house in the coastal village. Located just 100 metres from the Mui Wo Pier, Steak King Mui Wo features a daily hand-written menu with house-roasted specialty coffee, gourmet pizza, all day breakfast and home-baked pies. We love the bar counter, which has been made with more than 2,000 fifty cent coins donated by the local community – a perfect surface for placing a cold draught beer! Over at the Butchers Counter, you can browse a range of chilled products and ready meals to take home. Another Steak King outlet also opened recently in Sai Kung, and there’s one pencilled in for Tung Chung in October 2021 too.
Shop 1, Lucky Court, 16 Mui Wo Ferry Pier Road, Mui Wo
Other News
Upcoming Eats
Not ones to let a pandemic get in the way of expansion, Pirata Group is undergoing what you might call a growth spurt, with a whole batch of new dining venues opening in the back end of 2021. One major highlight will be The Sixteenth in Quarry Bay – an 18,000-squarefoot area with four dining concepts: Sicilian eats at La Favorita, outdoor bar and garden Tempo Tempo, temakeria offerings at TMK Funk & Rolls, and the sushi-focused Honjokko. The group is also adding a new Pici Pasta Bar, this time in Tseung Kwan O, among other rollouts.
A More Modern Market
Hong Kong’s original wet market, which has been in its same spot on Des Voeux Road since 1895, has finally reopened after a HK$500 million revitalisation project. The 1930s Bauhaus-style building has been given a new lease of life, with dining and retail outlets and cultural corners sitting amidst a sleek new space. There’s lots happening on the events calendar already, and we’re looking forward to trying Singaporean fare at Pulau, Japanese at Wako Sake, and a few cold ones at Mak’s Beer.
Clever Cooking
If you love grilling, check out the Weber Connect Smart Grilling Hub (HK$1,549), a step-by-step grilling assistant that sends notifications directly to your smartphone on everything from a food readiness countdown, to when it’s time to flip and serve. The brand’s latest smart gadget addition is linked to the Weber Connect phone application, compatible with iPhones on iOS 12.1 or later, and most smartphones on Android 7.0 or later. All it takes is a glance at your phone to know that everything is on track and grilling to perfection!
Masterclass at the Aubrey
The new Champagne and Sake Bar located within the Curio Lounge of Japanese izakaya The Aubrey is currently hosting Champagne Masterclasses every Saturday, from 3pm. The Mandarin Oriental venue is offering each guest five glasses of bubbles from a curated selection from leading Maisons, with different themes that change every two weeks. It promises to be a fun and educational frolic through France’s Champagne region.
2825 4001 | mohkgaubrey@mohg.com
See more in our Wine & Dine section!
