HONG KONG -- Here are more memorable dishes we tried recently in Hong Kong.

Sweet and Sour Lychee Pork at Island Shangrila-La Hotel’s Ming Pavilion

Cyrene de la Rosa Inside Island Shangri-La Hotel is a new Hokkien dining destination headed by Chef de Cuisine Jack Lam and his team. It is probably the only place in Hong Kong, where one can enjoy elevated contemporary Hokkien fare, more popularly known as Fujian or Fookien Chinese in the Philippines. 

One of the must-orders is a very good version of sweet and sour pork that used lychees in lieu of the ubiquitous pineapple. They also had a posh version of Xiamen-style “popiah” that’s very similar to our Amoy Chinese lumpia and also a to-die for Australian Southern Rock Lobster with Red Wine Lees if, you are looking for an extra special seafood treat beyond the ubiquitous steamed fish. 

Best enjoyed with their extra special tea concoctions. Insider tip: Try their cold Jasmine tea too, aside from the usual hot, for a (very refreshing) change.

Bone Marrow Biryani at Leela 

Cyrene de la Rosa Leela at Lee Garden Three is the newest restaurant concept of the JIA restaurant group in collaboration with chef-owner Manav Tuli who was previously the executive chef of Michelin-starred Chaat at the Rosewood Hotel. It’s an Indian restaurant that offers a playful modern approach to Indian cuisine with dishes inspired by Chef Manav’s own personal culinary journey. 

One must-try dish is its take on the biryani with an aged basmati rice base flavored with saffron and rose water that’s made more rich and indulgent with the addition of bone marrow. Best eaten with Chef Manav’s Smoked Butter Chicken. 

Insider tip: Don’t forget to leave room for dessert and order the Ispahan kulfi. Inspired wine pairings are available for the wine lovers.

Crispy suckling pig with foie gras mousse & caviar at Grand Hyatt’s One Harbour Road

Cyrene de la Rosa  One Harbour Road helmed by Chef Chan Hon Cheong continues to be an old favorite of many locals mainly for its consistently good dim sum and homestyle Cantonese fare. It also helps to have a warm and cozy interior with sweeping views of Victoria Harbour, combined with an equally warm and attentive yet not intrusive service team on hand. 

If ordering ala carte, start your meal at a high note by starting with the crispy suckling pig appetizer dish that features an extra crispy sliver of suckling pig skin, mounted on top of a layer of sliced foie gras mousse before it was garnished with a generous dollop of caviar. 

Insider tip: If you’re in the mood for more caviar, head to the Grand Hyatt’s Champagne Bar that offers great deals on caviar and champagne. The elegantly designed bar that also features live music can boast of having one of the best selection of champagne in Asia, complemented by a curated selection of Champagne-based cocktails and a Spritz hour from 5-7 p.m. daily that offers a selection of their Champagnes by the glass that you can customize to your liking with your choice of housemade liquors.

Unagi or eel hand roll at Sushi Fujimoto

Cyrene de la Rosa 

I was excited to try Sushi Fujimoto for the first time as this sushi restaurant is touted to be one of the best omakase sushi restaurants in Hong Kong and it didn’t disappoint. I think the better than usual omakase experience at this nine-seater counter sushi joint (with a private room that fits six)  is mainly due to the fact that its relatively young chef-owner Kenichi Fujimoto has a very pleasant, amiable personality and can speak English. So, no need for Google Translate while eating here. He is also very good at his craft having honed his sushi-making skills at the highly revered Sushi Saito  before opening his eponymous restaurant. It also helps that his wife is in-charge of the front of the house. So, they definitely got their bases covered. 

But, of course the star at any sushi restaurant aside from the skill of its sushi “sensei” or specialist/expert is its premium fresh ingredients that featured on the day I went Sushi Fujimoto’s signature giant sized abalones or awabi that Chef Kenichi served several ways. 

My personal favorite though is the perfectly grilled eel that was sliced into strips and used to make unagi hand rolls. Insider tip: The restaurant’s building entrance is on the left side alley, when facing the FOCO building on 48 Cochrane St.  

Steamed spotted garoupa fillet at Rosewood Hotel’s The Legacy House 

Cyrene de la Rosa 

The Legacy House is the Chinese restaurant of the ultra-chic and luxurious Rosewood Hotel and also the property’s signature restaurant. The ‘legacy’ on the name of the restaurant refers to paying homage to the late Dr. Cheng Yu-Tung, the founding patriarch of the Rosewood Hotel Group owners. 

The restaurant is known for its classic Cantonese fare that focuses on the cuisine of Shunde, a district in Foshan, Guangdong province famous for its cuisine. Shunde is said to be one of the cradles of Cantonese cuisine and is also well-known to be the hometown of many skilled Cantonese cooks and Chef Li Chi Wai the Chinese executive chef that heads the kitchen at The Legacy House hails from Shunde. 

Shunde cuisine is said to be known for its freshwater fish and the freshness of its ingredients. Thus, it came as no surprise that the dishes that I enjoyed the most were the fish dishes; from the signature Minced Fish Soup with fungi, ham, olive and dried tangerine peel to the perfectly steamed spotted garoupa served on top of  housemade rice noodles. Though, the appetizers starting from a Marinated Pomelo Pith to the assorted dim sum plate comprised of Steamed vegetable dumpling, Termite Mushroom Steamed Pork dumpling, and a to-die for Sea Cucumber, Matsutake Mushroom Steamed Mantis Shrimp Dumpling were also quite memorable. 

Insider tip: Reserve a table beside the window as this one Michelin star restaurant has one of the best waterfront views of the Victoria Dockside with the Hong Kong skyline serving as its backdrop. 

Angel hair pasta with Kristal caviar & black truffles at Louise 

Cyrene de la Rosa  Louise is a restaurant collaboration project between HK JIA’s restaurant group founder Yenn Wong and Chef Julien Royer of three Michelin starred Odette in Singapore that’s located in a well-appointed bi-level hacienda style heritage home inside the gardens of PMQ that used to house Aberdeen Social. 

It recently appointed a new Executive Chef Loic Portalier, who just  launched an all new ala carte menu and 5-course tasting menu for the upstairs dining room this week to complement the more relaxed all-day dining and drinks menu of the La Terrace by Louise ground floor level area that was just launched last month. Some of the delectable new dishes to try includes a Caramelized Onion Tart appetizer dish and a Brittany Dover Sole entrée. 

Fortunately, they will be retaining the restaurant’s old signature dishes on the menu too, which includes my personal favorite -- Angel Hair Pasta with Kristal Caviar, black truffle and shio kombu. 

Insider tip: The more casual and relaxed garden level  La Terrace by Louise serves cocktails, aside from wine and is a good bar alternative, when looking for a more relaxing place to unwind after work or before dinner, with a drink or two or more!

Chapli Kabab at the Prince and the Peacock

Cyrene de la Rosa 

Located on the second floor of Tai Kwun’s The Magistracy, Chef Palash Mitra, the culinary genius behind the one Michelin starred New Punjab Club, also leads the culinary dream team at this new Black Sheep restaurant group concept that pays homage to the cuisine of India’s Royal courts. Transporting us to a bygone era where kingdoms were not just ruled but also savored through its food. 

Completing the experience is the beautifully designed dining area (and toilets too!) that revives the splendor and opulence of the Indian royal courts that is further enhanced by the friendly and with a sense of humor, knowledgeable service of its front of the house team. 

The food of course is the highlight of any restaurant endeavor and some of the standout dishes here includes an interesting array of chaats and appetizers, a richly spiced Chapli Kabab (ground lamb patty, house-made spice blend, onions and coriander) and the Taiwa Jhinga (tiger prawns, shallots with Kandhari chilies) that I enjoyed eating with double orders of the addicting parotta bread (layered flat bread, cooked on the griddle). 

Insider tip: Save room for dessert or desserts here and indulge on some of their extra rich  gulab jamuns served with sandalwood kulfi or a freshly sliced Indian kesar mango a.k.a. “Queen of Mangoes”.

Les Berlingots ASP at Cristal Room by Anne-Sophie Pic

Cyrene de la Rosa The Cristal Room by Anne-Sophie Pic is a collaboration between Leading Nation Hospitality, luxury crystal house Baccarat, and renowned French celebrity chef Anne-Sophie Pic that features a menu carefully curated by the world’s most decorated female chef herself that’s executed in Hong Kong by a culinary team led by Head Chef Marc Mantovani. 

I was able to try their new seasonal dinner tasting menu when I visited last month and fell in love with the latest iteration of Chef Anne-Sophie Pic’s most iconic signature dish, Les Berlingots ASP. Heavenly pasta parcels filled with 24-month aged Comte cheese, voatsiperifery pepper, and champignons de Paris consommé steeped with tangerine Pu’er tea. 

This restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star early this year even if it just opened last November and also garnered a Best Design Award from the SCMP (South China Morning Post) 100 Top Tables 2024. 

Insider tip: Don’t miss out on the beverage pairings here as both alcoholic and non-alcoholic pairings were on point. Also try to book the earliest time slot if you are coming for dinner to enjoy the restaurant’s breathtaking view of the Victoria harbor from the 45th floor before sundown.

Mortadella sandwich at Bar Leone

Cyrene de la Rosa 

Last July 16, the list of Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2024 was announced at a live awards ceremony held at the Rosewood Hotel Hong Kong, where Hong Kong’s Bar Leone was proclaimed number 1 or the Best Bar in Asia. What made it extra special was the fact that Bar Leone wasn’t even on the list last year, yet it debuted at the No. 1 spot that also earned it the Best Bar in Hong Kong award. 

I was finally able to visit the neighborhood bar in Central shortly after the awards as it has been on my short list of bars to try for a long time now, mainly because because I kept on hearing raves about its mortadella sandwich, which turned out to be a focaccia sandwich stuffed with a generous amount of mortadella with whipped ricotta and pickled chilies and it didn’t disappoint. 

Insider tip: The filthy martini and smoked olives snack are very good too.

Chili Japanese Oyster with golden crystal egg at Wing 

Wing Restaurant 
Although Wing’s chef-owner Vicky Cheng’s passion for cooking started early, the idea of opening a Chinese restaurant never crossed the mind of the classically trained chef until he decided to move back to Hong Kong 13 years ago. After being surrounded by many Cantonese influences, Chef Vicky slowly began exploring the idea of entering the Chinese culinary world by first immersing himself to totally understanding and learning the old school, traditional ways of Chinese cooking really well, before he started to improvise and develop his own recipes using his past experiences and mastery of French classic cooking techniques that he further honed at his first own restaurant Vea. 

During this time, lucky friends turned willing guinea pigs to his delicious early forays to cooking Chinese food, encouraged him to open another restaurant specializing on his own take on Chinese cuisine that led to his opening of Wing in 2021. 

Fast forward to 2024, Wing starts to gain more accolades starting with landing the No. 5 spot on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list 2024 and No. 22 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024. So, I was so happy to finally able to try its tasting menu last July. Happy to report that all the raves and good things I have been hearing are all true that it’s so difficult to choose just one favorite dish from its menu, before I settled with its show-stopping starter of Chili Japanese Oysters served with a golden crystal egg that came with the best tasting, MSG-free, housemade mala sauce that I’ve tried so far. 

That dish really started the meal on a high note, without stealing any thunder from the strong mains comprised of steamed wild Macao sole, perfectly cooked baby pigeon, chili Alaskan king crab and fish maw rice with abalone sauce that followed it. 

Insider tip: Wing has a very strong beverage program with a good selection of premium wines and tea that you should try. It is also one of the hardest table to book in HK now. So, plan and book your meal here way in advance.