Header image: The Blue Box Café by Tiffany & Co
Asaya Kitchen at Rosewood Hong Kong
Rosewood Hong Kong adds to its impressive F&B roster with the opening of Asaya Kitchen late this month, situated on the same floor as the hotel’s urban wellness concept Asaya (scheduled to open early next year). Heading up the kitchen is Chef Renaud Marin (pictured above) – formerly of Cochin and Upper Modern Bistro – who has created light, clean and wholesome menus showcasing seasonal, local and sustainable ingredients, with a focus on the cuisines of the Mediterranean and Japan. Zero waste is a key theme, and the drink list is heavy on organic and biodynamic wines and mocktails. Al-fresco poolside dining is another great feature of Asaya Kitchen.
6/F, Rosewood Hong Kong, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, TST, 3891 8732
Associazione Chianti
Black Sheep Restaurants’ newest baby is Associazione Chianti on Ship Street in Wanchai. The Tuscan trattoria is set to feature premium proteins – with the bistecca alla Fiorentina the star of the show – hearty pastas and Tuscan wines, working directly with the Italian wineries to offer exclusive pours. The chef at this soulful spot is Josh Stumbaugh, who ran the kitchen at Jonathan Waxman’s famed Barbuto in the Big Apple’s West Village.
9B Ship Street, Wanchai
AZIZA (Sai Ying Pun)
Replacing Classified, this is AZIZA’s second location in Hong Kong, with the first debuting two years in Kennedy Town to rave reviews for its authentic Egyptian and Middle Eastern cuisine. We’re big fans of the meze, grilled meat dishes and tagines, and we’re happy to see the AZIZA team branching out.
Shop 1B, G/F, The Upton, 345 Des Voeux Road West, Shek Tong Tsui, 5365 6444
Baekmidang Chul Grill
Luscious Korean milk ice cream brand Baekmidang is launching a “store-within-a-store” concept with its HK flagship at K11 MUSEA. This means there’ll be an area to relish in Baekmidang’s artisanal desserts, plus the Chul Grill dining space, where Korean cast-iron grill dishes such as grilled Korean Minsok Hanwoo beef strip loin with grilled vegetables (pictured above), spicy chicken sizzling rice and kimchi mung bean pancake will be cooked up. Two K11-exclusive desserts will also made a very sweet debut: Japanese Shizuoka melon ice cream and caramel macchiato ice flakes.
Shop B111 and Shop B225A, B1/F and B2/F, K11 MUSEA, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, TST, 5205 1327
The Cakery (Lee Garden Two)
Guilt-free bakery The Cakery is set to reopen on 17 October following an extensive revamp of its Causeway Bay branch. Alongside popular faves like rainbow keto cheesecake and the Skinny Dip (organic chiffon cake filled with artisanal strawberry jam), The Cakery has some exciting exclusive stuff for this shop including savoury lunch items such as an avocado mixed seed egg bagel sandwich. The highlight for us is the newly launched healthy afternoon tea set – it’s vegan, gluten free and lower calorie at just 566kcal per person, with the scones made using almond milk, brown rice flour, tapioca flour, erythritol and vegan butter .
Shop 124, 1/F, Lee Garden Two, 28 Yun Ping Road, Causeway Bay, 2816 1838
Duddell’s (Hong Kong International Airport)
The airport dining options just keep getting better and better. Celebrated Cantonese fine diner Duddell’s goes much more casual with its appearance at the airport’s 24/7 food court, where diners can enjoy the restaurant’s signature dim sum, roasted goose (roasted on-site), curated drinks like cold-brew tea and kombucha, children’s meals with surprise toys and grab-and-go bento boxes.
Shop 7E161, 7/F, Departures East Hall, Terminal 1, Hong Kong International Airport, 1 Sky Plaza Road, Chek Lap Kok
Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour Hong Kong
Greater China’s first Hyatt Centric property – a Hyatt brand offering a boutique lifestyle experience – has opened in North Point, and with it comes two F&B outlets:
The Farmhouse
All-day dining and buffet restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating areas overlooking the harbour, The Farmhouse is a laid-back farm-to-table eatery with a “barn” in the middle that can be used for private gatherings. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Book online.
Cruise
Inspired by Hong Kong’s famous ports and cruise ships, Cruise on the 23rd floor features food and drink from around Asia, from Japanese sashimi to Korean galbi. There’s a great terrace to boot. Serving lunch, afternoon tea, drinks and dinner. Book online.
1 North Point Estate Lane, North Point, 3896 9896
KAFFE
The first Swedish café in Hong Kong, KAFFE is a cosy little nook that’s part of Scandi fashion and lifestyle boutique Squarestreet. Alongside the usual caffeine culprits (with the beans used roasted in Sweden and delivered weekly to the 852), check out some unique drinks such as fresh mint latte and iced black soda. Pair your java with traditional Swedish pastries and sweets like chocolate balls (rolled oats, butter, cacao, coffee and shredded coconut) and cardamom buns. It’s fika time! Open daily, 11am–7pm.
15 Square Street, Sheung Wan, 2362 1086
KiKi Tea (Telford Plaza)
Located within eatery Sun’s Bazaar, this is the fourth Hong Kong branch of Taiwanese bubble tea specialist Kiki Tea, proving the bubble tea craze shows no signs of abating. Along with signature faves like roasted milk tea with brown sugar pearls, pineapple green teapresso and winter melon tea with cream mousse and Sichuan-flavoured pearls, the Kowloon Bay branch offers tea-tastic desserts such as roasted tea cream puffs and Earl Grey chiffon cake with brown sugar pearls. Even better, there are two exclusive drinks launched in collaboration with Nestlé KitKat: black tea with chocolate cream mousse and chocolate smoothie with sea salt cream mousse (pictured above).
Shop P23, Podium, Telford Plaza, 33 Wai Yip Street, Kowloon Bay, 6117 5699
NOJO Ramen x Izakaya
A rebranding of NOJO Tavern, which opened at H Code in Central earlier this year, NOJO Ramen x Izakaya showcases an extensive selection of izakaya faves in addition to the eatery’s popular paitan-style ramen and range of sake and sake-based tipples. Food highlights include overnight sake lees-, soy- and ginger-marinated fried chicken (pictured above), soy-sauce-marinated cream cheese and an assorted oden platter. NOJO’s happy hour (daily, 3–7pm) promotion offers four pints of beer + an agemono (deep-fried Japanese delicacy like tempura) dish for $350.
Shop 5 and Open Space, G/F, The Steps, H Code, 45 Pottinger Street, Central, 2415 1333
RAMEN CUBISM (TST)
A smash success since its opening in January in Central, Osaka import RAMEN CUBISM has already expanded across the harbour, with a second hipster shop opening this month in Tsim Sha Tsui. To mark the occasion, RAMEN CUBISM brainchild (and celeb ramen champion) Hayashi Takao is introducing his Japan Next Generation Ramen Competition Champion Miso Ramen – now, that’s a mouthful, literally! – to the HK masses for the first time. In Osaka, it’s proved to be so popular yet so time-consuming to prepare that this particular ramen is only offered once per month.
Shop G12–13, G/F, 8 Minden Avenue, TST
Ruam
We don’t know much about the background of new chilled modern Thai restaurant Ruam, but we do like the sound of its terrace with al-fresco bar shaking up innovative cocktails and food menu offering creative riffs on Thai market faves.
Shop 9, 1/F, J Senses, 60 Johnston Road (entrance on Ship Street), Wanchai, 3160 8535
SEVVA
Following major refurbishment works over the summer, Bonnae Gokson’s HK restaurant SEVVA has reopened its doors in Central. The talking point of the redesigned space is the bold and colourful sculptural ceiling installation – made with 100,000 silk flowers and 36 gypsy chandeliers – in the Harbourside dining room. Taste Bar has also notably been reconfigured and enlarged. SEVVA’s stunning terrace is still there in all its glory. The East-meets-West menus have been reinvigorated by Australian chef Chase Kojima to match the stunning interior makeover.
25/F, LANDMARK PRINCE’S, 10 Chater Road, Central, 2537 1388, reservations@sevva.hk
Te Quiero Mucho (TQM) Taqueria
TQM from Mojo Nomad in Sheung Wan will soon have a Southside sibling at the Ovolo Southside hotel in Wong Chuk Hang, giving all of us here at Foodie in WCH something to shout about. We’re ready for some of the awesome tacos, burritos and tortas that have made TQM a top choice for authentic Mexican grub. They’ve even added in a few menu items that are exclusive to the Southside branch. We predict that more and more peeps will soon be flocking over to this side of the city for some of TQM’s spicy chicken tinga tacos!
Ovolo Southside, 64 Wong Chuk Hang Road, 3460 8157
The Tiffany Blue Box Cafe
Only the second outpost in the world (and the first in Asia), The Blue Box Cafe is American luxury jeweller Tiffany & Co’s sophisticated eatery offering refined takes on classic American dishes, opening in mid-October at Tsim Sha Tsui’s One Peking Tiffany shop – the largest flagship store in Asia. From breakfast at Tiffany (we love it!), to lunch and afternoon tea, we’re so looking forward to this iconic robin-egg-blue-bedecked slice of New York City.
Shop 207–208, 2/F, One Peking, 1 Peking Road, TST, book online
Wolfgang Puck Kitchen
It’s a flashback to 80s LA with the opening of Wolfgang Puck Kitchen at the airport. The very definition of a celebrity chef, Austrian chef Wolfgang Puck boasts an impressive portfolio of bars and restaurants around the world. These include a range of fast-casual airport dining locations – from Atlanta to Sydney – all serving up seasonal, Cali-influenced comfort food. Opening on 9 October from 6:30am for breakfast till past midnight for late-night supper.
Shop 5T150, 5/F, Arrivals Hall, Terminal 1, Hong Kong International Airport, 1 Sky Plaza Road, Chek Lap Kok
XX at Rosewood Hong Kong
Here’s another newcomer to Rosewood Hong Kong (see Asaya Kitchen above), and your chromosomes decide if you can gain entry into this alluring ladies-only speakeasy. Cheekily named “XX” as a nod to the female chromosome, the unmarked bar is exclusively created for female patrons and features easy-drinking, delicate libations in an intimate, stylish setting. Guests gain access to the sunken bar reminiscent of a glittery jewellery box via a secret code on a concealed keypad. Renowned mixologist Arkadiusz Rybak entices the senses with signature cocktails the likes of Sexy – She Says That a Lot, a Champagne cocktail infused with jasmine, bergamot, and London No. 3 gin, and BFF, a highball scented with pine needles, cucumber juice and yuzu vinegar. Bite-sized snacks from bikini sandwiches to red prawns tartare to ice-cream sammies complete the experience. Reservations are a must (you need a password for entry), and there’s a private phone line for bookings. Open Tuesday–Saturday from 6pm.
Rosewood Hong Kong, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, TST, 5239 9219
Closures
Employees Only
The HK branch of the beloved NYC cocktail bar (the Big Apple bar ranks at number 26 on The World’s Best Bars 2019) shut its doors in LKF after only two years in the Kong.
The Flying Elk
Though Michelin-starred Swedish chef Björn Frantzén’s Nordic gastropub The Flying Elk closed its doors at the end of August after just over a year in the biz, we didn’t get the sad news till now (the Stockholm branch has also closed, with The Flying Elk no longer part of the Frantzén Group after being sold to new owners). Chef Frantzén’s more upscale Frantzén’s Kitchen in Sheung Wan is still very much alive.
Gough’s on Gough
Gosh, we’re sad (and, frankly, shocked) to see this very special modern British restaurant go. Formerly helmed by Chef Arron Rhodes (now co-owner of Kinship), Chef Cary Docherty recently took the reins here, launching new dinner and bar bites menu, and we were more than impressed. Gough’s on Gough was our Foodie Forks 2018 Editors’ Choice Best New Restaurant winner – how times have changed in only one year…
RELATED: New Restaurants: September 2019
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