- Brought up on Italian and German food, native New Yorker Michelle Koller is a lover of all cuisines; she’s equally at home with fine dining or a quirky hang-out
- The co-founder of furniture store Tequila Kola likes Monogamous for its northern Chinese food, cooked-food market noodles, and Ping Pong for drinks
Michelle Koller was born in New York but has been in Hong Kong for 30 years, after launching home furnishing shop Tequila Kola with her husband.
I love food but I am selective. I will not gorge myself on chips or fast food. But I am more a foodie than my husband. He eats to live, I live to eat. The only reason I am not fat is I exercise incessantly. My father is German and my mother is Italian so she cooked great Italian and German food.
We love the SoHo area. Often we do not make reservations, but will just have a drink somewhere and go from there. Stazione Novella (52-56 Staunton Street, SoHo, tel: 2559 0559) is an Italian bar we like. It's easy-going and has great tapas.
Also, the whole Tai Kwun complex is amazing. I am a big fan of how it's been restored. In 30 years, we've watched it change from a prison to now, and they've done a brilliant job. The restaurants there are a bit expensive so we go for cocktails sometimes.
The Chinese Library (1/F, Block 1, Tai Kwun, 10 Hollywood Road, Central, tel: 2848 3088) is great. The cocktail bar outside is also quite glamorous. Another bar I love is Dragonfly (Shop 10 " G1, Tai Kwun, tel: 2777 2633). It has fantastic decor and great cocktails. Madame Fu (3/F, Barrack Block, Tai Kwun, tel: 2114 2118) is impressive, too.
Another great place for Chinese is Monogamous (59 Caine Road, Mid-Levels, tel: 2523 2872). I really like its quirky uniqueness. The Peking duck is always good, the dumplings are quite brilliant. This is my place to go for Northern Chinese food.
A little French place I enjoy is Saint Germain (1A Wong Nai Chung Road, Happy Valley, tel: 2836 6131). It's quite old and established, with lovely food. The pate is lovely, the salmon is good. Often, I order the bouillabaisse and the fish of day. We like hole-in-the-walls, including La Vache! (two locations including 48 Peel Street, SoHo, tel: 2880 0248). It's so much fun.
For Italian, there are lots of fancy places but not many rustic restaurants. I don't usually like malls but if I had to choose, Isola (Shop 2075, 2/F, IFC, 1 Harbour View Street, Central, tel: 2383 8765) is very nice.
There are not many German restaurants, but King Ludwig (various locations including Greenfield Mansion, 8 Kingston Street, Fashion Walk, Causeway Bay, tel: 2556 7033) is actually not bad. Sounds crazy but they have great pig's knuckle and sauerbraten, roast beef with amazing gravy of gingersnaps, vinegar and drippings from the meat.
For post-dinner drinks, I like Feather Boa (38 Staunton Street, SoHo, tel: 2857 2586), but I shouldn't tell people because it's already hard to get in.
However, I do like to support local businesses such as bars like Ping Pong (Nam Cheong House, 129 Second Street, Sai Ying Pun, tel: 9835 5061). It's so fun.
My office is in South Horizons but there's nothing to eat there. Sometimes in Wong Chuk Hang, I just have noodles in the open air food hall Nam Long Shan Road Cooked Food Market (1 Nam Long Shan Road).
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