In this week’s dining news roundup, we’re celebrating exciting chef collaborations, notable milestones, and enticing new menus and dining campaigns. Plus, if you’re heading to Singapore next month, there’s an event you won’t want to miss.
We also shared news on the reopening of Asia’s 50 Best Bars winner Coa in Shanghai, now featuring diverse Mexican-inspired concepts. We had insightful conversations with Leading Nation co-founder Gerald Li and Jimmy’s Kitchen executive chef Russell Doctrove. Additionally, we’ve rounded up the best Peking duck and sushi omakase in Hong Kong. Keep reading for all the delicious details.
In case you missed it: Andō hosts anniversary dinner with Mono, Estro and Leela, Grace Chan teams up with Bow Artisan Cakery, and more
Ready, set, Gokan
As the countdown to the annual Asia’s 50 Best Bars ceremony on July 16 intensifies, Hong Kong’s bar scene is buzzing with anticipation. Adding to the excitement, industry titan Shingo Gokan is set to launch his first Hong Kong venture this July. Known for his award-winning establishments like The SG Club in Tokyo and Sober Company in Shanghai, Gokan’s eponymous new bar will open on Ice House Street in Central. True to its Japanese name, which means ‘five senses’, the bar promises a multi-sensory experience, blending elements of taste, colour and cooking methods into its offerings.
The bar will be helmed by Kaito Ohba from Osaka’s Bar Beso and Tatler Dining Bar Awards 2023 Rising Star Morris Chang. Expect exclusive craft cocktails based on the five tastes and colours, alongside an innovative menu curated by renowned chefs Zaiyu Hasegawa of two-Michelin-starred Den and Tsukasa Uraguchi of Arbor. Designed by Atsuhiko Sugiyama, the venue will fuse classic Japanese and American vintage styles, focusing on the five appropriates: temperature, ingredients, amount, technique and timing. Stay tuned for more updates as this exciting new bar prepares to open its doors.
New bakes
Croissant crisps
Banoffee choux
The Baker & The Bottleman has just unveiled 20 new creations, expanding the bakery menu with a selection of croissants, pastries, sandwiches and more, all crafted with locally sourced ingredients. Highlights include the dark chocolate hazelnut and pistachio croissant crisps; banoffee and mango-coconut choux; and savoury options like ham and cheese quiche.
From June, 24, the wine bar upstairs will roll out a ‘Wine Down Hour’ from 5pm to 7pm daily. Guests can enjoy drinks ranging from beers and wines to cocktails like the whisky green lemongrass highball and the quintessentially British Pimm’s cocktail. Pair your drink with snacks such as cured meats with house bread, artisanal cheeses, or the signature fish burger. With beverages priced between HK$50 and HK$120, and snacks starting at HK$30, happy hour in Wan Chai has become a little bit more tempting.
The Baker & The BottlemanAddress: G/F and 1/F, Lee Tung Avenue, 200 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
How a bao that
May Chow has launched a new seasonal menu at Little Bao in Hong Kong inspired by her 2024 Asia tour. With a nod to traditional Chinese food traditions, Chow’s latest offerings blend classic flavours with innovative twists. Highlights include the char siu bao, featuring Kagoshima pork treated with binchotan charcoal and a flame torch for a smoky, crispy finish, topped with ginger scallion mayo and cucumber leek salad. Another standout is the fries which taste like Hong Kong’s favourite stir-fried beef noodles seasoned with Kowloon Soy sauce and soy salt.
Chow has also revived favourites from her neo-Chinese concept Happy Paradise, including the sourdough egg waffle, served with bottarga whip and onion chives dip, and the Australian Wagyu skirt steak konbu butter rice noodles with a refreshing preserved lemon twist. For dessert, try the intriguing Singapore fish head curry ice cream bao which combines banana gelato with fish fat caramel sauce and crispy fish skin chips. The new menu is available at both Little Bao venues in Central and Causeway Bay, with a set menu for two including a selection of these dishes.
Crab and wintermelon soup
Salt-baked pigeon
Ming Court at Cordis Hong Kong is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a culinary event titled ‘Anniversary Feast of Umami Delights’. From June 21 to July 14, guests can indulge in this exclusive menu for HK$988 per person, reduced from the original HK$1,088. This feast is a collaboration between three executive chefs: Li Yuet Faat from Cordis Hong Kong, Gavin Zhong from Langham Place Ningbo, and Edi Zhu from Cordis Dongqian Lake Ningbo. Together, they blend Cantonese and Ningbo culinary traditions with a focus on premium, sustainable ingredients.
Highlights include the symphony of six tastes, featuring a medley of sour, bitter, salty, umami, spicy and sweet appetisers such as tree tomato with passion fruit juice and white bitter gourd with preserved plum. The winter melon soup with fresh crab meat and lotus seeds, inspired by the Ming and Qing dynasties’ summer traditions, offers a refreshing yet rich flavour profile. Main courses include local lobster baked with Fenghua taro and crispy pork lard, a nod to Ningbo’s traditional taro soup, and salt-baked pigeon, offering intense, slow-cooked flavour. The meal can be enhanced with a three-glass wine pairing from Ming Cellar for an additional HK$250 per person.
Tin Lung Heen partners with Man Ho
The Ritz-Carlton’s Tin Lung Heen and JW Marriott’s Man Ho Chinese Restaurant join forces for ‘The Homecoming of Legends’ four-hands dinner. Chefs Paul Lau and Jayson Tang, a mentor-apprentice duo, are set to showcase their Hong Kong-style Cantonese cuisine on July 18 at Tin Lung Heen and July 25 at Man Ho. This exclusive 11-course menu, priced at HK$1,888 per person, highlights their unique synergy with dishes like Lau’s wok-fried tofu with sea urchin and spicy salt, and Tang’s steamed mantis shrimp fillet with egg white in Huadiao wine. Guests can expect an exquisite combination of flavours and techniques, such as the double-boiled assorted air-dried seafood, a medley of eight kinds of seafood, paired with crispy sea cucumber with assorted roe in lobster foam. A premium wine and beverage pairing is also available for an additional HK$1,500 per person.
Crab Club at Hotal Colombo on June 19
Enjoy crab crumpets at Magistracy Dining Room
Black Sheep’s Black Series, a culinary event featuring curated menus and special events at exceptional value, is back and runs until June 26. At New Punjab Club (from HK$368), diners can savour dishes like malai tikka, a yoghurt-marinated local three yellow chicken, and machli amritsari, a line-caught cobia, both grilled in the tandoor. Magistracy Dining Room (from HK$438) offers London-inspired fare, including crab crumpets with crab mayonnaise on toasted English crumpets. Special events include The Mess at Rajasthan Rifles on June 21 (HK$788), Polo Brunch at Buenos Aires Polo Club on June 22 (HK$688), and the Good Fortune Club at Ho Lee Fook (HK$688), as well as Le Disco Brunch at La Vache! SoHo (HK$588), which are all available at reduced prices. For more information and to book, visit blackseries.com.hk.
Steeped in excellence
Cold noodles with sour lobster consommé
Roasted duck with five-spice hibiscus strawberry and plum compote
Tate Dining Room, known for its innovative Ode series, is back with a new single ingredient-inspired menu. This time, they’ve partnered with Hong Kong tea experts Being & Tea to present an Ode to Tea. Available every Friday and Saturday from June 28 to July 27, the four-course feast by chef Vicky Lau is priced at HK$1,180 per guest, with an optional HK$400 tea pairing add-on. Highlights include turnip blancmange with sweet shrimp and seaweed sauce, paired with Yunnan green tea, and roasted duck with five-spice hibiscus strawberry and plum compote, complemented by Wu Yuan Jian Rou Gui tea. For dessert, enjoy poached meringue with aged pu’erh Da Hong Pao gelato and caviar. This exquisite lunch promises a refined sensory journey, blending French-Chinese cuisine with exceptional teas.
Additionally, a special pu-erh tea workshop will be held on July 26 for tea aficionados. Priced at HK$2,880 per person and limited to eight participants, this workshop, led by Being & Tea founder Wing Yeung, will delve into the complexities of aged pu-erh tea. Participants will explore the tea flavour wheel, compare fermented and raw pu-erh, and partake in a blind tasting of vintage varieties, including a rare old pu-erh valued at HK$480,000 per brick.
Manav Tuli of Leela
Jitin Joshi of Revolver
Suppose you’re heading to Singapore next month. In that case, you may like to know that Manav Tuli of Modern Indian restaurant Leela is teaming up with Revolver, the open-fire grill restaurant led by chef Jitin Joshi, for an exclusive culinary event. On July 14 and 15, the collaboration will feature a ten-dish menu priced at SG$239 per guest. Highlights include Revolver’s Malabar crab with caviar and Leela’s karwari red snapper with kolambi chutney, showcasing regional Indian flavours like Goa’s mackerel rechado and Kerala’s pulled lamb bao. The event concludes with desserts such as passion fruit steamed yoghurt and Bengali patishapta with nolen gur ice cream. For reservations, contact Revolver Singapore via WhatsApp at +65 9668 5119.
The best Peking duck in Hong Kong
Asia’s 50 Best Bars winner Coa reopens in Shanghai with diverse Mexican-inspired concepts
How Black Sheep Restaurants brings a slice of royal India to Prince and the Peacock