inspiration • April 2016
Seven things you didn’t know about Hong Kong
Think you’re well acquainted with Hong Kong? There is always more to discover, says resident Phil Heard
Best venue for a meat coma
Kam’s Roast Goose in Wan Chai is an unlikely Michelin-starred restaurant, owing as much to traditional dai pai dongs (outdoor food stalls) as top-end gastronomy. Enjoy the queue in the street, then sink your fangs into marinated roast goose with a fruity, sour-sweet plum sauce – an excellent foil to the juicy flesh. Half a goose will cost around HK$250 (£23).
Best for a scenic stroll
It’s easy to forget the city skyline is dwarfed by surrounding hills. In fact, 40 per cent of the land area is given over to parks, and hiking trails can start in town. For a decent four-hour pull featuring vistas and good lunch options, traverse Hong Kong Island from Quarry Bay to the east via the remote Tai Tam reservoir to the colonial charms of Stanley in the south.
Best for a caffeine hit
For a city that seems to run on milk tea you can stand a spoon in, coffee seems an unlikely choice, and yet there is a burgeoning number of roasters, shops and proto-chains. Hazel & Hershey on the steep Peel St in Central provides the fix with great blends, seating and a bewildering array of coffee paraphernalia.
Best for people-watching
Because of the unique escalator that ferries commuters and revellers up the hill from Central to the Mid-Levels, Hong Kong does people-watching better than anywhere. Pull up an outdoor bar stool at The Phoenix on Shelley Street and watch people watching you watching them on a quiet and verdant stretch of the escalator, while you enjoy happy hour.
Best for fans of Kingsmen
There has been a global trend for speakeasy bars and Hong Kong has caught the bug. One of the more stylish is Foxglove on Duddell Street in Central. To gain access to this whisky bar, whose style evokes the golden age of cruise ships, patrons have to walk through an umbrella shop and find the button on the right brolly to open the concealed sliding door. Then it’s cocktails and jazz, bringing the days of prohibition glamour back to life.
Best for cheap Michelin-starred food
People here argue long and hard about where to get the best local dish. Take humble dim sum stalwart, the char siu bao – the cloud-fluffy steamed pork bun. In 2009, Kowloon hole-in-the-wall outlet Tim Ho Wan redefined the genre with a sweet baked version with pineapple, so popular that it became the world’s ‘cheapest Michelin Star’ restaurant. Now with branches worldwide, you can sample these buns in a variety of settings, none stranger than the IFC Mall above Hong Kong station.
This article has been tagged Destination, Travel Tips