Hong Kong

Our trip to Hong Kong deliberately coincided with our friends Gavin and Ed also being there. After hanging out together in NYC in January when we house sat for them, and finding out they’d be in Hong Kong for the ‘100 day celebration’ of Ed’s brother’s new baby, we decided to rendez-vous in HK for another catch up. Since their departure to the US, we hadn’t seen each other in three years and our trip to HK together would make three catch ups in 7 months, following New York in January and San Diego in October 2022.

We arrived in the city on Sunday night with the clouds hanging low, hiding the building tops from view, and a light drizzle undecided on whether it would come or go. The next morning, the drizzle had stopped but the cloud cover persisted, which was unfortunate because we’d been hoping to take the tram up to The Peak for the famous view of the sprawling, high rise city enveloping Hong Kong Harbour. So instead, after finding Gavin at the bustling Wan Chai metro station, we explored the city at sea level, visiting some wet markets, walking the streets, and taking the ferry across Victoria Harbour. We had lunch at the compact and packed, Michelin star restaurant Yat Lok. Unfortunately, the pork was sold out, but we had a good meal, served with plenty of the rude abruptness you come to expect, and secretly love, at an establishment like that. If you’re seated for more than 30 minutes you’ll be told very plainly to get out.

After lunch we headed to a rooftop bar, where Ed joined us for afternoon drinks. Some of the cloud had lifted and so we enjoyed our cocktails with a partial view of the skyline, the cloud-drenched mountains keeping us in suspense for what lay hidden behind the omnipresent grey blur.

After a quick trip back to the hotel, we met up later that evening for cocktails at Quinary, Dylan and I arriving wet after failing to bring an umbrella and not anticipating the sudden downpour. After a few good drinks and a chance to dry off, we went for dinner, upon Dylan’s request, to a Sichuan restaurant, Chilli Fagara. The food was delicious although not as numbing as we were hoping, but after a night of stomach churning we all agreed the next morning that, in hindsight, that was a good thing afterall.

The next day we were kindly invited to join Ed’s parents and his brother for a day out. Ed’s brother picked us all up in his seven seat SUV and we drove a little way out of the city to a small sea-side fishing village. We had hoped to wander a little, but again the rain sent us under cover. We let Ed’s dad, Harry, take the lead in ordering way too much food and then spent a very pleasant few hours eating course after course of delicious cantonese food, including plenty of speciality seafood dishes, many of which I was not brave enough to try.

After lunch we walked in the rain, in pairs under our umbrellas, to get portuguese tarts at a nearby bakery. They were out, but we agreed to wait for more, and so we stood hudled together out of the rain under a nearby park shelter, the smell of freshly baked tarts eventually signalling the reward for our patience.

Ed’s brother dropped us back at the St Regis, where Gavin and Ed were staying, and we went up to their room to enjoy our still-warm-tarts, with a view. They were as good as any I had in Lisbon (even if four times the price).

Tarts consumed, Dylan and I freshened up at our hotel and then came back to the St Regis to particiapte in the hotel’s daily tradition. Every evening, at every St Regis hotel in the world, a bottle of champagne is cut with a sabre and a glass poured for the viewing guests. We waited, we watched, and we enjoyed a free glass of bubbles before continuing with pre-dinner cocktails in the hotel bar, which, surprisingly for a hotel bar, served exceptionally well-crafted cocktails. They were creative and beautifully balanced.

That night for dinner we had our best meal of the week at Samsen. It was the best Thai food I have ever had in my life and would plan a trip to Hong Kong just to eat there again. It was so good we didn’t even get any photos of the food before it was devoured.

The next day, for our last full day in Hong Kong, Dylan and I left Gavin and Ed to have family time while we hoped we might finally be able to go to The Peak to experience a quintessential view of Hong Kong. We woke on Wednesday morning, the block out blinds still shut, and the sky still holding potential for what the day might hold. But before I got there, I read a WhatsApp from Gavin, complete with a photo of blue sky! I jumped out of bed and drew the curtains, revealing a near-cloudless, rainless sky. And so we headed over to the tram and rode it to the top of The Peak.

We walked around the entire loop, catching the changing skyline and waterfront views around each new bend, stopping to take photos and the occasional rest in the shade of the surrounding forest.

Having worked up an appetite, we took the return tram back down and ate way too many dumplings at Ding Dam for lunch.

A trip wouldn’t be complete for us without a little cocktail bar vetting, and so we dedicated our final night to cocktail bar hopping. We visited Tell Camellia, a small bar specialising in tea-based cocktails, which are ordinarily not my thing, but were excellent here. We then stopped by Penicillin, coincidentally the namesake of my favourite cocktail, where we explored some very unusual cocktails and had a few tasty bites for dinner too.

And we finished the night at The Daily Tot, a fantastic rum bar whose friendly bartenders treated us to way too many free shots and tastings. Adding to the exceptional cocktail experiences we had in Tokyo, it is now my firm belief that Asia holds the best cocktail experiences to be had.

After sleeping off something of a hangover (it is getting harder and harder these days to awake not feeling less than average after a cocktail night), we joined Gavin and Ed for our final meal together at Peking Garden for lunch before our early evening flight home. It was a short trip, and we felt we barely touched the surface of the food and cocktail potential the city holds, but it was a great teaser and we’re looking forward to going back one day soon.