Hong Kong is the perfect spot for food lovers and international business. Seeking excellent food and the right ambience to get the deal done? Here are five top eateries for business lunch or, more expensively, dinner. Plus, we’ve found five more for the business client who is also an adventurous foodie. Surprisingly, this cosmopolitan city offers good value for your business dollar whether it’s spent on fine Cantonese fare or an array of international cuisine. All these restaurants charge an additional 10 per cent for service. Further tipping is not necessary, but diners do leave the small change and a tip for good service.
A taste of France
Every dish at the contemporary French restaurant Caprice is superb and innovative, the meals often breathtaking in presentation and flavour combinations. It’s in a convenient spot above the airport express station and Central, on Hong Kong island, and close to the Star Ferry pier.
Fixed-price two and three-course set menus are common at lunchtime in Hong Kong. Caprice offers excellent value for the quality with a two-course lunch priced at HK$440 and three courses HK$550 for three courses.
On a recent visit to this French restaurant, the duck foie gras panna cotta with fresh beans and guariguette strawberries was a work of art, with vivid hits of green and red contrasting with the coffee-coloured foie. The taste matched the visual seduction. The Scottish salmon paillard and shellfish mix in lemon butter sauce following was sublime.
Caprice
Michelin stars: ★ ★ ★
Ambience: Opulence and harbour views
Wine list: Gargantuan, plus an outstanding cheese selection
Comments: Faultless service, privacy aplenty and perfect for closing deals, or when someone else pays. Lunch in 60 minutes
Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong,
8 Finance Street, Central
Tel: 852 3196 8860
www.fourseasons.com/hongkong/dining/caprice
Cantonese flagship
The Wanchai Fook Lam Moon is known locally as the tycoon’s canteen. This Fook Lam Moon Group flagship has been a favourite of the wealthy and the famous since 1972. Why? The restaurant serves some of Hong Kong’s best Cantonese fare in a classical style.
Dim sum is a great lunch option. Order the steamed barbecue pork buns, deep fried tofu skin rolls with shrimp and mango pudding. Prices range from HK$50 to HK$200 per dish. For larger groups, fixed-price set menus are available.
From Central, take a taxi, train or bus for the quick ride to Wanchai and this classic eatery. It’s perfect for entertaining Chinese guests. You’ll appreciate the privacy, attentive service and refined ambience.
Wanchai Fook Lam Moon
Michelin stars: ★
Wine list: Focused on French reds
35-45 Johnston Road, Wanchai
www.fooklammoon-grp.com/en/home.htm
Rich European fare
Gold and its acclaimed chef Harlan Goldstein attracts the business crowd looking for European food with a taste punch. Gold is centrally located near hip drinking areas in Lan Kwai Fong. The weekly three-course executive set lunch menu (HK$248) includes an appetiser buffet, followed by mains and desserts.
The HG Burger with gouda cheese, smoked bacon and truffle mayo, is always satisfying. The Wagyu beef cheek ravioli (HK$198), slow braised and served with a foie gras and black truffle sauce, is a must. Note there’s a DJ after 10pm Friday and Saturday.
Gold by Harlan Goldstein
Michelin stars: Not rated
Wine list: Impressive
Level 2, LKF Tower, 33 Wyndham Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central
Tel: 852 2869 9986
Traditional treat
Cuisine Cuisine at ifc serves classic Cantonese. The restaurant draws a high-profile clientele, as well as out-of-town foodies looking for consistently great food, to the ifc. For readers unfamiliar with Hong Kong, that’s the International Finance Centre overlooking the harbour in hectic downtown Central.
Begin with honey glazed char sui (HK$150) – some of the best barbecue pork in Hong Kong. The restaurant also excels at seafood dishes. Dim sum is available and set lunches start at HK$298 a head. If you visit in the mild Hong Kong winter, try the snake soup made using a recipe dating from the Qing dynasty that’s a secret passed from one master chef to the next. It is now in the hands of Lee Yuk Lam, who has been coaxed out of retirement after becoming a favourite chef of the city’s top bankers and their clients for more than 30 years.
Cuisine Cuisine is in busy Central and perfect for business guests. It offers contemporary ambience and excellent service, plus the privacy you need for making deals. An hour should be plenty of time.
Cuisine Cuisine at ifc
Michelin stars: ★ ★
Wine list: Strong
3101 Podium Level 3, ifc Mall, Central
Tel: 852 2393 3933
A slice of Paris
Busy Central is also home to the contemporary French restaurant Amber. This refined yet relaxed eatery does an excellent value-for-money set lunch priced at HK$518. Service is outstanding, and there are two private rooms available. An hour is plenty for lunch.
The set lunch comes in three courses and the menu is changed on a regular basis.
This restaurant prides itself on its produce. And the Michelin rating translates to such fantastic dishes as Challans corn-fed chicken breast with crispy chicken skin-crusted langoustine, green asparagus, fava beans and Girolle mushrooms. Amber also serves breakfast. It’s centrally located and perfect for entertaining important guests who enjoy the good life.
Amber
Michelin stars: ★ ★
Wine list: Impressive
The Landmark Mandarin Oriental,
15 Queen’s Road, Central
Tel: 852 2132 0066
