Authentic Chinese
SOHOFAMA Block A, PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street, Central
PMQ stands for Police Married Quarters, which is what the building was before being revamped into a hipster-ish combination of creatives, fintechs and establishments like Sohofama. The huge Lego-like model of Bruce Lee, mid-kick, at the entrance helps you get the picture. Sohofama aims to mix urban farming (there’s a garden at the back, beyond the heavy wooden picnic benches, where ingredients are grown) with what it calls “comfort Chinese cuisine”, meaning traditional Chinese dishes with a twist. Examples include 24-hour drunken organic egg (not as scary as it sounds), fried tiger prawns with salted egg yolk, tea-smoked duck and locally caught mud crab. No MSG – unusual in Hong Kong Chinese restaurants.
HUTONG 1 Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Walking through the ornate stone arch into Hutong, you’re greeted with a fine harbour view. The atmosphere is really something;
hutong means small street or alleyway and the restaurant is set up with birdcages, lanterns and wooden doorways to look the part. While Hong Kong’s native food is Cantonese, this restaurant takes a more regional – and particularly Sichuan – view. Its renowned crisp soft-shell crab, for instance, is cooked with dried Sichuan peppers and served in an ornate bamboo basket that’s worth the order in its own right. Other favourites include deboned lamb ribs, crabmeat and turnip rolls, and scallops with pomelo shreds. Sunday brunch features free-flowing Champagne.
CHILLI FAGARA
7 Old Bailey Street, SoHo If Hutong gives you a taste of Sichuan, Chilli Fagara gives you the whole fiery experience. As it says, “Our Sichuan specialities are for the daring palate.” It uses the ma la tang concept: ma means numbing and la means burning. (Knowing the distinction will serve you well when ordering.) The deep-red accent walls befit your temperature but it’s not really an exercise in bravery. This Michelin-recommended restaurant, which
has twice been awarded a star, has elevated humble fried rice to new levels. Another great option is ma po tofu covered in a peppercorn chilli sauce.
HO LEE FOOK 1-5 Elgin Street, Central
Once you get past the chucklesome name – it means “good fortune for your mouth” in Cantonese (truly, the Cantonese love a pun like no other) – Ho Lee Fook is a place of the highest quality. Taiwanese chef Jowett Yu, who made his name at Tetsuya’s in Sydney before coming to Hong Kong, aspires to create a vibe reminiscent of late-night Chinatown in New York in the ’60s. Forget Cantopop; you’ll rock out to The Rolling Stones and The Who and the walls are covered in comic-book art. For many, the rule of thumb for judging any Chinese establishment is the quality of its dumplings and the ones here are a tour de force. The emphasis is on simplicity done well rather than reinventing the wheel. The signature dish is Wagyu short ribs in a soy glaze. Oddly, the open kitchen is on the ground floor and the restaurant is in the basement. Somehow it works.
MOTT 32
Standard Chartered Bank building, 4-4a Des Voeux Road, Central mott32.com High-end Chinese restaurants in Central are a shootout between Mott 32, Duddell’s and roast-goose legend Yung Kee but we opt for the first for its newer and fresher décor and fabulous Peking duck. Mott 32 – named after the address of New York’s first Chinese convenience store – says it makes the best dim sum in town and while that’s a hotly contested claim, theirs is up there with the finest. The restaurant occupies a cavernous space in the basement of the Standard Chartered Bank building and a lot of effort has gone into its appearance: calligraphy on the walls, wine fridges that look like Chinese herb cabinets, ancient vases and the much-prized air-drying duck fridge (preparation is everything when it comes to Peking duck, apparently).