The Chinese Library

Destination dining

10 Hollywood Rd, Tai Kwun, Central, Hong Kong

I arrived... hungry. I’d flown into Hong Kong on an overnight flight, getting in at 6am that morning. After going for a long walk with a friend who’d come over from Macau to show me around, I’d worked up quite an appetite.

My first impression was… this was a place of elegance, with beautiful high ceilings. The restaurant is part of the Tai Kwun arts precinct, which used to be the old Victoria Prison, Central Police Station and Magistracy. Staff were attentive, taking my jacket for me, pulling out my chair and folding my napkin on my lap.

I started with… bamboo and charcoal har gau, traditional dumplings which actually had gold leaf flakes on top, beef shin with sesame dressing and a laksa xiaolong bao steamed bun. Next came a sauteed garoupa fillet with mushroom sauce, surprisingly spicy pork belly, braised greens in chicken broth and noodles with wagyu beef. Our teacups were topped up with oolong tea and I estimate I downed at least a couple of teapots of it at lunch — and consequently spent most of the afternoon rushing off to answer nature’s call. Apparently oolong helps promote burning belly fat, so I’m now on a personal mission to drink it daily. The highlight was... definitely the har gau. I was tempted to glue a gold flake to my tooth. Dessert was... a wonderfully squishy rice ball in a warming ginger syrup. The bill... was HK$350 per person for the set deluxe lunch, which is about NZ$65.

Come here if... you are looking to to try traditional Cantonese foods in an elegant setting.