18 Ascott LIVING
Wednesday
Friday
Horses for courses
Racing season gallops full tilt
from September until June. Forget
the posh boxes, it’s all happening down by the rails (admission
is all of HK$10) in Happy Valley
(www.hkjc.com). Watch as the
horses thunder by to the howls
of the crowd. The average crowd
here can number as many as
18,000 — which shows what a
spectacle this is. If you don’t like
fast-paced, megabucks action,
you’re living in the wrong city.
Thursday
Retail finds
Disregard blandishments to
patronise the increasingly tatty
markets in Stanley and Temple
Street and instead thread your way
along parallel, inspiring, cheap-asbanana-chips Li Yuen Streets East
and West in Central. The fashion,
jewellery and souvenirs provide
a refreshing contrast to ZARA on
the other side of Queen’s Road.
Party on
Photos: Aurora Photos (Main); Getty Images (Chicken seller)
to their fellow diners and all the
while manoeuvring their chopsticks
as if they were a prosthetic limb.
It’s as much circus as café, and even
the most frantic gorger is unlikely to
face a bill of more than HK$100.
Hong Kong’s welcomed a new
airport, cruise terminal, rail line, Ferris
Wheel and a gallimaufry of highrises and malls since the Handover,
but – century-old dim sum joints
notwithstanding – nothing’s changed
quite so much as the food scene.
“There’s a real passion nowadays,
to share good food and a good
lifestyle experience,” says Walter
Kei Hsiu Wah, a chef, entrepreneur
and host of the highly successful
TV show Walter’s World.
“The dining scene has changed
out of all recognition in recent years,
especially Western cuisine – there
are lots of new concepts, chefs are
getting really creative and there is
a real emphasis on top quality.”
Michelin’s inspectors scatter their
stars around Hong Kong on a regular
basis, and reservations for restaurants
like Joël Robuchon’s Atelier are as hard
to come by as might be expected. I like
to think of Sevva – far, far removed
in style from Lin Heung, though only
a couple of streets away – as the
quintessential Hong Kong restaurant,
and very typical of the new breed.
The brainchild of world-famous-inHong Kong socialite Bonnae Gokson,
it’s tucked on the top floor of Prince’s
Building, with an outdoor terrace
overlooking Statue Square. The food
is fusion, the wine list vast, the crowd
exquisitely manicured and unlikely
to flinch at a bill that won’t be less
than HK$1,500 per gullet. Best of all,
there’s very little in the way of signage
to suggest the
restaurant exists.
Above right: A tantalising
glance through the window
While Sevva
of a kitchen where duck
might sit at the
and chicken forms the basis for the chef's traditional core of Hong
creations Right: All the
Kong’s CBD,
senses are brought to life
in Hong Kong, from the
its workers are
smell of constant cooking,
to the sounds of the double drifting gradually
decker tram and the sight
westwards
of hordes of people going
along the Island
about their daily tasks
at playtime. Formerly red-hot areas
like Lan Kwai Fong and SoHo are
regarded as a little staid nowadays;
so it’s Tai Ping Shan, Sheung Wan
and Kennedy Town where the bars
and clubs are opening, the corks
popping, the hips shaking; all to the
accompaniment of boy-meets-girl plus
all the other modern permutations
of that very traditional activity.
Lest anyone think life in Hong
Kong is all about money plus beer and
skittles/champagne and PlayStation,
there’s a thriving cultural life. An
arts festival gets each lunar new year
off to a flying start, seguing with Art
Basel – the international art martcum-party – in March. And while
the Academy of Performing Arts
and Cultural Centre face off across
Victoria Harbour, for my money the
temporary bamboo Chinese opera
theatres put up around town on festive
occasions are 100 per cent unalloyed
entertainment. Pretty much like Hong
Kong itself, come to think of it.
Hong Kong parties pretty much
every night, but like most people
at the end of a working week, it
always makes a special effort on
Fridays. At the front of the grid
for fast track entertainment are
Ping Pong Gintoneria (www.
pingpong129.com) in Sai Ying
Pun, and Missy Ho’s in Kennedy
Town (www.casteloconcepts.com).
Wherever you decide to venture
out you are sure to find a party
going on. Hong Kong is remarkably sociable and un-cliquey, and
ditto fond of grain and grape.
Offer
A trip to Hong Kong promises
a wealth of possibilities from
international cuisine to classic
heritage. The newly opened
Somerset Victoria Park Hong
Kong is an ideal option in a
great central location. Plan your
trip to this Chinese metropolis
early. Make your reservation 14
days in advance to enjoy 20 per
cent off best flexible rates.Visit
www.somerset.com to book.
Ascott LIVING 19