Best Hong Kong restaurants for luxury Chinese New Year menus to welcome Year of the Snake

Not long after the gluttony that accompanies the Christmas season comes an even bigger opportunity for wining and dining. As the Year of the Snake slithers ever closer, be sure to snag a table at one of these top Hong Kong restaurants for a fine Lunar New Year feast. 1. The Chinese Library A lucky eight-course Chinese New Year tasting menu at the Tai Kwun restaurant is available from January 27 to February 13, priced at HK$1,118 (US$144) per person. Chef Junno Li has designed a feast that includes dishes such as braised abalone with oyster sauce, and steamed threadfin fillet with Chinese wine, as well as tasty morsels of dim sum including crispy lotus seed puff, and mantis shrimp and scallop mustard dumpling. If you prefer a daytime menu, the restaurant is offering a Chinese New Year unlimited dim sum brunch (HK$488 per person for two hours) between January 29 and February 2, featuring festive bites such as katsuobushi turnip cake, gold ingot vegetable dumpling, and pan-fried golden oysters with honey and pepper sauce. 1/F, Police Headquarters Block, Block 01, Tai Kwun, 10 Hollywood Road, Central 2. Duddell’s The bonus of Duddell’s having both a restaurant and bar in the same building is that you can start or end your Chinese New Year feast with drinks at the Salon on the fourth floor, where festive cocktails such as the Golden Coil (Hennessy cognac, fresh pineapple juice, ginger juice, lemon juice and turmeric-infused syrup) are served. As for the main act, the Premium Poon Choi menu (HK$3,888 for 6 people, available from January 25-28 and 30-31) has the traditional basin meal as the centrepiece, filled with braised abalone, semi-dried oysters, whole conpoy, shrimp, meat balls, black moss, braised sea cucumber and much more. Dim sum is also an option here, with goldfish-shaped shrimp dumplings and pan-fried new year pudding among the must-order festive treats. 3/F and 4/F, 1 Duddell Street, Central 3. Hong Kong Cuisine 1983 The menu at this Happy Valley restaurant should be of particular interest to those of Hakka descent. Chef Silas Li is paying tribute to his roots with dishes that make use of traditional Hakka flavours and ingredients, such as fermented red bean curd, oysters and black bean sauce. Among the auspicious creations are the sweet-and-sour mandarin fish, served whole, in a piquant sauce said to symbolise harmony and balance in Hakka culture. 1/F, 2-4 Tsoi Tak Street, Happy Valley 4. Lai Ching Heen With its harbour view, The Regent’s Chinese restaurant is a hot ticket for the Chinese New Year fireworks display on January 30, when it is also serving a six-course set dinner priced at HK$3,288 per person. Helpfully, it also has a six-course Fat Choy menu (HK$2,088 per person) available now until February 12 (excluding January 30), which offers unique dishes such as fried five-grain rice with salmon and chia seed. The Regent Hong Kong, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui 5. The Legacy House The Rosewood’s signature Cantonese restaurant is offering a Chinese New Year dim sum lunch featuring specials such as steamed fish dumplings with fungi and aged mandarin peel; steamed crabmeat dumplings; and steamed red date paste cakes. If you prefer evening dining, the Chinese New Year Delights menu (from HK$2,380 per person) offers auspicious elements such as double-boiled abalone soup, braised sea cucumber with sun-dried oysters in supreme oyster sauce; and stewed mantis shrimp with fish maw. The special menus are available from January 27 to February 4. 5/F, Rosewood Hong Kong, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui 6. Man Wah A classic destination for fine Chinese dining, Man Wah is offering a new year menu from chef Wong Wing-keung that is available for both lunch and dinner. The former, priced at HK$888 per person, includes a trio of dim sum (scallop and beetroot dumpling, bamboo pith and vegetable dumpling, and black sea moss and dried oyster puff) followed by courses such as crabmeat e-fu noodles with carrot purée, egg white and supreme broth. Dinner (HK$2,288 per person) ups the ante with dishes including braised bird’s nest with minced chicken, fresh Chinese yam and superior soup; and steamed grouper with fresh Sichuan peppercorn and premium soy sauce. 25/F, Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, 5 Connaught Road, Central 7. Mott 32 From January 29 to February 12, the Chinese New Year menu at Mott 32 is offering an unconventional take on festive fare with creations such as stir-fried lobster with rainbow quinoa; and wok-fried golden oyster, diced and mixed with Chinese preserved meat, water chestnuts and sweet beans, served with prawn crackers. Meanwhile, a deboned crispy chicken is stuffed with auspicious ingredients such as abalone, fish maw, glutinous rice and Chinese preserved meat. Basement, Standard Chartered Bank Building, 4-4A Des Voeux Road Central, Central 8. Ming Pavilion Priced at HK$988 per person, the Chinese New Year set menu at Hokkien restaurant Ming Pavilion features lesser-seen dishes for the holidays such as Minnan-style pan-seared coral red grouper; braised porcini with Fujian pickled vegetables; and sweet taro paste with Japanese pumpkin. The centrepiece of the feast is the traditional lo hei, a vibrant communal salad dish that invites interaction. The version here includes luxurious matsutake mushrooms, pomelo, Japanese sea whelks and yellowtail sashimi. 8/F, Island Shangri-La, Pacific Place, Supreme Court Road, Admiralty 9. One Harbour Road Festive additions to One Harbour Road’s already excellent line-up of dim sum include fish maw and conpoy dumplings with chicken and lobster broth; deep-fried mud carp dumplings with sea moss and coriander; and wok-fried turnip and preserved meat puddings with sakura shrimp and homemade XO chilli sauce, all available from January 21 to February 5. For dinner, chef Chan Hon-cheong’s Chinese New Year specialities – also available during the same period – include the likes of crispy sun-dried oyster with osmanthus honey sauce; stir-fried razor clams with crabmeat, fresh milk and olive kernels; and cold shredded Spanish milk-fed baby lamb served with flat glass noodles, Chinese celery, coriander and sand ginger sauce. 8/F, Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, 1 Harbour Road, Wan Chai 10. Pak Loh Chiu Chow Celebrate with quality Chiu Chow cuisine at this stalwart of the genre, which is offering three different Chinese New Year tasting menus until February 13 (excluding January 29) that highlight ingredients such as golden oysters, salted chicken and marinated meats. The Welcome Spring Set (HK$3,980 for six people, HK$7,980 for 12) starts off with deep-fried crispy noodle rolls stuffed with minced shrimp, pork and fat choy (black moss). The most luxurious menu, the Pak Loh Set (HK$7,880 for six people, HK$14,980 for 12) includes a decadent Chiu Chow Glorious Appetiser Platter that features the restaurant’s greatest marinated hits, followed by dishes such as Chiu Chow smoked duck and steamed giant grouper. Shop 1002, 10/F, Times Square, 1 Matheson Street, Causeway Bay, and Shop 1028D, 1/F, Elements, 1 Austin Road West, West Kowloon 11. Yong Fu Ningbo cuisine specialist Yong Fu is presenting a festive 14-course banquet menu designed for 10 people (HK$29,888) available from now until January 29. Chef Liu Zhen’s feast is anchored in Ningbo cuisine, with additional influences from local Hong Kong ingredients and techniques. Among the banquet dishes are baked crab with minced pork and Ningbo-style soybean paste; poached free-range chicken from Siming Mountain; dried abalone in golden premium chicken soup; and, of course, the restaurant’s signature Ningbo-style glutinous rice dumplings filled with black sesame. Shop 2, G/F and 1/F, Golden Star Building, 20-24 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai

Best Hong Kong restaurants for luxury Chinese New Year menus to welcome Year of the Snake

Celebrate in style with our list of some of the best restaurants for Chinese New Year lunch and dinner dining in Hong Kong

1. The Chinese Library