7 top restaurants to try in and around Hong Kong’s Tai Kwun – the cultural complex reborn as a globe-trotting foodie hub
Hong Kong’s former Central Police Station has been reborn as the world-renowned cultural complex Tai Kwun – now home to trendsetting restaurants including Aaharn, Café Claudel, LockCha Tea House and La Brata
Tai Kwun – an arts and heritage centre occupying Hong Kong’s Central Police Station – indisputably ranks among the city’s most important cultural developments of recent times, singled out by Time magazine’s as one World's 100 Greatest Places in 2018.
But since opening last summer, the arts complex has also developed a deserved reputation as an after hours hotspot, home to an interesting selection of restaurants – as is neighbouring Old Bailey Street. Here are seven of our favourites.
Aaharn
Aaharn provides an exemplary dining experience that showcases the creativity of Thai cuisine expert David Thompson and the talent of executive chef Boonyapat “Dtoy” Pariyasakul. Dishes are inspired by long forgotten recipes and royal cuisine, each one as delicious to eat as they are stunning to gaze at.
Opt for the tasting menu – with fantastic wine pairings – for an enticing insight into balanced Thai cuisine at its finest. Personal favourites included marinated tiger prawns, young ginger and kaffir lime juice on betel leaves; crispy noodles with crab, bean sprouts and pickled garlic; and stir-fried mangetouts with squid and ink, paired with a fragrant relish of yellow beans, pork and prawns simmered in coconut milk served on a deep-fried soft yolk egg.
A range of seasonal menus has just been introduced, including a mini tasting menu in celebration of the restaurant’s first anniversary, available until the end of November. Choose to dine inside for a relaxed fine-dining experience or on the terrace for a casual ambience. Service is stellar.
1/F Armoury Building, Block 2, Tai Kwun, 10 Hollywood Road, Central, 2703 9111, aaharn.hk
Café Claudel
Café Claudel serves homely comfort food, French bistro-style. Classic options include tender Burgundy snails bathed in garlic butter; roasted spring chicken imported from France and served with roast potatoes and carrots; and the delicious oven-baked cod with fennel, asparagus and Grenobloise butter. There are also a few Asian-influenced dishes on the compact menu, including salmon tartare with mild wasabi mayonnaise topped with salmon roe, served with crispy fish skin, and mini Peking duck burger.