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Wine and Spirits

Wine and Spirits
News and trends in luxury wine and spirits
highlights from
100 Top Tables 2026 Restaurant Directory
100 Top Tables 2026 Restaurant Directory
Tourists crowd Bangkok’s Chinatown. Photo: Reuters

Bangkok’s culinary stars dim as costs rise and tourists dwindle

Lavitt Ko and Theo Ko are revitalising their family cha chaan teng in Tai Wai with milk tea raves and beatbox parties. Photo: Sam Tsang

From milk tea raves to night tea: how Hong Kong restaurants fight to survive

Auspicious symbolism is thoughtfully woven throughout The Eight dining room.

Cantonese cuisine gets a contemporary makeover at The Eight in the Grand Lisboa Macau

In partnership with:SJM Resorts
Sea cucumber, tofu fish mousse and Mapo minced pork represent different cultural traditions all brought together in a single dish at Hong Kong Cuisine 1983. Photos: Handout

What truly defines the melting pot that is Cantonese cuisine?

Drinking and listening are treated as equals at Bar Sepia in Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong’s listening bars beat the noise with vinyl vibes

More from 100 top tables
Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
Grand Mansion, a century-old French Renaissance-style building in Shanghai’s former French Concession, is the location of 67 Pall Mall’s new Shanghai branch, which is set to open in December 2026. Photo: 67 Pall Mall Shanghai
Travel

London wine club’s Shanghai outpost to offer Chinese drinkers a ‘sweet spot’

67 Pall Mall founder Grant Ashton says club’s 6,000-label list, including 1,000 Chinese wines, reflects a shift towards drinking less but better.

Food and Drinks

World’s 50 Best Bars 2026: Hong Kong’s Bar Leone retains top spot

Food and Drinks

Mouthing Off | Michelin’s best cellars? Is the brand scraping the barrel with its wine guides?

Hong Kong economy

Hong Kong’s Wine and Dine Festival to feature extended hours, 10% more booths

Tourism board to roll out ‘Hong Kong Gourmet Month’ after four-day festival from October 29 to November 1.

The Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival in late October will feature 10 per cent more booths this year. Photo: Nora Tam
Board chairman Peter Lam says this year’s festival will be held on a larger scale, with more than 340 booths. Photo: Silvia Siu
Food and Drinks

Bangkok’s culinary stars dim as costs rise and tourists dwindle

Several globally renowned restaurants like Canvas, Keller and Villa Frantzén have shut their doors, even as competition rises from Vietnam and Malaysia.

Food and Drinks

A wine writer’s Hong Kong restaurant picks for seafood, dim sum and more

Cecilia Wong takes her food seriously and loves Shanghainese, Vietnamese, Cantonese and Chiu Chow flavours, as well as classic Italian.

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Food and Drinks

Where to celebrate Negroni Week in Hong Kong, September 21–27

Enjoy classic and eclectic variations of the Italian cocktail with guest bartenders, free-flow packages and more at these venues.

A negroni from Zuma in Central. Negroni Week is coming to Hong Kong from September 21-27, with various bars and outlets celebrating with novel cocktails, free-flows and even a workshop. Photo: Zuma
Food and Drinks

On the Menu | Is New York’s Bar Leone a copycat of Hong Kong’s ‘World’s Best’ original?

Hong Kong’s Bar Leone says it has no connection with its namesake in Lower Manhattan, which officially opened on September 10.

Malaysia

Young Malaysians brew goal for traditional tuak drink to become national success

Given the drink’s origins in Sarawak, industry players have to balance between adhering to traditional processes and commercial limitations.

Food and Drinks

Hidden Japanese, ‘excellent’ Cantonese: a Hong Kong bartender’s food picks

Carna by Dario Cecchini head bartender Jason Yu shares where he enjoys steak, pasta, ‘incredibly personal’ omakase and no-fuss Cantonese food.

A selection of sashimi at Open Meal, a Japanese omakase restaurant hidden in a Tuen Mun industrial building that Jason Yu goes to when he is in the mood to splurge. Carna by Dario Cecchini’s head bartender also shares where he goes for steak and pasta in a relaxed atmosphere, and authentic Cantonese food. Photo: Instagram/open_meal
Drink in Focus

How nostalgia inspired Orchard’s Fortune Chai cocktail

The city’s yum cha tradition, a bartender’s chai memories and a fortune cookie garnish come together in this silky, spice-tinged Armagnac cocktail.

Fortune Chai at Orchard reimagines the tradition of drinking tea with dim sum in Hong Kong. Photo: Handout
Food and Drinks

South Korea can make good wine - and this producer has the bottles to prove it

Many think South Korea’s climate causes the flavour-masking sweetness of its wine, but Jeong Gyu-song of Jeong Ssang-eun Wine says otherwise.

China trade

European wine producers seek new markets as China sales dream sours

Imports of bottled wine from the EU fell 16.6 per cent by volume in the first half of this year, according to Chinese customs data.

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Food and Drinks

French sommelier’s Hong Kong food and drink picks for value and quality

Titouan Jounier, head sommelier at one-Michelin-star Louise, shares his favourite restaurants and bars in Hong Kong and beyond.

Vitello tonnato with slow-cooked veal, tuna sauce and capers at Ninetta, a new Italian restaurant in Hong Kong’s Central neighbourhood that sommelier Titouan Jounier praises for its quality. Photo: May Tse
What to do in Hong Kong

5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this weekend, August 14-16

A vintage market and car parade, a speakeasy offering tea cocktails, and a panda-themed dance musical are among picks this weekend.

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This weekend’s “Panda-rama” family dance musical at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre features young performers from the HKDance Children and Youth Troupes as well as professional dancers. Photo: Instagram/hkdancecompany
Food and Drinks

Drink in Focus: Gyokuro Melon Punch at Fello

Shelley Tai’s new bar features a refreshing cocktail that’s anchored by tea and melon, and is designed for clarity, depth and instant appeal.

Food and Drinks

How Asia’s 50 Best Bars expanded to 25 cities, from Kathmandu to Hangzhou

Singapore’s early dominance has given way to Bangkok’s lead on the 2026 list, as new hubs shake up the competition thanks to ‘cocktail tourism’.

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Food and Drinks

Why are drinkers suddenly going crazy for a 300-year-old spirit in Paris?

Chartreuse, an ancient French herbal liqueur made by monks using 130 herbs and aromatics, has become one of Paris’ most fashionable spirits.

Cocktail with Green Chartreuse (herbal liqueur). (Photo by: Delmarty J/Alpaca/Andia/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
What to do in Hong Kong

5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this weekend, August 7-9

Enjoy a floating gong bath, teach your kids about upcycling, learn to write your name in Egyptian hieroglyphics and more this weekend.

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Food and Drinks

Top bartender Uno Jang’s ‘Gen Z forward’ Korean drinks offer new experiences

At Singapore’s BOP, Jang is elevating somaek and other classic drinks as he targets adventurous younger drinkers seeking bold new flavours.

Food and Drinks

‘We were just 2 kids’: how Hong Kong Gen Z pair started Chinese wine business

Anson Sik and Edson Bichon’s Purple Rain Wine is bringing Chinese natural wines – many from obscure vineyards – to drinkers in Hong Kong.

Purple Rain Wine founders Anson Sik (left) and Edson Bichon make a toast. The Gen Z entrepreneurs founded their company to bring Chinese natural wines to drinkers in Hong Kong, and to tell the stories behind the bottles. Photo: Jonathan Wong
US-China trade war

Grape expectations: California winemakers optimistic for China export resurgence

Despite trade tensions and tariffs, California wineries are hopeful that US wine exports to China will recover as trade relations stabilise.

A vineyard and bike trail at sunset in Livermore Wine Country, California. Photo: Getty Images
Food and Drinks

Hope & Sesame leads mainland China’s rise on Asia’s 50 Best Bars list

The Guangzhou bar and other venues in Shenzhen, Changsha, Shanghai, Chengdu and Beijing are driving the country’s booming mixology scene.

What to do in Hong Kong

5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this weekend, July 31-August 2

Check out an all-night rave with Reggaeton beats, pet puppies on The Peak, catch the latest Spider-Man film and more this weekend.

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Food and Drinks

Drink in Focus: Trinidad Sour at Bar Tincture

Bitters make an unconventional cocktail base – and at Bar Tincture, founder Bone Cheng explains how he makes this balance of flavours work.

Bar Tincture in Hong Kong shines the spotlight on bitters, making them in-house and expressing them through cocktails like the Trinidad Sour. Photo: Jocelyn Tam
Food and Drinks

Your Hong Kong weekend drinks guide for July 30-August 1

From guest shifts by Nico De Soto and Nature Kan to Bar Leone’s fresh summer menu, here’s where to find the best tipples this weekend.

The interior of Friday After Class, where mixologist Nico De Soto takes over on Thursday. Photo: Handout
Food and Drinks

Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2026: Hope & Sesame in China’s Guangzhou takes top spot

The victory marks the first time a mainland Chinese bar has placed at No 1, ending the two-year reign of Hong Kong’s Bar Leone.

Food and Drinks

The best guest shifts in Hong Kong and Macau amid Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2026

As the top 50 list is unveiled in Macau next Tuesday, rare guest shifts bring the region’s finest mixologists to the Four Seasons’ Argo, Green Room at Upper House and more.

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