Located in one of the most chic neighborhood in HK, is Elephant Grounds, a coffee shot that pride itself in sourcing beans from small farm producers from all over the world. They independently roast their beans in small batches to ensure consistency and quality.
Finding the ultimate burger is a never ending quest. One that I stick by even when in remote destinations that aren’t often associated with burgers. Such is the case with our visit to Hong Kong. Opened in 2014 in Wan Chai, The Butchers Club Burger prides itself on using premium meat and serving a limited menu of burger, beer and bourbon. It’s considered to be one of the best in the country and was even included in Michelin Guide 2016 and 2017.
Egg tarts (蛋撻) are a very popular traditional snack in Hong Kong and a must in the tasting list of any first-time-visitor to HK. These tarts are available in most bakeries as well as some dim sum restaurants but there are some bakeries that specialize in them. One of them is the famous Tai Cheong Bakery, established in 1954, which is considered to have the best egg tarts. The bakery is conveniently located at the Mid-Levels Escalator area, which you’re probably going to visit anyhow while in Hong Kong – so why not stop at this small bakery while you’re there. While they have a few more branches around Hong Kong, this one is the original and notorious one.
It was early morning and we were were standing on the street in hot and humid Hong Kong, with our stomachs rumbling, our expressions puzzled, examining the line of people queuing up to the restaurant. We weren’t sure what to expect.
Australia Dairy Co is an experience you do not want to miss when visiting Hong Kong. It is a traditional Cha Chaan Teng restaurant (literally meaning “tea restaurant”) offering cheap dishes of Hong Kong cuisine. Don’t be mistaken to think there’s any connection to Australian cuisine though. Australia Dairy Co specialize in steamed milk pudding, scrambled eggs, toast and custard dishes. It was named by its founder, who worked on an Australian farm in the 40’s. You’ll often find this place described as an iconic restaurant, an institution, a consensus.
Yum Cha serves traditional Chinese cuisine, including dim sum with a modern twist: It’s colorful, playful, and fun. These creative dim sums are are truly a feast for the eyes (and the camera), and are bound to add some cheerful quirk to your Instagram feed. The name “yum cha”, which literally means “drink tea” in Cantonese, has become the term for Chinese style brunch tea. A brunch which involves drinking Chinese tea and eating dim sum.
When planning our trip to Hong Kong, we originally made reservations for a different dessert place. After seeing photos on Instagram though, we knew we had to cancel those and make sure to reserve a spot in ZUC.CCH.ERO. Because of the rigorous planning of said trip, we reserved our place via Facebook months in advance, which turned to be an unusual event for the dessert bar – nevertheless our reservation was kept. In fact, when we made the reservation via Facebook Messenger, the person on the other side of the keyboard (and on the other side of the world) turned out to be Karen, one of the co-owners. She was nice and kind both online and offline.
Oddies Foodies is not your usual ice cream place. As you enter you’re confronted with a window where all sorts of crazy and astounding ice cream cones are lined up like pretty Barbie dolls. And boy, are they spectacular, with designs that are somewhere between inspiring and insane. Originally they had another branch in Wan Chai which closed down.