Late Hour Underground King

The theme is Karma. A groovy smallish place that offers great dance music. Buddha Lounge is probably the best venue for electronic & hardcore 'dance' music lovers. Cool crowd and mix bag. (the best dance place was Yumla before, and after they've launch their shady door policy, many regulars shifted to the Buddha.)

Buddha Lounge gets very busy during weekend, especially after 5am. The dancing crowd still bumping the floor at 7am. It's one of the main afterhours places in Hong Kong. The DJ spinning hardcore eletronica can set our world on fire. Check out the private back room.

Monday: Chill Out Night

Tuesday: Girls Night Out, Hip Hop and RnB 6pm to 10pm. Happy Hour 11pm to 1am Free House vodka mixer for ladies Rum mixer 2 for 1 all night.

Wednesday: Funky house / Soul 6pm to 10pm. Happy Hour Vodka mixers HK$25 all night.

Thursday: eggae, Ragga, Soca, Zouk, Hip Hop and Afro Beat. HK$30 Chang Beer all night. Live percussion and DJ Kila

Friday: House 6pm to 10pm. Happy Hour 12 shots for HK$300

Saturday: House 6pm to 10pm. Happy Hour 12 shots for HK$300

Buddha Lounge
Address: L/G Amber Lodge, Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2526 2562
Opening Hours: 6pm to 2am daily. Closed on Sundays. Thursday, Friday and Saturday open till late.
Cover Charge: No cover.
Dress Code: Casual.
Happy Hour: 6pm to 10pm daily.
Drafts available: Heineken and Edelweiss.

How to get there: take MTR to Central Station, take exit D. Turn right on Queens Road Central, walk straight, then take the escalator to Hollywood Road. It's right under the bridge on the stairs.

club M1NT

Mixture of Paris and London spirit, M1NT is a glamorous nightclub with "beautiful" people, local models and wannabes. Plush bunket, chandeliers and semi-private dining rooms with live black tip reef sharks swimming in the fish 8-meter-long tanks, and a jelly fish tank. It's the venue of lucury brands including Versace, Lancôme, Chaumet, Calvin Klein, Harvey Nichols, Vertu, and Moët and Chandon to host fashion shows and product launches.

Entry has to be painfull if you don't dress well, or if you're not 'on the list'. Short dressed Asian girl in the group helps getting through the door. Friday night was pretty packed a young & upmarket crowd. Service is on the arrogant side.

M1NT
Address: 108 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2261 1106
Fax: +(852) 2980 3737

How to get there: take MTR to Central Station, take exit D. Turn right on Queens Road Central, walk straight, then take the escalator to Hollywood Road. Walk along Hollywood Road towards Sheung Wan direction for about 5 mins. It's on your left.

Little Cozy French Dance Place

Tucked away down a tiny side street, gecko is a great place for private parties (birthday party) and cozzy after-dinner watering hole. It's the in-the-know locals' favourite. Chill-out in cosy sofas on weekday evenings with piano music, jamming sessions, or live jazz. Weekends get raucous with DJs spinning electronic dance beats.

The owner, Chris, is French. So, there're lots of French people hang out here. The crowds are usually non pretensious. No dress code here. Services are friendly. Drinks are a bit pricey (HK$70 for a house pour) but the DJ know how to work the crowd, espcially after midnight.

Gecko Lounge and Wine Bar
Address: LG/F, Ezra Lane Lower Hollywood Road, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2537 4680
Opening Hours: Sun-Thu 6pm-3am; Fri & Sat 6pm-later

How to get there: take MTR to Central Station, take exit D. Turn right on Queens Road Central, walk straight, then take the escalator to Hollywood Road. There're stairs right under the bridge. Walk down the stairs and turn right on the first alley on your right. Gecko is the first bar in the alley.

What the PHO?

Pho-natic (pronounce as fa-nat-ik), one who loves to eat Pho.

What is Pho?
Pho is a traditional Vietnamese thinly sliced meat and rice-noodle soup dish. It normally served as a bowl of white rice noodles in clear beef broth, with thin cuts of beef (steak, fatty flank, lean flank, brisket). Variations featuring tendon, tripe, meatballs, chicken leg, chicken breast, or other chicken organs (heart, liver, tongue, etc.) are also available. It is garnished with fresh herbs such as green onions, white onions, coriander leaves, Thai basil, lemon or lime wedges, and bean sprouts. The herbs are usually provided on a separate plate, which allows customers to adjust the soup's flavor as they like. Fish sauce and hot sauce are popular additions as well.

Promotion @ Cafe Annam (for dinner only):
SUNDAY: Order a PHO and get a bottle of FREE SAIGON BEER!
TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY: Order a 'Street-Style' combination appetizer and get a FREE BOWL OF PHO!

Cafe Annam
Address: 35 Elgin Street, Soho, Central, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2545 9966

Best Wanton (Prawn Dumplings) Noodle

Among the thousands of local dishes that remain deeply rooted in Hongkongers' daily life, some make it to international fame, and others stick to lowkey popularity, eaten in local circles.

Wanton (Prawn Dumplings) Noodles, is one of the nation's flavorful plate. With a maximum capacity of 48 seatings, this small noodle outlet is probably the best wanton noodle in Hong Kong.

The prices are unbelievable cheap even with Michelin recommendation: HK$16 for a bowl of soup noodles! The menu only have 3 choices. You can only choose between 1) Prawn Wanton Noodles; 2) Fishball Noodles; or 3) Beef Noodles. The wantons and fishballs are huge. Wantons are filled with a few big fresh prawns, and enveloped in a thin, translucent dumpling skin. Fishballs are flavor with dried Mandarin peel. And the egg noodles are fresh and springy, cooked perfectly al dente with an alkaline aftertaste. A little bit of venigar can reduce the alkaline taste. The Beef are not particularly good in taste though.

Be prepared to share table with strangers. It is definately NOT a romantic dinner place, as everyone just sat, ordered, ate and left within a span of minutes.

Tsim Chai Kee
Address: 98 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2850 6471
Opening Hours: 09:00-22:00

Directions: Central MTR station, exit B1, turn right. Turn right again on Queen's Road Central. Turn left on Cochrane Street, walk uphill. It's near the mid-level escalators. About 5 mins walk from Central MTR station.

Innovative Wine Tasting Bar

Wine tastings became fun with gimmicky Enomatic Wine Serving System. Enomatic is a state-of-the-art computer controlled wine serving system that monitors the operation of each bottle and allows the poured wine to be set to any quantity. The unit features individual bottle positions that can adapt to different sized bottles, electronic push-button operation, and back-lit display. The anti-oxidation feature is automatically activated whenever a new bottle is added in the system. The computer also tells the restaurant how long a bottle has been in the Enomatic.

I visited the Tasting Wine Bar in Hong Kong on Friday night. You can taste a wide selection of wines with a variety of prices, that wouldn’t usually be offered by the glass. The bar offers 40 varieties of wines (32 Reds, 7 Whites, 1 Rose), from Old to New World wines. Many of them are unable to sample in normal restaurants / bars without purchasing the whole bottle. Instead of spending more than $500 for a bottle of wine, I can taste half portion of the same wine for $89. They even have wine from Lebanon. They also offer tapas & cheeses (free one serving during happy hours), which are excellent companion to wines. I poured my own glass of wine without touching a bottle!

How does the Digital Wine Cellar works?

1. First, you walk over to a big glass-fronted box with wine bottles in it.
2. Insert a prepaid debit card
3. Hold your wineglass under a spout
4. Press a button
5. and -- Huhuu -- dispenser pour your Shiraz.

You have 3 choices to choose from the system:-
(1) By the glass (150ml)
(2) Half glass (75ml), or
(3) Tasting portion (25ml)

Each bottle is marked with the price per different serving size. The prices changes on a digital display. Cost wise, for tastings portion (i.e. 25ml), price ranging from HK$14 to HK$170 at the top end (Vintage 1997) .

The downsides of this bar was that the lights were too bright, and the low ceilings made the room very noisy and when crowded with people. Service could be improved though.

Where can I find this wine machine in Hong Kong?

Sky Lounge at Sheraton Hotel
Address : 20 Nathan Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Tel : +(852) 2369 1111
Opening Hour : Mon-Thur 16:00-01:00; Fri 16:00-02:00; Sat 14:00-2:00; Sun 14:00-01:00

Tastings Wine Bar
Address : 27-29 L/G Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Tel : +(852) 2523 6282
Opening Hour : Mon-Sat 17:00-02:00 (Sun Closed)

Chinese Junk Boat Cocktail Tour

How about sailing in Hong Kong's beautiful harbour, in an traditional Chinese junk boat, with a stylish cocktail on your hand?

There's a private run junk boat called Aqua Luna (or “Cheung Po Tsai” in Cantonese), run by Aqua Restaurant Group, which owns some of Hong Kong’s most cutting edge luxury restaurants in HK, including Aqua, Ayuthaiya, WasabiSabi, etc.

Aqua Luna is probably the last traditional Chinese Junk boat to be designed and handmade in Hong Kong. This 28-metre junk was built in by a 80 year old master craftsman, supervised by an equally experienced 73 year old ship-building veteran, over a period of 18 months, using traditional Chinese boat building methods which have now all but died out in Hong Kong.

Price per person: HK$150 (day)/ HK$180 (evening) - 45 mins including cocktail /drink

Reservations:
Phone: +(852) 21168821
Website: www.aqua.com.hk
Email: info@aqua.com.hk

Bar Hopping

Lan Kwai Fong - the most popular place for drinking and dining with a vibrant mixture of different cultures.

LKF (Lan Kwai Fong in short) is not merely a place for pubs and discos. It boasts such a range of cuisine: from Italian to Mediterranean; from Japanese to Thai and of course Chinese. The cobbled streets around LKF burst into life after dark. Prices can comparatively high in this area.

How to get there: Central MTR exit D1, turn right. Turn right on Queens Road Central. Turn left and cross the traffic light on D'Aguilar Street. Walk up hill for 2-5 mins.
Dress Code: Casual Chic.

Dancing - Electronics, Drum&Base, Breakz, Jungle...

Hide away in a backstreet between Lan Kwai Fong and Soho, Yumla is one of my favorite hangout place, possibly the coolest dance spot in town. The crowd and the music are the things that keep me going back. No pretention dress-up stuff, just good tunes and great people.

Drinks are on the pricey side, around HK$80/glass.

The door started charging covers lately, with a 'flexible' price, which is pretty much depends on how crowded is the dance floor, and how regular the customers are, and how well you know the bouncer. No entrance for flip flops or sandals, otherwise very casual.

Dance floor is very small, it's more like a bar setting than a club, but well, that's HK! You can hardly find big dance floor anyway.

Yumla
Address: Lower basement, 79 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2174 2382
Opening Hours: Mon-Thur 5pm-2am, Fri-Sat 6pm-4am, closed Sunday. (dance crowd start coming in after midnight).

How to get there: Central MTR exit D1, turn right. Turn right on Queens Road Central. Turn left and cross the traffic light on D'Aguilar Street. Walk up hill and turn right on Wo On Lane (Ben & Jerry). At the end of Wo On Lane, there's a small park with a stairs on the left. Walk up the stairs, Yumla is on the left hand side ontop of the stairs.

Rooftop Harbour View

IFC (International Finance Centre) is the high end hang out place for the rich and famous. The best part about RED is the rooftop podium with 260 degree view overlooking Victoria Harbour. The podium filled with outdoor gas heater, so you won’t feel the cold in a windy chilly night. This cosmopolitan bar is quiet and good for chill out. If you want something to bite with the drinks, the RED sampler (HK$228) with 9 surprises from the chef will be your best bet. Standard drinks at HK$50-60.

RED Bar + Restaurant
Address: 4/F Podium, Two IFC, 8 Finance Street, Central
Phone: +(852) 8129 8882

Living Art Cafe: Art Jam

Art Jamming Party every Sat. from 9pm to 2am. HKD500 per person, including a 85x120cm canvas, unlimited arcylic paints, and free flow of fruit juice. You can also bring your own alcohol to stimulate your thoughts. An alternative hang out on Sat night, pretty fun!

Meli Melo
Address: Ground Floor, 123 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong.
Phone: +(852) 2541 8816

Insomnia 90s Pop Live Music

Insomnia is one of the busiest venues in Lan Kwai Fong. They have a good resident band. Music here is 90s dance pop, crowds mainly executives, airline crews, and tourists age 20-30s and above. If you are going for a conversation, better stick to the bar area which opens out onto the street and gives you a great view of the endless human traffic. You don’t have to leave until 5am, and you’ll only have to wait a while for it to open up again at 8am for a breakfast beer.

Insomnia
Address: 38-44 D'Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong.
Phone: +(852) 25250957
How to get there: Central MTR exit D1, turn right. Turn right on Queens Road Central. Turn left and cross the traffic light on D'Aguilar Street. Walk up hill for 2-5 mins. Insomnia is on the left, white colour wall.

Best Moroccan food in Town

Restaurant Name: Sahara Mezz Bar

Independently owned, serving Egyptian & Moroccan food, this cocktail restaurant was for people to relax and enjoy good time with friends over quality food & drinks. I love this place very much. Indeed, I shall not call it "restaurant" as it doesn't have proper restaurant setting. This is more like a bar / lounge that serve food. However, many people come here to eat because the food is good. Decorations & music are trendy and colorful Middle Eastern theme. Staff services depends on weather the owner Dodi is there. He really know how to work the crowd. But if he's not there, other staff may not be so attending.

Price: HK$150-200 per person including drinks. Shisha (water pipe) with fruit flavoured tobacco for HK$100 per serving (pipe) and you can share among 2-4 friends.

Favourite dish: Pigeon Pastella is a must-eat every time I visit here.

Food Review: Appetiser platter is a good start to try out many different items on the menu, including pita bread, egg plant mud (bread spread), pea mud (bread spread), felafel, green salad, cheese, spring rolls, etc. The portion is big enough for 2-4 persons. There are a few different Tangine dishes here, I love the meat balls and the fish. Although a bit too salty for my taste, but they goes very well with pita bread or cous cous. Cous Cous were cooked with fish stock (I guess) the flavour is so nice that I can eat it alone without accompany.

Phone: +852 2291 6060
Address: Gound Floor, No. 11 Elgin Street, Central, Hong Kong [MAP]
How to get there: 10 mins walk up hill from Central MTR

Local Cheap Eat

Restaurant Name: Tsui Wah Restaurant


This is one of my favourite local eating house (Char Chan Tang). How to tell if a restaurant is good? A good indication is that this 24-hour restaurant is always packed with people. Food served faster then you can imagine. The menu is so diverse that you can find almost anything... from local style fish ball / wonton noodles, porridge, Indian curry, Singaporean Hainan chicken rice, Japanese noodles, Chinese Char-Siew (roasted pork) Rice, fried rice, Western pasta, sandwiches, Western roasted spring chicken, etc. Be prepared to share table with strangers. Do not expect any customer service. Definitely not a romantic dine out but, it's the place to go when you truly need to grub!

Price: Less than HK$50 per person.

Favourite dish: Soup Noodles with Stewed Pork Rib, pork rib was cooked until very soft and well flavoured, with a bit fat & soft bone tissue attached, rich in collagen :) Noodles were crunchy, not over cooked.

Food Review: Fish Broth Fish Ball with Tofu Noodles is my other favourite.

Phone: +852 2525 2624
Address: 15-19 Wellington street, Central, Hong Kong (MAP)
Website: http://www.tsuiwahrestaurant.com/
How to get there: 5 mins walk from Central MTR

Best Roast Goose in Town

Restaurant Name: Yung Kee Restaurant

Yung Kee has been in business for decades and has the awards to prove it. Recently been selected as one of the ten best restaurants in Hong Kong. It's famous for it's roast goose, probably the best in town. This is authentic upper class Cantonese cusine. They may need to dust off the English menu, but they do have one.

Price: HK$150-300 per person

Favourite dish: Roast goose of course! The meat was so tender and juicy, not too oily, not too dry, just nice. Skin was a little crispy... almost perfect!

Food Review: Pluck up your courage and give one of their famous Pi-Dan (Thousand Year Eggs) a try. Egg white was black and transperant jelly like. Egg york was like pudding not as hard as normal Pi-Dan. Best to eat with sour ginger. Fried Milk was good too

Phone: +852 2522 1624

Address: 32-40 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong [MAP]

How to get there: 5 mins walk from Central MTR

French Private Kitchen

Restaurant Name: Voyager

A family style cozy & small French bistro in Soho, only can seat around 16 guests. Run by 2 French guys from Brittany, serving their hometown food. You will find Brittany flag all over the place... postcards & flag hang up on the wall, old map, there's even a small Brittany flag on the dessert! Not many choices from the menu though. Very friendly service, reasonable price, good quality of food are th selling points.

Price: HK$270 for a 3-course set dinner including starter, main course and dessert, good deal!

Favourite dish: The Veal Steak with Mushroom Mustard Gravy was FANTASTIC! The steak was very juicy & tender, no need to chew hard, felt like melt in the mouth!

Food Review: I love the complementary rose water they serve, lovely! Bread was freshly baked, crispy and warm! Starter (Voyager's signature dish) was Brittany Mussels & Clams baked with butter, garlic & lots of pasley, served hot on plate. It was a little bit too salty fo me, but fresh & juicy & well spiced. Duck Breast was good too, I love it medium rare, a little bit raw, nicely cooked, the gravy goes very well with the meat, just nice! Fish Fillet was not impressive, you can skip that, dry & overcooked, still prefer Catonese style of fish cooking. For desserts I tried the Hot Apple Cake, nice & special!

Phone: +852 2525 2624
Address: G/F, 49 Graham Street, Soho, Central, Hong Kong [MAP]
How to get there: 10 mins walk up hill from Central MTRwww.rainbowrest.com.hk

Classic Itaian Restaurant in Soho

Restaurant Name: Cenacolo Steak & Pasta

A classic-type Italian restaurant, this newly opened branch restaurant of the famous "Al Dente" is a good go for Italian food. Good quality of food, reasonable price, nicely decorated and comfortable environment, however, the restaurant manager was very pushy when ordering. I didn't feel comfortable on this one as I want to take my time in deciding. Chinese community love to share food, the staff here understand and they'd serve plates accordingly if you tell them food ordered are for sharing. But the Italian manager obviously didn't like his customers to do so. I like the serving speed, not typical fast speed in most Hong Kong restaurant. Good place to spend 2 hours with friends for the dinner.

Price: HK$200-400 per person

Favourite dish: It must be the warm pudding, it was AWESOME. Served with wild berries, berries were cooked with rum served warm surrounding the pudding. While pudding was super creamy, smooth & rich. Must try!

Food Review: Appetier was Parma Ham with Honey Melon. This is an easy-to-do dish, with high quality parma ham imported from Italy (or Spain?) and sweet juicy melon, it's hard to go wrong. Beef Steak Steloin was very good, very juicy & tender, and nicely done. Although I still like the veal steak better at "Voyager", it's difficult to compare them as different texture. Steak served on top of potato mash, grilled vegetables (broccoli, red pepper, pumpkin, carrot and 2 green beans), big portion. HK$148 for 300g, good deal. The signature pasta dish and risotto were good too.

Phone: +852 2525 2624
Address: G/F, 49 Graham Street, Soho, Hong Kong [MAP]
How to get there: 10 mins walk up hill from Central MTR

www.rainbowrest.com.hk

Drum Jam

After participating in this African hand drum jamming circle, you may gt addicted like me. It's a 100% hands-on drumming session. No matter you are a professional drummer, or you never drum before, everybody can join this jamming session and have fun. Highly recommended that you take part in at least once in your life time. Drumming is a powerful activity to motivate, energise, heal and connect people.

The jamming session is hosted by Kumi Masunaga, one of the most famous African drum instructors in HK, and her facilitators.

There is a monthly free drum jam session in Fringe Club. And every alternate Sunday at the Tom Lee Music Carnival at HK Cultural Centre Piazza, right next to the starferry in the waterfront.

Drum Jam Hong Kong
Price: Free admission. Drums provided.
Check out the monthly schedule here.