From signatures at sorely missed venues to special cocktails celebrating the Queen, here are the drinks you should be sipping on when bars reopen on Thursday.
After an extra exciting couple of weeks toasting to the return of dinner service, Hong Kong’s F&B industry finally has something to celebrate: Bars are back! And open till 2am, too. 19 May, aka tonight, see’s the city’s bars finally rid of the inconvenient bans and restrictions that have clouded over the industry for the last couple months — 130-something days, at that. Some will be celebrating with new creations; others with can’t-be-missed deals. And a few are even hosting one-night-only guests shifts. In any case, the return of bars can only mean one thing: endless evenings of boozing and schmoozing. See you this Thursday eve.
Cheers to Hong Kong’s Bars, Reopened
Quality Goods Club
From the experts who know all the tips and secrets to a Very Good Time, Quality Goods Club is welcoming back the return of bars by giving away 134 glasses of Champagne to count away the long 134 days of bar closures. Once you’ve gulped down the full flute, get yourself any one of their signature cocktails or your favourite go-to drink and dance the night away — Boogie Town, with funk, boogie disco-soul tracks played by Johnny Hillier and Roy Malig is back.
Quality Goods Club, Basement, On Lok House, 39-43 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong
ZZURA
A continuation of its discovery into the hidden, mythical oasis of Zerzura in the Sahara Desert, ZZURA unveils an all-new cocktail program designed by Gagan Gurung inspired by Middle Eastern spices, herbs and fruits. Within the selection of eight, two are highlighted as must-try signatures: the Sharbat, a tangy Iranian-inspired beverage made with pomegranate vinegar, rooibos tea syrup, pori (puffed rice), caramel and citrus vodka; and the Oly Moly, a herbaceous gin-based sip tinged with olive oil, mount pepper, rosemary syrup, metil and lemon juice.
ZZURA, 2/F Amber Lodge, 23 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2639 9155
The Poet
Marking its grand return after the long closure, The Poet launches the first of its thematic menu series, named “Sunshine After the Rain”. Chapter One is dedicated to new beginnings with a roster of six stunning cocktails that subscribe to the same wave of positive optimism: Silver Lining, Puddle Wonderful, April Showers, Little Miss Sunshine, Spring to Life and Sweetness and Light. Shaken up by the talented team, it features sweet, fruity and floral notes of passionfruit, lemon and basil alongside spirits infused with sesame, longan, jasmine and pink peppercorn.
The Poet, G/F, 13 Staunton Street, Central, Hong Kong, +852 9880 1550
Musubi Hiro
You should really be at Musubi Hiro for its tasty izakaya-inspired gastropub fare (they’ve just launched a new menu!), but if you need another reason, especially one related to booze, you’d be pleased to know that they have introduced a new premium sake menu featuring exclusive bottles from small-scale breweries in Japan. It includes the Fukuju Daiginjo, known for its fresh aroma of Japanese pear; the Dan Junmai Daiginjo, with notes of melon and peach; as well as the Shichiken Kaikoma, made with Mount Kaikoma water for a smooth finish and incredibly soft mouthfeel.
Musubi Hiro, G/F 37 Cochrane Street, Central, Hong Kong, +852 5597 6911
Tempo Tempo
Tempo Tempo’s official introduction was through The Sixteenth, Pirata Group’s four-concept space at Quarry Bay. With the return of bars this Thursday, Tempo Tempo is making its official-official debut with new Happy Hours (3pm to 7:30pm), a weekly Pink Thursdays event and an all-new range of summer cocktails centred around preferred palates of refreshing fresh pineapple, lime juice, mint, berries and basil salt. Five highlights top the extended menu, including Salted Honey Old Fashioned as a twist on the classic; a fruity, gin-based Unicorn Tamer; mixed berry, Berry Me Julep made with bourbon, maple syrup and fresh lime juice; Italian, of gin, fresh lemon juice and Champagne; and Mermaid Punch, a summery combination of aged rum, apricot liqueur and peach brandy, all served in brightly coloured, adorable ceramic mugs.
Tempo Tempo, 2/F Oxford House, Taikoo Place, 979 King’s Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong, +852 2788 3037
Penicillin
The third version of Penicillin’s seasonal cocktail menu is one that continues the Asia’s Most Sustainable Bar winner’s strive for zero-waste beverages. Debuting 11 new cocktails named after popular sustainability-related titles, it features the likes of “All You Need Is Less” made with marigold, coconut, mango skin and rhubarb; “The Human Age”, a twist on the classic martini with apple, honeydew and elderflower vermouth; and “How Bad Are Bananas”, that features the nostalgic Rabbit Candy alongside celery and banana whey.
Penicillin, L/G, Amber Lodge, 23 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong
Darkside
Come for the elegance of Rosewood and the views of Victoria Harbour, but stay for Darkside’s newly refreshed range of cocktails, this time inspired by a timeless range of retro classics cocktails of the last century. Rosewood’s Director of Bars Arkadiusz Rybak and the mixology team debut a mysterious new menu of eight cocktails with equally tantalising backstories in the remake of the Cameron’s Kick, first featured in Harry MacElhone’s 1919 Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails, made with Nikka Whisky. There’s also the Rabo de Galo, “Rooster Tail”, dating back to the 1960s as a popular vermouth-based drink among Italian immigrants in São Paulo; Chicago Fizz, a Waldorf Astoria mainstay leading up to the Prohibition with dark rum and ruby port; Toreador, a 1937 recipe of tequila, lime and apricot, first featured in William J. Tarling’s Café Royal Cocktail Book; and Side Car, a Rémy Martin VSOP cocktail with lemon and Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao that was rumoured to have originated at the end of WWI with claims of its first creation by The Ritz Hotel in Paris.
Darkside, Level Two, Rosewood Hong Kong, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
181 Fortnum & Mason
Amidst grand celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, Fortnum & Mason has prepared two dedicated cocktails at their sophisticated fine-dining destination, 181 Fortnum & Mason. Frappe’ 75 draws inspiration from the Queen’s 1975 visit to Hong Kong, made with a black tea base of Fortnum’s own, along with peach, ginger oolong cordial and rose petals, as a nod towards England’s national flower. The other, Jubilee Beacon, is a direct gesture towards the momentous event, and recreates the Queen’s personal favourite — Gin & Dubonnet — shaken with two parts Fortnum’s London Dry Gin and one part Jubilee Dubonnet.
181 Fortnum & Mason, Shop 022, G/F, K11 Atelier, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong, +852 2916 8181
Brooklyn Yakuza Oyabun
Adjacent to izakaya-inspired spot Brooklyn Yakuza is Oyabun, a Japanese cocktail bar said to replicate those similarly located in New York’s Manhattan. Leading the beverage program is Bikram Shrestha and Arati Gurung, whom ahead of the return of bars on the 19th, unveils a Otsumami Yakuza Special that serves a complimentary bar snack and sake with every cocktail. And coincidentally enough, Oyabun has introduced a new spring cocktail menu featuring refreshing tipples like Marg-Narita, a tequila-based serve with kumquat, grapefruit and pint salt; the Yakuza Punch with vodka, hazelnut and Sukiwasa; and the Okayamatini, sake mixed in with sweet peach, shisho and sakuru.
Oyabun, 29 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2866 1034
Lead image courtesy of Tempo Tempo
Lorria Sahmet
Editor
After two years writing in luxury retail, Lorria now covers food and drink happenings in Hong Kong. When not taste-testing for the best fries in the city (shoestring, always!), find her at home obsessing over tableware and attempting a fruit garden on her tiny bay window. She is happiest by the ocean with a giant fishbowl-glass of Aperol Spritz.
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