Just before Chinese New Year feasts come sprinting around, you need a weekend crash course on stretching out appetites with all those small meals your January “New Year, New Me” regime has you nibbling. That’s the only way you’re gonna finish both the sticky coconut pudding and the turnip pudding, along with the eight-course banquet feast.
You’ll want to be where it’s at this weekend: Soho, at least according to this collection of menus. There will be a collaborative menu between Happy Paradise and Argo; AWA AWA with Fat’s Chad’s. A lobster roll pop-up at The Wild Lot. A Malaysian-influenced pop-up by MYYZ Concepts from Hatch. And when you’re done boozing and cruising your way through the neighbourhood, get your fill of Sri Lankan street-food comforts from chef Gizzy at Hotal Colombo.
No More Tummy Grumbling! What to eat this weekend:
Happy Paradise x Argo “Yum Cha and Friends”
When: Saturday, 29 January, from 2:30 to 5:30pm
Lorenzo Antinori of Four Seasons’ ARGO is heading over to May Chow’s Happy Paradise this Saturday for a one-time collaborative menu, “Yumcha & Friends”. The “cha” in question is Antinori’s boozy take on tea-infused cocktails shaken up with four varietals of popular tea leaves: chrysanthemum, oolong, jasmine and rooibos. The other delicious part of an authentic yum cha ritual — the dim sum — will be prepared by Happy Paradise. Five unique plates spotlighting the retro hangout’s distinct neo-Chinese approach will include fried Taizhou baby squid; “Happy Taco” with cumin skirt steak and Sichuan chilli dressing; scallop taro puff; Bolognese cheung fun and “Lorenzo’s Strawberry & Dreams” featuring fried salted ice cream.
With current dining restrictions, Happy Paradise is open from 12 to 6pm.
Happy Paradise, UG/F, Ming Hing House, 52-56 Staunton Street, Soho, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2816 2118
Fat Chad’s x AWA AWA “The New York ✈️ Okinawa Connector”
When: Sunday, 30 January, from 12 to 6pm
Pack your bags, buckle your seatbelts and catch a direct flight out from New York to Okinawa this Sunday. Through your plate, that is. Travel bug almost cured for restless non-travellers. Grab-and-go New York-style bodega Fat Chad’s makes a pit stop in Soho for a full afternoon at Okinawan spot AWA AWA to sip and savour a joint menu topped with signatures from both venues, or vaguely, “Sammies, Bloodies and Boiler Maker”. Expect classic bodega makes, including a Brekky Bun to grilled cheeses and a Philly Cheese Steak riff served alongside a boozy roster of Okinawan cocktails.
With current dining restrictions, AWA AWA is open from 12 to 6pm, 6 to 11pm for takeaway.
AWA AWA, Shop E & F, UG/F, 42 & 44 Peel Street, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2178 1838
Moreish Brunch at Hotal Colombo
When: Saturdays and Sundays, from 12 to 4pm
On weekdays, chef Gizzy of Hotal Colombo, the buzzy little canteen on Elgin Street serving Sri Lankan-style street food, prepares a casual menu of sharing platters — famously the Colombo Crab — infused with fiery aromatics. On the weekends, she serves an indulgent feast of her own favourites. The “Moreish Brunch” is an extensive list of savoury plates with definitely a lot of spice. There’s a chilli potato fry served over buttered toast; loaded up toasties — choice of either cheese and seeni or pol sambol —; kari (Sri Lankan-style curry) served with milk rice; and a table-full of hoppers (Sri Lankan-style pancake) nesting with eggs and bacon or whatever you fancy with the serving selection of dips.
With current dining restrictions, Hotal Colombo is open from 12 to 6pm.
Hotal Colombo, 31 Elgin Street, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2488 8863
“Memories” by chef Chris Tang of MYYZ Concepts
When: Saturday, 29 January and Sunday, 30 January, from 11am to 4:30pm
Scheduled to serve at Hatch’s test kitchen this weekend is MYYZ (pronounced “meez”) Concepts, pan-Asian flavours that take after chef Chris Tang’s Malaysian heritage (MY) and combines it with his wife’s Toronto roots (YYZ). The menu — “Memories” — is an intimate one; set to showcase the prolific ingredients in Malaysian cooking and chef Tang’s own nostalgic childhood favourites all through a modern, western-influenced lens. The four-course meal begins with “Last Meal in Taipei”, a prawn tartare, followed by “Iced VLT”, veggies with a lemon tea dressing; a choice between “Papi Joe-Choa”, a beef sando, or “Mom’s Favourite Dish”, a lobster potato mille-feuille; before wrapping up with “Kaya Lolli”, an iced kaya lollipop. Add-ons, including one crispy chicken wing and Chinese lardo rice, is also available, should chef Tang’s delicious cooking tempt you into adding more.
Reservations can be made here.
Hatch, 60 Staunton Street, Central, Hong Kong, +852 9215 2680
Lobster rolls and Bloody Marys at The Wild Lot‘s Wild Food pop-up
When: Saturday, 29 January
For one day only, Lobster rolls are back for Round 2 at The Wild Lot. The multi-disciplinary space, now transformed into a lobster roll bar, will serve classic white, fluffy rolls — toasted! — stuffed full with buttery chunks of mayo-laced lobster. These will be served, courtesy of Fernet Hunter, alongside a selection of refreshing cocktails: a Flagrant Hot Sauce-spiked Bloody Mary, a Hard Mango Tea and Wheelie Good Radler. The talented team of Wild Food home chefs will also be cooking up a creamy clam chowder — for sipping, slurping and dipping purposes.
Reservations can be made here.
The Wild Lot, Shop B, G/F 6-10 Shin Hing Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Header image courtesy of AWA AWA
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.
Most Popular
