Final Fall, I used to be invited by Cathay Pacific Airways and the Hong Kong Tourism Board for a week- lengthy go to, timed to coincide with the Hong Kong Wine & Dine Pageant.

It was my first time in Hong Kong, and I cherished each minute. Listed here are the highlights:

Island Explorations

One morning, we took the steadily scheduled Solar Ferry to Cheung Chau Island for an exploration of the lovable mixture of artisan and conventional bakeries and retailers. 

We visited the ornate Pak Tai Temple, one of many oldest Taoist temples in Hong Kong, and the house of the bun towers, the place an annual Fortunate Bun Pageant, highlighted by competing bun tower climbers, is held. We loved distinctive avenue meals as we wove by means of the waterfront– curry fish balls, zhaliang (crispy crullers wrapped in rice noodles and sauced with soy, peanut, and sesame), the well-known native mango mochi, and people candy red-stamped “fortunate buns”–the identical ones that get grabbed from these pageant towers. Subsequent, it was time for a large seafood lunch, with a tableful of crab, shrimp, razor clams, and Hong Kong-style vermicelli scallops within the shell. Our full stomachs nearly sank the boat on our manner again to Kowloon. 

Extra Boats: Harbor Crossings

In a metropolis whose central district is on an island and is, the truth is, surrounded by islands, boats are the place it’s at. Ferries are a straightforward solution to beat commuter visitors, and I discovered using them to be a calming and scenic solution to journey. 

At sundown one night, we took a really pleasing 45-minute journey throughout Victoria Harbor on aqualuna’s restored red-sailed wood junk boat. It was an ideal solution to spend a pre-dinner cocktail hour. 

We additionally rode the enduring double-decker Star Ferry, which has been working throughout the harbor for over 120 years. Ferrying back-and-forth from our residence base in Kowloon to the Central District on the weathered ships, with their distinctive swingback benches which permit passengers to face ahead in both route, offered fantastic views and an opportunity to immerse within the native tradition. 

Working Class Eats in Sham Shui Po 

From pineapple buns and milk tea to handmade dumplings assembled earlier than our eyes, the delights of this strolling tour, led by the educated tour founder Cecilia Leung, appeared limitless. We wandered by means of conventional avenue markets in Sham Shui Po, tried freshly steamed soy milk pudding at a tofu manufacturing unit, and met Mr. Lau of Lau Sam Kee Noodles, who confirmed us how he kneads the noodle dough with a bamboo pole, then fed us lo mein with dried shrimp roe and his home made radish pickle. 

Central District Cocktail Crawl

As a beverage author, I at all times exit of my solution to go to the coolest cocktail bars in any new metropolis. Hong Kong’s Central District presents so many choices, we visited a complete dozen and left city with others nonetheless on the listing. Of us line up for Bar Leone, the primary bar on the 2025 World’s 50 Finest listing, a wondrous Italian-style spot the place you possibly can nibble on smoked olives and mortadella sandwiches whereas sipping on aperitivo spiked riffs of Negronis and Americanos. Our favourite turned out to be Kinsman, an ode to Cantonese tradition together with shrimp toast and a baiju-based daiquiri. Their thrilling “Story of Chinatowns” cocktail menu honors world Chinatowns from Singapore to Lima. 

A Conventional Lunch on the twenty ninth Ground

Many issues in Hong Kong occur at nice peak, together with a must-do go to to Victoria Peak, and a don’t-miss restaurant referred to as WING, on the twenty ninth ground of an workplace constructing in Central Hong Kong. Chef Vicky Cheng was born in Hong Kong, however his household moved to Toronto when he was fairly younger, and he skilled beneath French cooks there and in NYC earlier than returning to Hong Kong in 2011. He opened Vea, which lives one flight above WING, in 2015, with a mix of French and Chinese language affect, after which WING in 2021. There we skilled a family-style lunch that I’ll always remember. 

Chef Cheng informed us that he knew nothing about Chinese language method when he moved to Hong Kong, however spent years consuming, cooking, and studying in regards to the traditions and components from his household residence. WING is a triumph, with a spectacular menu filled with these traditions and offered in a loving, considerate, and informative manner.

The ocean cucumber spring roll, cooked in entrance of us, and the bitter luffa gourd in a broth of fermented greens stood out as examples of extremely scrumptious dishes created from humble components. Much less humble but additionally excellent, an enormous Alaskan king crab offered with its shell, and uncooked, shell-on botan shrimp with chiu chow chile oil, shocked us. Chef Cheng says he by no means serves the identical dish twice to any visitor, but when he repeated this menu, I’d fortunately eat each chunk once more. 

Tasting the East on the Hong Kong Wine & Dine Pageant

Held every October on the Central Harborfront, this glitzy and fashionable out of doors pageant of eats and drinks brings one of the best eating places and wineries to the residents of Hong Kong. For a Westerner like me, the joys got here from sampling Chinese language wines for the primary time, within the Grand Wine Pavilion. I attempted and favored a wealthy and citrus-y 100% chardonnay from Yunnan and a zesty, minerally riesling from Ningxia. We discovered a sake from France, a Czech gin, and a preferred ready-to-drink canned whiskey highball from Hong Kong made with Iron Goddess tea. I additionally loved exchanging my tokens at Connoisseur Avenue for bites from Michelin-starred Hong Kong eating places like Bo Innovation and Cristal Room by Anne Sophie Pic. The pageant bumped till midnight with reside music and all types of surprises.

A Observe about Cathay Pacific

Hong Kong presents unbelievable experiences to visiting food and drinks lovers. Cathay Pacific generously flew us there in Enterprise Class, the place we received to start out tasting the native delicacies (egg tarts! congee!) within the air on the way in which. On the way in which again, I had a dim sum breakfast and lunch in fast succession within the Cathay Pacific Pier Lounge, then ate myself all the way in which residence, with a number of very comfy naps in between.