Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Tried booking a Hong Kong restaurant lately? Call early

Tried booking a Hong Kong restaurant lately? Call early

Hong Kong restaurants that have survived the wave of closures caused by the coronavirus crisis are doing better than anticipated. At some you have to book a table weeks ahead. Will it last?

“I’m sorry but we’re fully booked at that time – do you mind coming for lunch at 1.30pm?”

I never thought I’d be happy to hear those words, but I was, when the receptionist said them to me as I tried to book a prime lunch time table at Amber at the Landmark Mandarin, a two-Michelin-star fine-dining restaurant in Hong Kong’s Central district, close to two weeks before my friends and I wanted to eat there.

Despite the imminent threat of a fourth wave of coronavirus cases, many Hong Kong restaurants – the ones that survived the initial onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic that, sadly, saw many closures – are doing better than most anticipated. They’re doing so well that I’m not the only Hong Kong food lover who has taken to booking meals far in advance – sometimes more than two months ahead.

I already have several restaurant reservations for January and February, at places such as Hansik Goo, Batard and The Chairman. If you want to celebrate Christmas or New Year at a high-end restaurant, you’ll probably have to join a waiting list, because many of them are already full.


Advance bookings have been all the rage for Hong Kong’s restaurants of late despite varying lockdown restrictions.


It’s not just expensive places that are doing well: you can see lines of people waiting for seats or takeaway at many cheap and mid-range restaurants in Hong Kong, too.

My friends and I joke that we’re planning our meals in the city the way we did when we were on holiday in Tokyo – we make the reservation for our next visit before we leave the restaurant.

It makes sense. Since we can’t travel, we spend our money in Hong Kong. Instead of relying on tourists for much of their trade, restaurants are getting their support from residents.

Still, it can’t be easy for restaurateurs because they never know what tomorrow will bring. Now is a time of relative calm, but just this week the Hong Kong government reduced the number of guests that can be at one table from a maximum of six to four, because there’s still a steady stream of new coronavirus cases.

If the anticipated fourth wave does hit Hong Kong, that will certainly bring a further tightening of restrictions.


Suckling pig at Seventh Son restaurant in Wan Chai.


While we wait for something we hope will never come, many of us are eating out as much as we can. Three hours after my late meal at Amber, I was sitting down with five others to eat a suckling pig, gold coin chicken and braised pomelo peel at Seventh Son in Wan Chai.

I wasn’t hungry for the second meal, but I ate it and thoroughly enjoyed it, all the while wondering if restrictions would come into place that would make it difficult to have such a meal with so many of us.

And sure enough, two days later came the announcement that diners would be limited to four per table.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×