DINING

Hong Kong Living Bar Awards

Raise your glass to the spaces and faces that make Hong Kong one of the best places to bend the elbow. By Melaine Cox

This month, our sister magazine Hong Kong Living launched the first Hong Kong Living Bar Awards celebrating the city’s most outstanding venues and the extraordinary talent that brings them to life night after night. Here are some of the highlights. For the full list of winners, visit

hongkongliving.com

BAR OF THE YEAR

The Old Man

The Old Man needs no introduction. A stylish, intimate, Ernest Hemingway–inspired bar tucked away in Soho, serves up some of the 24 | SOUTHSIDE

Terrible Baby

most scholarly devotion to liqueurs and a steely focus on service. A scholarly devotion to liqueurs and a steely focus on service has led to, a series of accolades under their belt since the opening in 2017 by Agung Prabowo, Roman Ghale and James Tamang in the summer of 2017, it is no wonder our readers chose The Old Man as their favourite bar of the year.

BARTENDER OF THE YEAR

Lorenzo Antinori, Four Seasons

As the Beverage Manager, Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong and Beverage Ambassador, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Asia Pacific, Antinori attributes humble beginnings with a hard work mentality that brought him to the cities of Asia, as his recipe for success.

fourseasons.com

BEST HOTEL BAR

Darkside, Rosewood Hong Kong

Our readers have a taste for the finer things in life with the crowning glory of the glitzy Rosewood Hong Kong, Darkside taking top picks for Best Hotel Bar. Darkside offers one of the best bar experiences in town, complete with sultry live jazz performances and glimpses of the stunning Victoria Harbour. The name of the game here is dark, rare aged spirits. The bar stocks vintage cognac aged from oak barrels and a selection of rum, whisky and calvados that span back to the early 19th Century. rosewoodhotels.com

Darkside’s Cocktails

BEST ROOFTOP BAR

Terrible Baby

Terrible Baby is so much more than your standard hotel bar. It has become the go-to destination in Kowloon to catch live music, international DJ’s and an enticing repertoire of sustainable cocktails with unique names such as “let’s go for one bruh” and “Ginie, not in the bottle” playing homage to its vibrant neighbourhood in Jordan. This is the bar to checkout for those who wish to have a refreshing change of scenery from their usual waterholes in the city. With a performing space, rooftop garden, and music room

on the fourth floor of Eaton Hong Kong, this rooftop bar lives up to its quirky name translated from the French phrase ‘enfant terrible’, an expression used in the world of creative arts to describe a usually young and successful person who is strikingly unorthodox or avant-garde.

terriblebaby.com

BEST PUB

The Globe

Hong Kong original gastropub is a definite crowd pleaser and a neighbourhood favourite. Taking the Best Pub award with its great service, value for buck and perhaps serving the best pie in Hong Kong. The Globe is Hong Kong’s response to the many gastropubs in London with a warming environment and wholesome pub grub menu alongside a wide rotating selection of ales and lagers from around the world meaning there is always something new to pick. Tucked away on Graham Street, this pub is the place to go for British fair since its opening over 15 years ago that attracts locals and expats from all over around the world. theglobe.com.hk

Best Interior Design

Iron Fairies

Straight out of a (literal) storybook, designer Ashley Sutton’s joint venture with Dining Concepts “The Iron Fairies” transports us to a fantastical world. Step out of Hollywood Road and into Iron Fairies for a journey to fantasy land far far away where 10,000 butterflies on thin copper rods swing from the ceiling and thousands of small iron fairies are scattered around the tables. diningconcepts.com

Iron Fairies

BEST CONCEPT BAR

Quinary

An experience like none other thanks to Diageo World Class 2015 Hong Kong & Macau Champion Antonio Lai at the helm, the Quinary is the quintessential bar for those who wish to have a “Multisensory experience” as stated in their bar ethos. The bar is more like Lai’s science lab showcasing a rotary evaporator and equipment used for redistilling and slowcooking unique flavoured spirits. quinary.hk

Dining News

Red Sugar

Veteran Vietnamese chef John Nguyen, formerly of Chôm Chôm, has opened a modern Vietnamese restaurant showcasing Northern regional cuisine and craft cocktails. The all-day eatery, complete with al fresco seating and hard walnut wood furniture, exudes a warm and inviting aura. Highlights

Smashing

Beef & Liberty has released a new burger for the summer months. Until August 30, guests can enjoy The Double Smashed With Cheese. The burger contains a double smashed grass-fed Scottish beef patty topped with American cheese, house pickles, Dijon mayonnaise and butter lettuce, served on Beef & Liberty’s signature toasted buns. Shop G07, One Island South, Wong Chuk Hang. beef-liberty.com from the menu include the braised beef tongue salad and cøm gà Hoi An chicken rice. Probably one of the most famous Vietnamese dishes, the pho here features Angus prime rib, braised beef tongue and oxtail, steeped in 24-hour simmered beef broth. G/F, 18 Lun Fat Street, Wan Chai.

Agustin Balbi goes solo

Former Haku chef Agustin Balbi has joined forces with Jia Group to open his first standalone restaurant, Ando. The new restaurant pays homage to Balbi’s roots from Spain and his culinary training in Japan. 1/F, Somptueux Central, 52 Wellington Street, Central. andohk.com

Summer seafood

Calling all seafood lovers, Ocean Rock Seafood & Tapas has added more seafood selections to the menu including fresh Boston lobster, Hokkaido scallops, Manila clams and New Zealand mussels, all paired with the fantastic New Orleans cajun garlic butter sauce. Shop 102, Murray House, Stanley. Travel back in time with Red Sugar’s new cocktail menu ‘Our Little Time’, which showcases a collection of concoctions inspired by the post-war era of Hong Kong. Kerry Hotel’s popular rooftop bar has launched 11 new cocktails, all presenting key elements from the 60s to 80s. The terrace bar, overlooking the Victoria Harbour, has also just launched a new Sundown Sessions available every Saturday and Sunday for two hours of free-flow bevvies and tapas. Level 7, Kerry Hotel, 38 Hung

Xuân opens its doors

Luen Road, Hung Hom. shangri-la.com

Zuma

This summer, Zuma is launching its firstever bottled highball in collaboration with Japanese distillery Nikka and artisanal local craft mixers brand Carbonation. The limited-edition bottled Zuma Yuzu Highball is a refreshing and fizzy cocktail with a pronounced flavour of Japanese yuzu, rounded out with a kick of Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky and green apple. Meanwhile, the modern izakaya is also offering two new cocktails that combine Japanese flavours with the unique characters of Casamigos tequila. Named Bajiru Smash and Shāpu, the new drinks will be served with a selection of tempura curated by Asia’s corporate executive chef Oscar Luzon de Arcos, available from July 17. Level 5&6 Landmark Atrium, 15 Queen’s Road Central, Central.

zumarestaurant.com

Maison Libanaise

To welcome summer, Black Sheep Restaurants’ Lebanese canteen is bringing back its ‘Frosé All Day’ special. Made from churned frozen rosé wine and fresh raspberry purée, then topped with a sprig of vibrant mint, frosé is available all day by the glass. Guests can take the celebration further and enjoy an exclusive food and drinks pairing on the roof of the restaurant, with two glasses of vibrant frosé alongside a hearty lamb manoushe to share between two. The offer is available on weekends and public holidays from 3-7pm.10 Shelley Street, Central. maisonlibanaise.com.hk