The removal of Covid-19 dining restrictions couldn't have come at a better time. After almost three years, the extended family can finally come together for the Lunar New Year Eve reunion dinner.
An a la carte option is also available if you are not into big feasts. One dish you must order is the crispy chicken (HK$480). Filled with preserved meat, glutinous rice, dried shrimp and conpoy, the dish symbolizes fortune and prosperity. Other notable items include poached spotted grouper fillet (HK$680), braised sea cucumber (HK$788) and steamed egg white crepe with crab meat (HK$280).
Cantonese restaurant Duddell's innovates modern Cantonese fine dining with its Chinese New Year menu (HK$1,088 for six courses, HK$1,988 for eight). Festive dishes include deep-fried shrimp paste puff, braised pork knuckles and double-boiled imperial bird's nest.
The restaurant also offers an a la carte menu containing auspicious dishes like double-boiled chicken soup (HK$468), made with fish maw, ginseng and dendrobium. Another must-have is sauteed lobster (HK$1,088), served with Chinese celery and water chestnut.Yong Fu is another good spot for a reunion dinner. Available until January 21, the Ningbo banquet menu (HK$25,888 for 10) fuses traditional Ningbo cuisine with Hong Kong food culture.
Starters range from raw shuttle crab in wine, soy sauce and vinegar to jellyfish skin jelly with caviar. Guests can catch up with the family while tasting the signature crispy chicken, Shanghai-style sauteed bok choy hearts and Ningbo glutinous rice dumplings with black sesame.Want to hold a small group gathering? Jiangsu Club should be at the top of your list.
The Fortune Feast menu is available until February 5 (HK$780, minimum of four guests). A must-have is the silver pomfret fillet Jiangsu style. The culinary team marinated the fish with 10-year-old yellow wine for two days with a hint of sweetness.The Prosperity Feast menu (HK$1,280, minimum of six) has auspicious highlights such as Hokkaido scallops in pea shoot soup, braised superior abalone with fish maw, and pigeon seasoned with garlic and wine sauce.
If you are looking to splurge a little on different tastes, a buffet is an intelligent choice. The Food Gallery at The Langham will provide the Lunar New Year dinner buffet (HK$798), available from January 23 to 25.You can experience an array of festive highlights, including steamed tofu with fish paste that embodies abundance and prosperity and steamed halibut that signifies good luck and an abundance of wealth.
Another choice for hotel buffets is the Chinese New Year dinner buffet (from HK$768) from Island Shangri-La 's Cafe Too.You will find a wide selection of festive food such as lo hei, which means "tossing up a good fortune." Additionally, seafood lovers shouldn't miss out on fried shrimp in salted egg and double-braised chicken soup with fish maw and cordyceps flower.
In search of a less traditional festive dinner? The Lounge & Bar offers a Chinese New Year menu (HK$888) with a Korean touch from January 22 to 25. The course begins with salmon tartare mixed with kombu soy and avocado lime juice. Options for the main dish include Australian M7 wagyu tenderloin and a Korean hanwoo grade 1+ beef striploin. For dessert, white chocolate mousse with mandarin jelly and pistachios gives a foretaste of sweetness in the Year of the Rabbit.
