Dinner for one in Hong Kong
 

I'll be in Hong Kong again next week for a business meeting. Most of the nights are filled up with business dinners, but I have a few free nights and I'm looking for restaurant suggestions.

I've been to Hong Kong a zillion times, so I'm not looking for an extraordinary cultural experience. In fact, I'm looking for a very ordinary, cozy, homey, quiet place with good food -- pasta or a simple grill -- where a single person would be welcome and where I wouldn't feel out of place reading a magazine. I love Cantonese, but for this purpose, prefer Western. Kowloon side or close to transportation in Hong Kong. Ideas?

Some limited reccos:

Mandarin Cake Shop and Cafe Causette
5 Connaught Road
Central Hong Kong
Tel; 852 2522 0111

I have not been here for dinner, but have had lunch here by myself and think it would work. They have a nice menu of a mix of Western and Asia, and it’s not overly noisy or crowded. Very casual, great deserts from the cake shop (and be sure to see all the fantasy cakes!)

La Terrasse
Ground Floor
19 Old Bailey Street
Central
Tel: 2147-2225

Very good French food in a pleasant bistro setting, I would think you would feel perfectly comfortable here by yourself with a book or not. Very casual. In the Hollywood Road area. Nice wine list of mainly French wines. Good value set meals for lunch and dinner. Excellent duck confit.

Chez Patrick
8-9 Sun Street
Wan Chai (Star Street area)
Tel: 852-2527-1408
chezpatrick.hk

This is just one of my favourite restaurants, and it’s so tiny and tucked away that I think you would feel comfortable there by yourself. Wonderful French food. He also has a restaurant in the Soho area, that tends to be a little more lively, so you may prefer this one in the Star Street area of Wancai, this is walkable from the Admiralty MRT stop.

Petit Olala
Corner Star Street and St Francis Street
Wan Chai
Tel: 852-2294-0426

This is excellet Shanghai noodle in a very casual neighborhood type place in the Star Street area. I think you would be very comfortable here by yourself.

Olala Charcuterie
2 Star Street
Tel: 852- 2294-0450

Also in the Star Street area (lots of good restaurants and bars in the neighborhood). This is a deli/butcher that also has a few tables inside. They have the tile floor, the blackboard, the rough-hewn tables, etc and are going for a certain feel, but as it is only about a year old it is hardly "French rustic"; however it is very different for Hong Kong and has good food for a very casual evening. I think this would be fine for a single too. Meat-based French bistro fare, lots of different hams.

Mozart Stub’n
8 Glenealy (Lan Kwai Fong Area)
Tel: 2522 1763
http://www.mozartstubn.com/

Gerrman/Swiss/Austrian and some other European. Tiny little place tucked up above the craze of Lan Kwai Fong.

Lumiere/Cuisine Cuisine (Sichuan and South American)
3107
IFC Mall
8 Finance Street
Central, Hong Kong
Tel: 852-2393-
http://www.lumiere.hk/

This is just an excellent Sichuan/Cantonese/South American place (sounds strange but works) and I recco it for you because they have a bar for food service that might be nice for a single. You could also take a table as well. It’s a pretty lively placeso that is my only caveat, not really a neighborhood type place like some of the others here. This place has a nice ambience and a good harbour view (“wrong side” but still nice). They have dim sum items too even on the dinner menu.

L'atelier de Joel Robuchon
Shop 401
4th Floor
The Landmark Shopping Centre
Central
Tel: 2166 9000
http://www.joel-robuchon.com/

You’ll pay a bomb, and you probably won’t want to be reading a magazine during dinner so that you can enjoy the experience, but they have a tasting bar that would work for a single diner. Food is really excellent.

I also think that if you go earliesh and not on a weekend night to the Elgin Street, Staunton Street, Peel Street Hollywood Road area, than any of the dozens of restaurants in this area would be fine as a single. They don’t get busy until after 8 pm and it really does not become a party scene on weekeday evenings in any event. I like Frog Face Fish

Frog Face Fish
43-55- Wyndham Street
Tel: 2869-8535
http://www.frogfacefish.com/

On the Kowloon side for perfectly fine if not overly exciting food but a great view, the Harbrouside Grill at the Intercon is always good, and many single diners there. I also think that Chesa in the Penn would be a good choice for a single diner. If you like Indian, there is a very very casual but excellent north Indian place near the Shangri La, with very good Thails. It’s basicially a diner, so don’t expect any atmosphere, but it’s quiet and not expensive:

Woodlands
Ground Floor
61 Moody Road
Mirror Tower
Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon
Tel 852-2369-3718

I ate at La Terrasse just 2 hours ago. I read about it from Cicerone OP's a year old and it has become one of my favorites. (Thanks Cicerone for your great reccos on restaurants and hiking trails) La Terrasse is never that full and is indeed very casual. I also like Chez Patrick, the Sun Street location is not the tourist' beaten track - it used to be an old residential area recently gentrified. Before you go for dinner, you can try having a message at The Message Therapy Center of the Blind at 40-42 Des Voeux Road Central 2nd floor (near Fubon Bank). It is licensed by the HK government and is open till 9pm Mon thru Sat but you must call ahead to make reservations (tel 852 2810 6666). It is a very simple setup - nothing fancy. For a mere USD$35, you have a nice massage for 60mins. They speak simple English and you should tell them what type of message you need. I always feel great afterwards - both physically and knowing that the money spent is for a good cause. I went there today right before my lunch at La Terrasse. A nice combo.

sorry for my typos - I meant MASSAGE not message

There is a great Vietnamese in the Central area, just down from a Hello Kitty shop - Nha Trang - 88-90 Wellington Street, it seems very popular and really good value and you would not be out of place on your own. The Oriental hotel has a nice cafe too as mentioned before.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm going to study further over the weekend.

I work and stay in Kowloon and sometimes even the Star Ferry is too demanding after a bone numbing day. Any more ideas for Kowloon?

(I love the Peninsula Lobby, but since my customers stay there, it's off the relaxing list.)

Thanks again.

I'm not a foodie, but here are two restaurants I've been many times and are pretty solid.

One is Spice Market in the Harbour City Mall, run by the Marco Polo Prince Hotel in the same complex. Pan-Asian food.

The other is the Delicatessen Corner in the basement of the Holiday Inn Golden Mile. Despite its name, it's a sitdown restaurant. German/Austrian food.

I've been to both since my parents took me as a kid 20+ years ago, and I've eaten at both in recent years. I think they may fit your bill. Both short walk from the Peninsula.

In general, the restaurants in various 4* hotels are often your best bet.

Trip to Hong Kong cancelled. So now I'm just at home and hungry.