Xenos

We've now booked our trip to HK for the week after Christmas and so will be there for New Year.

We're staying in the Kowloon Shangri-La and I've heard that the promenade in front of the hotel is one of the popular places for the "countdown". So, if we want to eat out earlier in the evening (say 9-ish) -

a) Is it advisable to book in advance, or are we likely to be able to find somewhere by just walking around and looking? We don't want a special "gala" dinner, just something decent to eat.

b) How difficult will it be with all the crowds to get back to the hotel (or promenade specifically) in time to see in the New Year?

Thanks

rkkwan

a) Many of the better Western-food restaurants (in hotels or otherwise) will have prefixe menu New Year's Eve dinner/party for $$$. Some may still let you order a la carte, but don't count on it. So, you probably have to go down scale. or have Chinese food instead. Chinese restaurants usually don't do the New Year's Eve party stuff.

b) It's crowded, but no where like Time Square in NYC. So, I don't think you should worry too much about getting back. However, note that most of the roadways in Tsim Sha Tsui will be closed to traffic starting in the evening, so you'll be travelling on foot. You won't be able to get a taxi or bus in that area.

Xenos

Thanks for that. Perhaps when I said "something decent to eat" I should have said I meant Chinese food! Even though they don't do the special New Year parties, do they still get extra crowded on that night, or can we just walk in off the street and expect to get served reasonably quickly?

We'll probably stay around Tsim Sha Tsiu, but I assume the Star Ferry and MTR will be running if we decide to go over to the Island?

I read somewhere that you need to "bag" a spot on the waterfront by about 10 o'clock for the countdown - is that an exaggeration?

rkkwan

Xenos - I have never eaten out on New Year's Eve in HK, but I am pretty sure you can get served in most Chinese restaurants like other days in the year.

The MTR will run overnight on New Year's Eve, and the Star Ferry will run into the early morning hours. Expect them to be crowded, but the service will be there.

I don't have information about what time to get a spot by the harbor. And I don't know if, or how much of the waterfront promenade across from the Kowloon Shangri-La will be open by then (because of recent rail construction work), but I think 10pm sounds like a reasonable time to start find your "spot". Enjoy.

Kathie

When I was at the Kowloon Shangri La for a lovely meal in their French restaurant (April, 2004), I spoke with the maitre d' and he said the rail construction was finished and the promenade should look as good as new by sometime in August. While I tend to take such estimates with a grain of salt, I would think the promenade should be finished by new years.

Cicerone

If I can make a suggestion, if you like seafood, I would recommend Yu, which is in the Intercontinental Hotel right on the promenade. The restaurant has great views across the water to Hong Kong island, and excellent food. They have both Chinese seafood as well as some western seafood and a raw bar, cold seafood buffet, etc. Their cold seafood platter is a meal in itself. They are most likely having a New Year's special dinner, which will be a bit pricy, but not outrageously so. You can walk from the hotel down into the melee of Salisbury Road and the promenade, or just watch it all from your table in the restaurant. You can walk back to your hotel from there. As noted, Salisbury Road and most roads around will be closed, and streets will be crowded with people, but not impossible to navigate and nothing like Times Square (although never having been to Times Square for New Years, at least not how crowded it looks on TV to be.)

Yu
Intercontinental Hotel
18 Salisbury Road
Kowloon
Ph: (852) 2721-1211
http://hongkong-ic.dining.intercontinental.com

Another thought is Felix on top of the Peninsula, but they often have a band on holiday nights there which makes the whole evening too noisy, IMO.

I am not sure I would go out without a reservation on New Year's Eve; would you do that in your home town (or for a better analogy, in New York?) The better restaurants will be booked, and you may end up with less than you expected.

The Star Ferry and the MTR will be running, but they tend to get very crowded. I don't think I would go over the Hong Kong Island at all that night, I don?t think it is worth the time and trouble. I would avoid places like the Lai Kwai Fong area on the island anyway, too many drunken young people for me. . .kind of dangerous actually based on previous years.

rkkwan

I agree with what Cicerone says, but check with IC/Yu whether you have get the special New Year's Eve menu, or whether you can order a la carte. And at places like the IC or Peninsula, except to have some celebrities and paparazzi there, as that's the time and place to be seen.

One reason why New Year's Eve is not as crowded as it could have is that local teens and pre-teens, (and post-teens too! ) prefer to hang out a week prior - on Christmas Eve. Don't know how that tradition start, but that's the night to party and to lose your virginity. New Year's Eve is for the celebs, expats and tourists.

rkkwan

I mean "expect to see some celebrities...", not "except".

Xenos

Sorry, I think I must have given the wrong impression somehow. We're not likely to be looking to eat in a hotel restaurant - if we wanted to do that, we may as well just stay in our own hotel. The sort of places I was asking about booking for were the smaller local Chinese restaurants, i.e. the sort of places that local people eat at.

In answer to Cicerone's question about whether I'd go out on New Year's Eve at home without booking, I suppose the answer would have to be no. But then we only have about 10 places to choose from, unlike Hong Kong where there are thousands. Of course, even in Hong Kong, I wouldn't expect to just walk off the street into a hotel restaurant on New Year's Eve and expect to get a table!

Cicerone

In Asia, many of the best restaurants are in hotels, it is strange to the average American, but you do get used to it. Local Hong Kongers eat in hotel restaurants as well as more casual places, as the range in income of locals is vast, many are much wealthier than you and I....my only fear for you looking for a local restaurant on New Year's Eve is that you won't get a table (it is a public holiday and families do go out) and you will end up at a very mediocre noodle restaurant, of which there are many, which is not a great way to spend any evening, let alone New Year's Eve.

Perhaps others can post suggestions for stand-alone Chinese restaurants in the neighborhood. There are not a lot as I recall, as there is a large concentration of hotels and shops, as well as McDonalds and other fast food places.

DonTopaz

Is there a fireworks display in the harbour (or maybe somewhere else?) on (Western) New Year's Eve in HK?

rkkwan

I am not an expert on Chinese restaurants in Tsim Sha Tsui, but there are plenty of them around which are not in hotels. Close to the Kowloon Shangri-La, and still in the Tsim Sha Tsui East, there should be a few at or around Mody Square, if you walk north from the hotel, away from the water.

Or if you cross Chatham Road to get back to Tsim Sha Tsui proper, there used to be a few fancy ones on Prat Avenue (two blocks north of Mody Road), and a few on Nathan Road and Peking Road. Just wander a little further away from the water, and you should be able to find them. There's also a Chinese restaurant at the Cultural Center (next to Space Museum), by the water. Don't know if they have special New Year's Eve party/menu. But you may want to check with them. And Jade Garden at the Star House, across from Star Ferry. Both of these are run by the Dairy Farm group, which is a large conglomerate and runs lots of restaurants in Hong Kong.

Xenos

Thanks for all the replies.

Actually, I'm not American and I have been to Asia (including HK) several times before (although never before on NYE) and, although I rarely eat in hotel restaurants, I've had some wonderful meals there. Some of the best of these have probably been where my husband and I have been the only gwaelos in the place, so I'm not too fussed about ending up in a noodle restaurant.

Think we'll probably head for Hau Fook Street and see what we can find there.