58 142
HOME&PROPERTY
58
Jun-Jul15
Your hands-down favourite
neighbourhood joints are:
Too many to mention, but numbering
among my current faves are:
• On Caine, for day-to-day essentials;
Pacific Gourmet for organic fish and
meat; Il Bel Paese for Italian wines,
cheeses and cured meats; and Eric
Keyser for the best French bread
in the city plus my nemesis, freshly
baked cherry and pistachio financiers.
• For a long lazy brunch, Posto Pubblico
on Elgin, or if it’s cool enough for
a Bloody Mary or two alfresco, the
terrace at Aberdeen Street Social.
• Places that make my credit card weep:
Edit (67 Hollywood Road), Christian
Louboutin (10-12 Wyndham Street)
and Joyce Beauty (Queen’s Road
Central).
• Come nightfall, I love informal dinners
and strong cocktails at Yardbird on
Bridges Street and 121 BC on Peel
Street, late night drinks at Wyndham
The 4th, Stockton and Salon Number
10. If you’re up for further debauchery,
head for amidnight feast at notoriously
tricky-to-find 001, tucked behind
an anonymous black door in the
wet market; believe me, their grilled
cheese sandwich washed down with
the perfect Earl Grey martini more
than compensates for managing to
hunt this speakeasy down.
You won’t find better local food
than at:
I’m not a huge Chinese food fan in
general, but my favourite modern
Chinese restaurant is Ho Lee Fook
at the junction of Elgin Street ad
Hollywood. You can’t beat a bowl of
their mindblowingly great “Mom’s
‘mostly cabbage but a little bit of pork’
dumplings”, and just think of all the luck
you’re absorbing sitting beneath the wall
of waving lucky cats.
The strangest thing you’ve ever
seen on your street is:
A set of students using the street to
paint huge pro-democracy banners just
before the protests at the end of last
year. The whole street was paved with
five-metre-long signs, each painstakingly
painted with pro-democracy slogans.
The best bargains in your
neighbourhood are:
Caty onCaineRoad–a jewellery boutique
– literally a hidden gem. Whether you
want a pair of elegant cocktail earrings, a
bling-tastic statement necklace or a pair
of A-list-worthy dark glasses, Caty has you
covered; and best of all, the prices won’t
make your credit cards wince.
The guiltiest pleasure in your
area is:
The Diner on a Arbuthnot Road,
dangerously just a hop, skip and jump
from my front door, and which serves up
the best burgers in town and a sinfully
enormous American breakfasts (think
buttermilk bacon pancakes, breakfast
burritos and Fat Elvis Waffles). And don’t
get me started on the milkshakes – hello,
Malted Malteser Milkshake; delicious in
a cup and truly worth every last calorie!
One thing you’d never change is:
The cheerful cardboard box man who
diligently spends all day collecting, sorting
and bundling up cardboard around the
city to be recycled, and always smiles and
waves whenever we walk past.
But one thing you wouldn’t mind
seeing go is:
The cranes and diggers. The building
work has been going on at the former
Police HQ ever since we moved in. I’m
super excited for the new arts and retail
complex to throw open its doors and
will be very pleased not to see a muddy
building site out of my window every
morning once it’s finished.
The city gives you $5 million to
soup up your street. You use it to:
Plant rows of palm trees and clouds of
Bougainvillea along the Victoria Prison
Wall to make it feel even more of a leafy
oasis in the heart of the chaotic city.
Why should your neighborhood
be featured in a guidebook?
It generally does feature in guidebooks
in some way or another, though I think
people should focus less on following
the well-trodden tourist route around
Central, and instead just wander down
random alleyways and windy back
streets keeping their eyes peeled. In
Hong Kong, you’re just as likely to
stumble upon a creaky old antique shop
selling priceless relics, as you are to
uncover a day-old molecular mixology
joint that even the most in-the-know
HKers haven’t cottoned on to yet.
THE SUPERLATIVES