If you are one of the many people preoccupied by some of the more pressing matters facing the city these days, it may have escaped your notice that it’s December and Christmas is right around the corner, which only means one thing: it’s time to spread tidings of peace and goodwill to your fellow man get drunk, eat way too much, and fall asleep in front a TV playing one of those infinite loops of a burning Yule log.
With so many restaurants offering up holiday specials featuring everything from turkey to lobster, it’s easy to be paralyzed by choice. But we’ve done the dirty work of combing through the heaps of Christmas menus and compiling this handy list of the ones that look like they’re worth your time — conveniently arranged according to price, from fancy splurge to cheap as chips.
P.S. We’ll also be updating this list as more festive menus are announced, so if you can’t find something that strikes your fancy, just check back later.
Now, on to the list…
HK$1,200 or more
Aulis Hong Kong
Contemporary British restaurant Aulis Hong Kong will be serving a feast that includes mackerel with marigold and carrot; raw beef in coal oil, pumpkin, and sunflower; beef with king oyster mushroom and black garlic; and ox tongue with potato.
Address: UG08, Sino Plaza, 255 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay.
Reservations: +852 2817 8383 or reservations@roganic.com.hk.
Dates: December 24 to December 25, and December 31
Price: HK$1,480 per person.
Arcane
Modern European restaurant Arcane will be serving up a five-course Christmas meal featuring their signature classics. This includes Japanese fruit tomato with burrata, rocket pesto, pine nuts and marfuga olive oil; Hokkaido scallops with courgette, jicama, yuzu, ginger, and sesame; and sautéed potato gnocchi with charred cevenne onion, shiitake duxelles, parmesan, and white truffle. For the mains, there’s pan-roasted Wagyu short rib with sweet potato, Brussels sprouts, bacon, chestnut, and white truffle. Finally, for dessert there’s sweet yuzu and lemon posset, blood orange and yogurt ice cream with white chocolate tuile.
Address: 3/F, 18 On Lan Street, Central.
Reservations: +852 2728 0178.
Dates: December 24 to December 26.
Price: HK$1,555.
Duddell’s
For those looking for a more traditional-but-elevated Cantonese Christmas feast, Michelin-starred fancy dim sum joint Duddell’s is serving up Alaskan crab, crispy suckling pig (with caviar), abalone, barbecue pork, and jellyfish, among other Cantonese banquet staples for two special winter solstice dinner feasts, which are available from Dec. 20 to 22.
On Christmas Day, they’ll be serving up a Christmas brunch that will include free flow drinks, Peking duck, and crispy suckling pig, and for dinner there will be wagyu beef, suckling pig (again, with caviar), and baked lobster with cheese, among other things.
Address: 3/F Shanghai Tang Mansion, 1 Duddell St, Central.
Reservations: +852 2525 9191 or info@duddells.co.
Dates: December 20-22 and December 24-26 (Christmas brunch).
Price: HK$9,888 (Alaska king crab Chinese winter solistice set dinner for six people); HK$1,388 (Chinese winter Solistice set dinner, per person) HK$1,488 to HK$1,588 (Chinese winter Solistice set dinner with alcohol); HK$770 (Christmas brunch per person, non-alcoholic); HK$400 (Christmas brunch per child); HK$988 to HK$2,488 (Christmas brunch per person, with alcohol); HK$1,688 (Christmas dinner).
Écriture
French cuisine with Japanese produce is the name of the game at Écriture, and they’ll be serving up duck and lobster on Christmas Day and Christmas Eve.
The seven-course Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day lunch includes sea urchin duck foie gras, Hokkaido scallop, Brittany blue lobster, and a dessert featuring the Japanese citrus fruit mikan. There’s also an additional HK$1,280 charge for a seven-glass wine pairing to go with the set meals.
Address: 26/F H Queen’s, 80 Queen’s Road Central, Central.
Reservations: +852 2795 5996 or ecriture@lecomptoir.hk.
Dates: December 24-25.
Price: HK$1,988 (Christmas Eve dinner) HK$1,288 (Christmas Day lunch) HK$1,280 (wine pairing).
Haku
Japanese food with a Spanish and Mediterranean twist is what Haku will be serving on Christmas Day. Items on offer include Carabinero prawns with spinach, roasted sesame, and saffron sauce; slow-cooked daikon with mocha, turnip and salt-cured roe; a grilled wagyu with mushrooms and leeks; and a steamed tarabagani red king crab served with togarashi spices and rice.
Address: Shop OT G04B, G/F, Ocean Terminal, Habour City, 17 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.
Reservations: +852 2115 9965 or dine@haku.com.hk.
Dates: December 24 to December 26.
Price: HK$1,980.
L’Envol
The Christmas meals at the St. Regis’ high-end French restaurant L’Envol will include goose foie gras terrine with black truffle toasted brioche; Hokkaido sea urchin with prawn and fennel; and homemade buckwheat tagliatelle with egg yolk and caviar. This festive meal will be served on Christmas Eve for lunch and dinner, and Christmas Day lunch. The Christmas Eve lunch also comes with a “wine experience” for an additional HK$1,288.
Address: St Regis Hong Kong, 1 Harbour Drive, Wan Chai.
Reservations: +852 2138 6818.
Dates: December 24 to December 26.
Price: HK$2,088 (Christmas Eve lunch), HK$2,688 (Christmas Eve dinner) HK$2,688 (Christmas Day lunch).
Zest
French-Japanese restaurant Zest by Konishi will be serving a Christmas Eve nine-course menu that also comes with a five-glass wine pairing for an additional HK$780.
Featured dishes include sesame crusted Chu-Toro served with Wasabi mousse, slow-cooked Wagyu beef consommé, and chicken “two ways.”
Address: 18 On Lan Street, Central.
Reservations: +852 2715 0878.
Dates: December 24.
Price: HK$1,880.
Between HK$550 and HK$1,200
Asaya Kitchen
Newly-opened health-conscious restaurant Asaya Kitchen has a fish- and vegetable-heavy Christmas menu for those of you foolish enough to stick to your diets over the holidays. Set meals will be served on Christmas Eve (dinner), Christmas Day (lunch and dinner), and Boxing Day (lunch), as well as New Year’s Eve (dinner) and New Year’s Day (lunch).
For Christmas Eve, items include steamed black bass, fatty tuna “ham,” and roasted octopus. For Christmas Day, there’s a rock lobster carpaccio, grilled red snapper, and a roasted aged tuna loin.
Address: 6/F, Rosewood Hong Kong, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui,.
Reservations: +852 3891 8888 or hongkong.restaurants@rosewoodhotels,com.
Dates: December 24 to December 26.
Price: HK$985 (Christmas Eve dinner) HK$895 (Christmas Day lunch) HK$795 (Christmas Day dinner) HK$755 (Boxing day lunch).
Bibo
French restaurant Bibo will be serving monkfish and duck as the main course on Christmas Eve (dinner), Christmas Day (lunch and dinner), and Boxing Day (lunch). For lunch, the monkfish will be served with Toulouse sausage, tomato, and asam (tamarind), and the duck will be served with rendang seasoning, salmon roe, and ulam, a type of Malaysian salad. For dinner the monkfish and duck will be served “two ways” — both the preparations described above, with the addition of monkfish with brioche, tempura, and beurre blanc, and the duck with brioche, herbs, and plum.
Address: 163 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan.
Reservations: +852 2956 3188 or bibo@lecomptoir.hk.
Dates: December 25 to December 26.
Price: HK$568 (Christmas day and Boxing day lunch) HK$1,188 (Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinner).
Giando
Wan Chai Italian restaurant Giando will be serving a Christmas Eve feast that includes melted mozzarella cheese; mushroom and liver paté; a saffron risotto with mushrooms and ox tongue ragout; guinea fowl with foie gras, Brussel sprouts, and hazelnut black truffle sauce; and a green apple sorbet.
Address: Shop 1, G/F, Tower, Starcrest Block 1, 9 Star St, Wan Chai.
Reservations: +852 2511 8912 OR info@giandorestaurant.com.
Dates: December 24.
Price: HK$1,088 (per person) HK$688 (additional wine pairing).
La Rambla by Catalunya
This Spanish restaurant will be serving a set dinner for Christmas Eve and Day, and a Christmas Day brunch. For dinner, there will be bread and tomato with Iberico ham, “rustic” eggs, Salamanca short ribs, and red prawn tortellini.
For brunch, there will be traditional suckling pig “Segovia style,” grilled turbot, and wagyu beef cheek, among other things. There will also be a gingerbread cookie decorating workshop, snow machine, festive cocktails, and Santa Claus photo-op on the restaurant terrace.
Address: 3071-73, 3/F, IFC Mall, 8 Finance Street, Central.
Reservations: +852 2661 1161.
Dates: December 24-25.
Price: HK$850 (Christmas dinner per person), HK$650 (Christmas brunch per person).
Old Bailey
Old Bailey, which specializes in Jiangnan cuisine – a term for the traditionally subtler Chinese food from cities south of the Yangtze River – will also be serving up a Chinese winter solstice set menu. There will be marinated eggs with fermented rice wine, Nanjing salted duck, Shanghai soup dumplings (or xiaolongbao) made with Iberico pork, a hairy crab xiaolongbao, and a slow-braised Angus beef mantou, or bun. This meal also comes with a wine pairing for an additional HK$450 per person.
Address: 2/F JC Contemporary, Tai Kwun, Old Bailey Street,.
Reservations: N/A.
Dates: December 20-22.
Price: HK$880.
HK$550 and under
Big Sur
Craft beer and barbecue joint Big Sur will be serving up a festive two-course Christmas lunch that includes a little bit of everything, including the turkey. Dishes include a Sichuan spiced pork sausage served with sweet and sour persimmon; curried Japanese oysters in a savoury donut; smoked bone marrow taco; smoked turkey tamale with cranberry and pickled peach salsa; and slow-roasted pumpkin with burnt spicy cornbread porridge. For desserts (an additional Hk$40), there’s a house-made eggnog custard bread and butter pudding.
Address: G/F, 22 Staunton Street, Soho, Central.
Reservations: +852 2529 3001.
Dates: December 2-24.
Price: HK$118 per person.
Pica Pica
This Spanish tapas Christmas dinner is perfect for anyone looking for a Christmas feast for 12 to 20 people. The feast includes Daniel Sorlut oysters with Spanish chardonnay vinegar; tomato bread with Arbequina extra virgin olive oil; acorn-fed Ibérico ham; heirloom cherry tomato salad with avocado and confit tuna belly; a red Carabinero prawn hot dog with “All-i-oli”; Spanish “lazy omelette” with Ibérico chorizo and morcilla; Christmas chicken roll with Catalana sauce; and lobster and octopus juicy rice. For desserts, there’s dark chocolate ice cream served with hazelnut, extra virgin olive oil, and salt; and warm Spanish cheesecake. Each guest also gets a complimentary glass of cava.
Address: Shop G & H, G/F, Kai Tak Commercial Building, 317-321 Des Voeux Road Central, Sheung Wan.
Reservations: info@picapica.hk or +852 2811 9880.
Dates: November 25 to December 30.
Price: HK$535 (per person).
Kinship
Western restaurant Kinship joined Central’s fine-but-casual dining scene earlier this year, serving reasonably priced dishes that focus on seasonal produce and using ingredients sourced from local and international farms.
Turkey is on offer here in the form of a roulade served with dark meat pressé, red currant, and rosemary jus; Atlantic cod served with béarnaise sauce with roasted maitake mushroom; and sweet potato risotto made with spiced pumpkin seeds and Wensleydale cheese crumble. Sides include mashed potato, Brussels sprouts with ponzu, and stuffing. Desserts also include the traditional Christmas pudding, as well as apple pie and Mr Whippy ice cream with cinnamon spice.
Address: 3/F LL Tower, 2 Shelley Street, SoHo, Central.
Reservations: +852 2520 0899 or hello@kinshiphk.com.
Dates: December 24 to December 26.
Price: HK$488.
Madam S’ate
The lunch and dinner sets at European-style bistro Madam S’ate will comprise charred tuna and prawn salad with pickled fennel and peppers; poached turkey breast and turkey leg sausage with brussels sprouts and chestnuts; seared salmon served with pesto barley and heirloom carrots; and grass-fed Angus striploin with charred asparagus, shimeji mushroom, and sunchoke salad. Dessert comes in the form of rocky road brownie with raspberry sorbet and traditional pecan pie.
On Christmas Eve until Boxing Day, they will serve a a four-course Christmas meal that includes lobster bisque with celeriac topped with a touch of lobster oil; roast tiger prawn and scallop with cauliflower and spiced tomato salsa, or cheese and mushroom Bucatini pasta with grilled broccoli; Wagyu rump with green and white asparagus and girolle mushroom; poached sea bream with prawn mousse cannelloni, young cabbage, and fennel veloute, or honey-balsamic roasted heirloom carrots with spinach and walnuts. They’ll also be serving mulled wine poached pears with hazelnut financiers and cherry sorbet for dessert.
Address: R0009 Civic Square, Rooftop Elements Shopping Centre, Kowloon Station,
1 Austin Rd West, West Kowloon, Tsim Sha Tsui.
Reservations: +852 2537 7555.
Dates: December 2-26.
Price: HK$168 (two-course lunch) HK$198 (three-course lunch) HK$338 (dinner and Christmas meal).
Cornerstone
Soho restaurant Cornerstone, which first opened in June, will be celebrating its first Christmas with a sharing meal that’s suitable for two people. They’ll be serving a pan-seared Gressingham duck breast with cranberry sauce, comté gratin dauphinois, and nutmeg creamed spinach.
Address: 49 Hollywood Road, Central.
Reservations: N/A.
Dates: December 12 to December 31.
Price: HK$480 for two.
Salted Pig
This restaurant specializes in serving up premium pork cuts, and its Christmas feast is perfect for groups. Its standard and deluxe Christmas party sets allow groups of six to eight, nine to 11, and 12 or more to choose a certain number of items for appetizers and mains.
Appetizers for the standard set include caesar salad; a baby spinach and roasted beets salad; a potato salad with smoked salmon; “shrimp campus” with chorizo and parsley on toast; a crispy snack platter of chicken wings, calamari fritti, Scotch egg, riblets, curly tail, and mini burgers; or a traditional Italian cold cut board of prosciutto, coppa ham, salami, olives, pickles, and crunchy breadsticks.
Mains include Christmas roast turkey with chestnut stuffing and cranberry jam, along with the restaurant’s signature crispy pork knuckle with sauerkraut and mustard cream; a 10-ounce U.S. ribeye with French beans and fries and a port wine jus; wild mushroom and asparagus risotto with black truffle and parmesan cheese; and a seafood special of pan-seared seabass fillet with clams, shrimp, and chorizo.
Desserts include a New York cheesecake, dark chocolate pie, chocolate lava cake and ice cream.
Address: shop 531&540, 5/F, Metroplaza, 223 Hing Fong Road, Kwai Fong; G/F, No.1 Knutsford Terrace, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon; hop GB8-10, G/F, Site B, 45 Tai Hong Street, Lei King Wan; G 02, G/F, D2 Place Two, No.15 Cheung Shun Street, Lai Chi Kok; Shop No.702, 7/F, New Town Plaza Phase 1, 18 Sha Tin Centre Street, Sha Tin.
Reservations: +852 2386 1055 (Kwai Fong); +852 2367 0990 (Tsim Sha Tsui); +852 2707 9459 (Soho East); +852 2806 1681
(Lai Chi Kok); +852 2808 4255 (Sha Tin).
Dates: Now to December 25.
Price: HK$528 (deluxe Christmas party set) HK$388 (standard Christmas party set).
