Canada is a great country known for being the birthplace of Justin Trudeau’s good looks, Ryan Reynolds’ abs, and seemingly 10 percent of Hongkongers. In honour of Canada Day on July 1, we present to you our guide on how to eat and do Canuck things in Hong Kong.
Eat like a Canadian
Canadian culinary contributions to the global food scene are few, but they do exist! Here are some places where you can chow down some Canadian grub.
Yo Bago: Introducing the bagelwich, the sandwich’s cousin from Montreal
It’s time to take a page out of Montreal’s book and upgrade the flimsy slices of bread of your regular sandwich to bagels: yes, that’s right, bagelwiches are a thing, and you can get this Québécois invention in Hong Kong. Yo Bago is a Canadian-themed and -owned restaurant offering delicious bagelwichs in addition to plain old bagels (with not-so-plain cream cheese – have you ever tried Oreo cream cheese or wasabi cream cheese?) at a seriously reasonable price.
Try a taste of the world’s second-largest French-speaking city with their Montreal bagel, complete with tangy mustard, juicy pickles and Montreal-style smoked meat (that’s cured beef brisket for non-Canucks). Or perhaps you’d like to sample something evoking the Canadian Rocky Mountains: the Calgary breakfast bagel is loaded with cheesy, eggy goodness and roast beef. Now where can we find a double-double (a double-cream, double-sugar coffee)?
Yo Bago: 80 Hoi Pan Street, Quarry Bay (Google Maps)
The Big Bite: Poutine, maple syrup cookies and beavertails
The Big Bite, probably the most fiercely Canadian eatery in Hong Kong, honours the second-generation immigrants of the city with their CBC (a.k.a. Canadian-born Chinese) and BBC (British-born Chinese) burgers. Both the CBC and BBC burgers are different variations of succulent bacon burgers that will likely induce a food coma, but are definitely what you need on a Friday night after a long work week. Their selection of specialty fries and poutine also do not disappoint – our favourite is the Nacho Grande Poutine, which features a heaping of sour cream, jalapenos, olives, chives and salsa. Our arteries may be wincing, but our mouths are also definitely salivating.
For dessert, you can also grab a maple-syrup-flavoured, maple-leaf-shaped cookie or – starting from July 1st – a bona fide beavertail, topped with everything that is good in this world, such as Nutella, Hershey’s chocolate syrup, vanilla ice cream and bananas.
The Big Bite: Shop 4B, G/F Kar Fu Building, 196-202 Java Road, North Point (Google Maps)
The Big Bite Flame-Grill: Shop B, Clarence Court, 8-16 Clarence Terrace, Shek Tong Tsui (Google Maps)
Notable mention: The Keg, where you can drink Canadian beer and watch ice hockey
A mainstay in the heart of Lan Kwai Fong, The Keg has a large variety of beers on tap – your favorite Canadian beers included – and is an awesome spot to kick back and watch an NHL game or the Ice Hockey World Championships.
The Keg: 30-32 D’Aguilar Street, Central (Google Maps)
Play like a Canadian
Watch or play ice, ice, hockey
Photo: Pixels
Ice hockey: it’s like rugby, except you add dangerous weapons like sticks and metal blades, and you play on ice, the least convenient and grippy of all surfaces. Find out what all the hype is about by catching a National Hockey League (NHL) playoff game on TV (at the Keg, for example).
Or even better, adopt (or join) a hometown ice hockey team! Take your pick from from the teams in the China Ice Hockey League (CIHL): the Hong Kong Tycoons, the Kowloon Warriors, the Macau Aces and the South China Sharks. The CIHL season starts in Hong Kong in October, with all games held at the MegaBox rink in Kowloon Bay.
MegaBox: 38 Wang Chiu Rd, Kowloon Bay (Google Maps)
Hang out with Canucks at Canadian Chamber of Commerce events
Photo: CanCham YPC
Though the Canadian Chamber of Commerce sounds more like an uptight business association than a group of people you’d want to spend your weekends with, it actually organises lots of fun activities such galas and junk parties, in addition to more professional-oriented events like monthly networking events.
Hike like an annoyingly outdoorsy Canadian in the great Hong Kong wild
Though Hong Kong doesn’t have moose, Niagara Falls or the Rocky Mountains, it can hold its own to Canada in terms of access to the great outdoors (for a small city). In lieu of moose, check out their less furry bovine cousins by heading to Lantau Island, where you can see wild cows and water buffaloes roaming around at Ngong Ping Village. They may not rumble and roar like Niagara Falls, but Lantau’s Silvermine Waterfall and stream are majestic in their own right. Reach them by taking the Olympic Trail (great for an easy run) from Pak Mong in Tung Chung to Tai O. And if you want to see a mini, not-so-rocky mountain range, trek up Lantau Peak!
Celebrate Canada Day
Lan Kwai Fong, Canada-style
Photo: Canadian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong
From July 1 to 31, popular restaurants in and around Central will be serving up exclusive and limited-edition dishes and beverages – with a Canadian twist! Check out the cheeseburger poutine at Butchers Club Burger, Bisque’s (New Brunswick) lobster and champagne affair, Kyoto Joe’s savory gyu-don served with Canadian beef ribs, and the quintessential Canadian cocktail – the Caesar – at Havana Bar, mixed with Canadian vodka and cheer. Fun Canadian fact: the classic Caesar cocktail was created in Calgary in 1969, and is the unofficial national cocktail of Canada.
You can pick up your free “passport” at the CanCham office at the Kinwick Centre on Hollywood Road (Google Maps) – the more restaurants you visit, the more chances to win awesome prizes, including Air Canada flight tickets to visit the real deal!
What: Taste of Canada in LKF & Central
When: July 1 – 30
More info: cancham.org
Party like a Canadian college kid
The alumni chapters of University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto are of hosting a Canada Day BBQ tonight! (Thursday, June 30) at Rula Bula in LKF (non-alum welcome too!). The BBQ will feature a beer-chugging contest AND a cinnamon bun/donut eating contest. Count us in.
What: UBC/UofT Alumni Canadian Day BBQ
When: 8pm – late, Thursday, June 30
Where: Rula Bula, G/F, 58-62 d’Aguilar Street, Central (Google Maps)
Price: HKD80 inclusive of one meal (food + one drink); additional drinks at 50 percent off.
You say it’s the biggest Canada Day party in town, eh?
Canadians in Hong Kong (CiHK), are a group of, well, Canadians in Hong Kong, and they organise regular events where you get to hang out with exotic Canadians and learn about their exotic Canadian culture, such as annual Christmas and Thanksgiving Dinners, or group activities like hiking, laser tag and board games. This Canada Day, CiHK will be hosting a huge Canada Day bash on July 2 in Quarry Bay – complete with music, photobooths and a festive Canadian menu including Nanaimo bars (a dessert featuring wafers, custard-flavoured butter icing and chocoloate) and, of course, poutine.
What: Canada Day 2016 Celebration!
When: 1pm – 4pm, July 2
Where: 9/F Kornhill Apartments, 2 Kornhill, Quarry Bay (Google Maps
Price: HKD330
Tickets: meetup.com
Got a tip? Send it to us at hongkong@coconuts.co
