Ricky Ow of Turner is one hella food connoisseur (I owe him my 2-Michelin Star Nobu experience some 3 years ago which really blew my mind and I was almost in happy tears while eating). When we were having a lunch meeting at Vask mid this year, he gave me a short list of his recommendations for new Hong Kong discoveries. When he said Ho Lee Fook, I had to look at his face to make sure he didn’t give that exclamation at the sight of my appetite. It was in fact the name of the restaurant. Cheeky eh?
The actual translation is “good fortune for your mouth.” During a business trip in Hong Kong last month, I couldn’t pass the chance to dine there. Alan and James were both game to look for the place and as luck would always be on my side, we didn’t have to queue long (probably 10 minutes tops) even if we didn’t have any table reservation.
Ho Lee Fook’s busy open kitchen decorated with mah-jong as counter tiles welcomes your arrival. On the right, a wall of gold cats wave at you forever. A big beautiful peacock reveals a staircase that leads you underground to the restaurant. It’s a collaboration of the old and new… say, imagine a posh part of Chinatown in New York in the 1950s or 60s, it’s quite dark, designed mostly with black furniture, stone walls, a dragon mural, a lighted mural of an old man and a backdrop of beer bottles.
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Ho Lee Fook is under the champion portfolio of Black Sheep Restaurants Group that also owns Burger Circus, Boqueria, Chom Chom, Motorino, La Vache!, Carbone and Stazione Novella. They specialize in developing niche, thought-provoking restaurant concepts and looking at the crowded dining room, I knew I was in for a special evening.
Recent Table Guest