Trip To Hong Kong

andyc · Post by **andyc** » Sun May 14, 2006 4:19 pm

I am heading to HK in a couple of weeks with my wife to look around with a view to moving there for work. Where should I head to with a good wine list and food of any type?

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Mon May 15, 2006 12:07 am

It's all depends on your budget. If you are looking for 5 stars and 3 hats restaurants. Silver Moon in Penisula Hotel for Chinese food and good wine as well as tea ($200 pp approx). Caprice for French food, but need to book weeks ahead($200 pp approx). Spoon is another French restaurant with lovely harbour view and impressive cellar ($150 pp aprx) All prices are a guide for food only, drinks extra.

Many local restaurants will allow BYO if you ask and enquire ahead.

DaveB · Post by **DaveB** » Mon May 15, 2006 9:25 am

Andy,

I'll be in Hong Kong from the 20th to the 28th of May if you want to catch up. We having reservations at Yellow Door and Xi Yan in Hong Kong and can squeeze a couple more in if you want to come.....Xi Yan is Byo and I'm not sure what the list is like at Yellow Door.
Also going to Robuchon in Macau on the Friday night....it has one of the best wine lists I've seen....massive selection....been looking at the magum of '45 Mouton for $20,000 US :shock:

......you can take your own wines but the corkage per bottle is around $100 AUD so they would want to be pretty good.

Dave

JamieBahrain · Post by **JamieBahrain** » Mon May 15, 2006 8:46 pm

Best bet is to bring some wine up with you. Then negotiate corkage with the huge number of superb restaurants.

You will die when you see wine prices here ( I'm a resident ). 80% tax.

JamieBahrain · Post by **JamieBahrain** » Mon May 15, 2006 8:50 pm

DaveB wrote:Andy,

I'll be in Hong Kong from the 20th to the 28th of May if you want to catch up. We having reservations at Yellow Door and Xi Yan in Hong Kong and can squeeze a couple more in if you want to come.....Xi Yan is Byo and I'm not sure what the list is like at Yellow Door.
Also going to Robuchon in Macau on the Friday night....it has one of the best wine lists I've seen....massive selection....been looking at the magum of '45 Mouton for $20,000 US ......you can take your own wines but the corkage per bottle is around $100 AUD so they would want to be pretty good.

Dave

You should bring your wine up too Dave. I understand Vinexpo has a moratorium on exhibitors. If you get done over by customs, a bit of fast talking and industry credentials should see you back through the green channel.

pokolbinguy · Post by **pokolbinguy** » Mon May 15, 2006 8:50 pm

i was told that when taking wine overseas, well anywhere in a plane that is pressurised that is, they you should not conusme the wine for a few weeks (a month i have been told) after the flight as the change in pressure in the plane plays silly buggers with the wine allowing it to taste oxidised on opening (if too early)

if anybody knows of this or has any comments i would love to know... and im sure the guys travelling overseas would greatly appreciated it aswell..

well just my 2c

JamieBahrain · Post by **JamieBahrain** » Mon May 15, 2006 9:04 pm

woodwardbrett wrote:i was told that when taking wine overseas, well anywhere in a plane that is pressurised that is, they you should not conusme the wine for a few weeks (a month i have been told) after the flight as the change in pressure in the plane plays silly buggers with the wine allowing it to taste oxidised on opening (if too early)

if anybody knows of this or has any comments i would love to know... and im sure the guys travelling overseas would greatly appreciated it aswell..

well just my 2c

Not sure of that theory. personally, I think older wines suffer travel shock and I generally leave mine for three months prior to opening.

An aircraft is pressurised to 8000 feet. So at altitude, there will be a pressure differential. There is potential for the contents to expand- remember how difficult it can be to open OJ on a plane- however, the wine bottle being glass and the contents sealed prevent this.

pokolbinguy · Post by **pokolbinguy** » Mon May 15, 2006 9:10 pm

OJ comes in a glass bottle is sealed aswell...and i would think sealed better than a cork that may move or leak under greater pressure... that is my thought anyway.

now if you are taking older wines i would want to wait a decent amount of time to allow settling of solids etc aswell. so 3 months as mentioned sounds like a good idea.

Has anybody had any issues with taking wine travelling???

but now that i think of it .... they do sell wine on planes so maybe there is no problem.... hmmm im lost

JamieBahrain · Post by **JamieBahrain** » Tue May 16, 2006 12:52 am

The example I was using was plastic container of OJ. As the aircraft climbs, the pressure inside the cabin is less than that of sea level. So liquid in a plastic container is affected- the contents are under higher pressure and push out so to speak.

It is different for wine, because the vessel is hard glass and hence is protected from the differential pressure.

Other threats are temperature variation and zero humidity. Cabin temperature is relatively stable but some cargo holds may be a touch cooler ( depending on aircraft type ).

Aircraft cabins are low humidity environments ( under 5% ). Long exposure to zero humidty would probably damage the cork seal. And as the wine in the bottle is at higher sea level pressure, with a compromised seal, it will leak more significantly. Evidenced by telltale seepage runs.

I am guessing, but I don't think aircraft stay up long enough yet for the latter to be a problem.

I have a lot of experience carting wine about the place in aircraft. Travel shock of heavily crusted wines the only problem.

DaveB · Post by **DaveB** » Tue May 16, 2006 9:27 am

JamieBahrain wrote:
DaveB wrote:Andy,

I'll be in Hong Kong from the 20th to the 28th of May if you want to catch up. We having reservations at Yellow Door and Xi Yan in Hong Kong and can squeeze a couple more in if you want to come.....Xi Yan is Byo and I'm not sure what the list is like at Yellow Door.
Also going to Robuchon in Macau on the Friday night....it has one of the best wine lists I've seen....massive selection....been looking at the magum of '45 Mouton for $20,000 US ......you can take your own wines but the corkage per bottle is around $100 AUD so they would want to be pretty good.

Dave

You should bring your wine up too Dave. I understand Vinexpo has a moratorium on exhibitors. If you get done over by customs, a bit of fast talking and industry credentials should see you back through the green channel.

Hi Jamie,

Yup dragging a few over....a few for me and a few for Adam who I'm meeting in Macau.....dinner at Robuchon is on the 26th if you want to come

Aussie John · Post by **Aussie John** » Tue May 16, 2006 12:38 pm

Hi Jamie,
I'm off to Hong Kong later in the year. I'll BYO, can you give me some good restaurant recommendations?? Not too exxy, but reasonable, preferrably with good views and a good bar for afterwards.

Thanks IA, Aussie John

andyc · Post by **andyc** » Wed May 17, 2006 1:30 am

All,
Thanks for the feedback, some good suggestions I look forward to trying out. I'll be there from the 31/5 until the 4/6. As I'm going on the company's $ I won't be going the BYO route but sounds as though I'll need that BYO list Jamie if I move there!

JamieBahrain · Post by **JamieBahrain** » Wed May 17, 2006 1:19 pm

Aussie John wrote:Hi Jamie,
I'm off to Hong Kong later in the year. I'll BYO, can you give me some good restaurant recommendations?? Not too exxy, but reasonable, preferrably with good views and a good bar for afterwards.

Thanks IA, Aussie John

AJ

Post a thread closer to the date. I will have it worked out by then! I live amongst a restaurant district in the mid-levels ( HK Island ) and lazily wander out without much thought- or frankly, after being on the road for a while, prefer home cooked food.

But there are great kitchen concept with BYO- XI Yan one of them.

Andyc

You will need the BYO list an d afew other tricks to circumvent the problems when paying 80% wine tax!

JamieBahrain · Post by **JamieBahrain** » Wed May 17, 2006 1:22 pm

DaveB wrote:
JamieBahrain wrote:
DaveB wrote:Andy,

I'll be in Hong Kong from the 20th to the 28th of May if you want to catch up. We having reservations at Yellow Door and Xi Yan in Hong Kong and can squeeze a couple more in if you want to come.....Xi Yan is Byo and I'm not sure what the list is like at Yellow Door.
Also going to Robuchon in Macau on the Friday night....it has one of the best wine lists I've seen....massive selection....been looking at the magum of '45 Mouton for $20,000 US ......you can take your own wines but the corkage per bottle is around $100 AUD so they would want to be pretty good.

Dave

You should bring your wine up too Dave. I understand Vinexpo has a moratorium on exhibitors. If you get done over by customs, a bit of fast talking and industry credentials should see you back through the green channel.

Hi Jamie,

Yup dragging a few over....a few for me and a few for Adam who I'm meeting in Macau.....dinner at Robuchon is on the 26th if you want to come

Don't tempt me. I am working on the 27th but could go sick!

DaveB · Post by **DaveB** » Wed May 17, 2006 1:37 pm

Ohhhh it's going to be good

Krug, Dom, Rousseau Chambertin, '67 d'Yquem bound to be some Bordeaux, maybe a Giacosa Barolo.....I thought thats what autopilots were for :lol:

Aussie John · Post by **Aussie John** » Wed May 17, 2006 4:58 pm

JamieBahrain wrote:
Aussie John wrote:Hi Jamie,
I'm off to Hong Kong later in the year. I'll BYO, can you give me some good restaurant recommendations?? Not too exxy, but reasonable, preferrably with good views and a good bar for afterwards.

Thanks IA, Aussie John

AJ

Post a thread closer to the date. I will have it worked out by then! I live amongst a restaurant district in the mid-levels ( HK Island ) and lazily wander out without much thought- or frankly, after being on the road for a while, prefer home cooked food.

But there are great kitchen concept with BYO- XI Yan one of them.

Andyc

You will need the BYO list an d afew other tricks to circumvent the problems when paying 80% wine tax!

Thanks Jamie,
My brother is a Qantas pilot, but hasn't a clue, despite going there 20+ times a year!!
Can you get a table for two in the speakeasy restaurants/kitchens?? I was under the impression there are only large tables.
Thanks again.....

DaveB · Post by **DaveB** » Wed May 17, 2006 5:18 pm

AJ

I'll pipe in.....Xi Yan is a minumum of 6 people, Yellow Door is fine with two as is Mama's Kitchen in the mid-levels....others such as Tungs Kitchen require a minumum of 6 people too I believe.

cheers

DaveB · Post by **DaveB** » Thu May 25, 2006 10:39 am

Just bumping this up....I went to Xi Yan last night and it is awesome....schezuen tetsuyas.....12 course dego only 5 tables in the room amazing tectures and favours and corkage is around $20 a bottle. With the spicy dishes you can organise various levels of heat for those who don't want to keep their toilet papper in the freezer......highly recommended.

Aussie John · Post by **Aussie John** » Thu May 25, 2006 3:27 pm

Thanks Dave,

I'll look into getting a table at Yellow Door and Mama's Kitchen. Is it advisable to book well in advance (i.e. now or soon for early August?)

JamieBahrain · Post by **JamieBahrain** » Thu May 25, 2006 6:49 pm

Aussie John wrote:Thanks Dave,

I'll look into getting a table at Yellow Door and Mama's Kitchen. Is it advisable to book well in advance (i.e. now or soon for early August?)

Some of the kitchens require bookings well in advance. Not sure which ones.