Top 10 Hong Kong private kitchens

They have been a feature of Hong Kong dining since the 1990s, and many private kitchens have proved so popular they have gone mainstream. By Eliot Ip.

The private kitchens – sue fon tsoi in Cantonese – first started opening when amateur chefs decided to give restaurants a run for their money. Many operate out of office blocks or residential buildings and have little or no signage; you often only find the specific address when you make a booking.

Many are now so popular that bookings are essential and you can expect to enjoy high quality, home-style Chinese food in unusual surroundings.

If you can track down a private kitchen you can usually expect to enjoy some special food, and here’s our look at 10 of the best that Hong Kong has to offer.

Amy Vegetarian Food

Self-taught chef Amy Chan buys into the old adage that claims you are what you eat. Having been a beautician for more than 30 years, Chan’s vegan-friendly Cantonese dishes are designed to keep you pretty inside and out.

Instead of your stereotypical, grease-laden mock meats, Chan’s good-for-you cooking ethos translates into dishes boasting clean flavours and plenty of creativity.

Highlights include crunchy, wasabi-soy-spiked seaweed salads and a completely convincing vegan replica of abalone and stir-fried conch made from mushrooms and konjac.

Word of warning – this place is insanely popular so be prepared to make your reservations at least half a year in advance.

13/F, Overseas Building, 417 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai, 2893 8760.

Chef Studio by Eddy

The old fishing village of Aberdeen might not seem like a hotbed for innovative gastronomy but the times they are a-changing, thanks to the influx of chef-led private kitchens.

Chef Studio is among one of the best: hidden in a factory building, the private kitchen and cooking studio is helmed by Eddy Leung – an industry veteran who’s spent time at The Peninsula and Ritz-Carlton.

Multicourse menus are season-driven and incorporate fresh, organic produce plucked from Leung’s balcony garden. Meanwhile, sous-viding is a revered technique here and results in things like perfectly poached salmon that’s then adorned with pearls of caviar.

Leung also touts a free corkage policy so remember to bring a few good bottles to dinner.

Unit 5B, Kwai Bo Industrial Building, 40 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Aberdeen, 3104 4664.

Comilonas

This Catalan private kitchen is the brainchild of a Barcelona native and his wife. Set at $400 per person, the prixe fixe menu is built around traditional tapas, usually starting with a homestyle romesco dip.

Herb-marinated scallops follow, demonstrating the Catalan affinity for lemon juice and good olive oil. Flavours continue on a robust streak with salty cod fish brandada and a delicious main act played out by black cuttlefish ink paella.

Drinking with your meal is an integral part of Catalan culture and is especially encouraged at Comilonas by way of its free corkage policy.

Flat 22, 1/F, Yip Cheong Building, 4-16 Hill Road, Sai Wan, 9863 2270; www.comilonas.biz.

Dai Ping Huo

Come here if you like it hot. Opened by a husband-and-wife team (the former is an artist, the latter the resident chef), this popular private kitchen has been churning out delicious Sichuanese food for more than a decade.

There’s no à la carte ordering. Instead, you’re presented with a prix fixe menu of dishes loaded with aromatic spices and mouth-tingling chillies.

It starts with a collection of chilled appetisers that have enough spice and vinegary pluck to perk up the appetite.

Things get really serious with bigger plates such as chilli braised beef brisket and mapo tofu. The meal is punctuated with a few non-spicy offerings as well, which are all equally delicious.

Stick around after dinner to enjoy the Chinese opera performance courtesy of the chef.

LG/F, 49 Hollywood Road, SoHo, 2559 1317.

Fa Zu Jie

First-timers may have a hard time locating Fa Zu Jie. It’s located at the far end of a narrow alley, in a run-down building fitted with dimly lit staircases.

It makes it all the more surprising then when you find the elegant, white-tablecloth dining room on the other side of the door.

Behind the polished open kitchen, chef Paul Hui fuses old-school Shanghai flavours with French haute cuisine in a number of whimsically named creations.

The set menu changes seasonally but one of the mainstay dishes features tender slices of drunken quail served with crisp waxed apples on a bed of sanuki udon.

Feel free to BYOB because there’s no corkage fee.

1/F, 20A D’Aguilar Street, Central, 3487 1715.

Gitone Fine Arts

A perennial favourite with the city’s gastronomes, this waterfront location operates as an art gallery and workshop during the day and transforms into a private dining room in the evenings.

The food is based on homestyle Shanghainese cooking but incorporates globally-inspired flavours and ingredients.

Presentation is almost kaiseki-like, starting with the medley of appetisers duly named Gitone Garden.

Come hungry because menus include a double-boiled soup, dim sum trio and a number of main courses, such as the house special fried rice steamed in lotus leaf.

There are several menus to choose from, starting from $488 per person with no corkage fee. Guests can also add $300 to enjoy a ceramic or painting workshop before dinner.

GB 27-28, Lei King Wan, 45 Tai Hong Street, Sai Wan Ho, 2527 3448; www.gitone.hk.

Gong Guan

Gong Guan serves up traditional Shanghainese cuisine in new and exciting ways. A typical meal here consists of at least six starters and five mains with all dishes crafted from the freshest ingredients of the day.

Popular appetisers include steamed aubergine topped with pork floss and a Japanese-inspired silken tofu dressed in soy sauce, scallions and bonito shavings.

All of these are designed to rev up your taste buds in preparation for more substantial offerings, such as the signature ‘celestial rolls’ filled with pigeon, ham and mushrooms.

Slow-cooked pork knuckle is another house favourite, especially since it’s perked up with the tartness of preserved plums.

12/F, Fung Woo Building 279 Des Voeux Road Central Sheung Wan, 2577 9789; www.gong-guan.com.

Mandy’s Private Kitchen

Mandy Nathali offers a distinctly un-Hong Kong-like experience. Firstly, she serves her customers in her own home in Sai Kung.

Then there’s the food – an exotic blend of Caribbean and West Indian cuisine supported by fragrant spices and homespun sauces.

Dining is done family style, starting with a minimum of eight guests gathered around the indoor or outdoor communal tables. Instead of a conventional bread basket, dig into the dense corn bread before gorging on starters such as Jamaican beef patties and seasonal broths.

Expect hearty, hefty mains in the style of Mandy’s signature steel pan leg of lamb, which is marinated for five days, then lovingly barbecued over a low flame. If you want a drink with your tropical feast, Mandy’s offers a short wine list but guests can also BYOB for a $110 corkage fee per bottle.

5 minutes away from Sai Kung Town Centre (full address revealed upon reservation), 9816 9946; www.mandysprivatekitchen.com

Turkish Anne

Before Turkish Anne came along, we never thought we’d be able to get authentic Ottoman cuisine in a residential building located over an old noodle shop.

Here, Grace Yip cooks up a wide range of West Asian dishes, from familiar kebabs to a poutine-like mix of fried potatoes and aubergine known as saksuka.

Due to the kitchen’s limited space, it’s highly recommended that you order some of the more complex dishes ahead of time. In particular, ask for the Mersin-style roasted chicken – an incredibly succulent bird stuffed with herbs and garlic rice.

If Turkish Anne is fully booked, Yip will direct you to her other private kitchen, I Love Istanbul, which is helmed by her Turkish husband who serves the same dishes.

Unit 5, 5/F, Cheung Hing Bldg, 46 Pitt St, Yau Ma Tei, 5401 0025.

Yin Yang

Housed in a gorgeous, three-storey, heritage building, Yin Yang pays tribute to the city’s rich heritage in the most delicious way.

Chef-owner Margaret Xu reimagines traditional Hong Kong and Hakka flavours in cosmopolitan ways and the results are usually stunning.

We love the signature yellow earth chicken, as well as the ‘red hot’ roast baby pig prepared in a terracotta urn.

Since Xu also owns her own organic farm in the New Territories, guests are treated to a true farm-to-table experience featuring a range of fresh greens. Aside from seasonal, dinner tasting menus, Xu also does an omakase (chef’s choice) selection as well as supplementary à la carte items.

18 Ship Street, Wan Chai, 2866 0868; www.yinyang.hk.