Top three HK restaurants with the highest corkage

Before you start the agonising debate of whether to bring a Saint-Emillion or Chateauneuf-du-pape for your dinner, we will stop you right there. The deal breaker in your wine choice tonight might not be the perfect pairing of Cantonese suckling pig with your red wine, but the astronomical corkage charges at many of Hong Kong’s fine dining restaurants that reach up to HK$750 a bottle!

Let’s put that in perspective, HK$750 equates to US$96. That’s higher than Vinexpo’s definition of premium wine in Hong Kong which is put at HK$500 (US$64). For HK$750, you can purchase, according to WineSearcher, wines including Aldo Conterno Barolo 2005 or a Grand Puy Ducasse Pauillac 5eme Cru 2010, the list goes on.

We are not unmindful that we are talking about Hong Kong here, ranked as the second most costly city in the world in 2016, according to London-based Economic Intelligence Unit, after Singapore and ahead of Zurich.

The costs of running a restaurant is high given Hong Kong’s expensive rent, and guests who bring along wines to the restaurants are using the restaurant’s services and resources including glassware, staff and decanters. And yes, restaurants apply for alcohol licenses not for the sake of hanging it on the wall as decoration. They expect to sell booze for profit, not for charity.

Most Asian restaurants in the city usually charge less corkage and it’s fair to say that, in general, fine dining restaurants charge more. Here we’ve rounded up three restaurants with the highest corkage fees.

Lung King Heen, Four Seasons Hotel 

This is the first Chinese restaurant to receive three Michelin stars, so expect the corkage to match the hefty food prices.

Charge at the restaurant is straight forward: HK$400 for a 375ml bottle, HK$750 for a 750ml bottle and HK$1,500 for a magnum plus 10% service charge, as the restaurant confirmed with dbHK on the phone.

Guests are allowed to bring in a maximum of two bottles, but at this rate, two regular bottles plus corkage and service charge can get you a bottle of Chateau Canon 2009. The restaurant’s wine list is, however, very broad and offers wine by the glass that won’t break your wallet. A glass of Barossa’s St. Hallet 2015 costs HK$160 a glass and, unlike many Chinese counterparts, it has a page dedicated to Chinese wines and liquors to pair with Lung King Heen’s meticulous Cantonese dishes.

We suggest calling the restaurant in advance for a copy of wine list to confirm the availability of the wines.

Caprice, Four Seasons Hotel 

This illustrious fine dining French restaurant has held its own after its long-time chef Vincent Thierry, who helmed the restaurant since 2005 and was responsible for it gaining three Michelin stars in 2009, departed in 2014. Caprice currently has two Michelin stars.

Corkage charge at the restaurant is the same as Lung King Heen at Four Seasons Hotel, HK$750 for a regular bottle of wine and HK$1,500 for a magnum. The maximum number of bottles allowed is two.

Felix, The Peninsula

Felix, a modern European restaurant inside The Peninsula, doesn’t have the culinary pedigree of Michelin stars to boost its profile. Compared with its food, the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling window design that opens up to the whole view of Hong Kong island, seems to be a bigger draw for diners and tourists.

Corkage charge, however, is staggering with HK$700 (US$90) per bottle plus 10% service charge for any red, white or Champagne. Guests are allowed a maximum of two bottles, the restaurant confirmed. Unless you are bringing a Domaine de la Romanée-Conti to dinner here, we suggest you stick to their wines on the list.

The restaurant does have an extensive cocktail and wine by the glass list with a few below HK$200 such as a Craggy Range Te Kahu Merlot (HK$155) and Baron Philippe de Rothschild Baronne Charlotte (HK$140).