Don’t be a slave to the turkey - here are twelve delicious reasons to eat out this festive break, says Carolynne Dear.
The Enclave at The Silveri
The Silveri will be carving a traditional turkey roast.
Hotel newcomer The Silveri is offering a festive seasonal brunch buffet with optional free-flow champagne on weekends and public holidays throughout December.
The lavish buffet features traditional roast turkey and desserts. Kick-off by tucking into cold cuts, cheeses, salads and home-made lobster bisque.
The highlight of the main dishes is a roast organic turkey from Larch Wood Farm in the UK, with cranberry and red wine sauces. Alternatively, enjoy slices of roast Australian grass-fed striploin beef and honey-glazed ham from the carvery.
Festive puds include traditional Christmas fruit pudding, mince pies, gingerbread biscuits and Buche de Noel, as well as cheesecake and waffles.
The Silveri Festive Brunch costs HK$508 from December 1 to 23, and HK$608 per person on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Enjoy free-flow Louis Roederer Champagne from midday to 3pm for an additional HK$588 per person. The Silveri, 16 Tat Tung Road, Tung Chung, Hong Kong.
Lucciola at The Hari
Festive Italian vibes at La Lucciola.
Look forward to a decadent semi-buffet brunch on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day and a semi-buffet dinner on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve at The Hari’s La Lucciola restaurant.
Guests are invited to enjoy an aperitivo at the bar before tucking into hot and cold sharing starters, followed by five main course options featuring decadent lobster, beef and sea bass options.
Round-off the experience with a sweet treat from the dessert trolley.
On Christmas Day, there will also be a set five-course Italian-influenced dinner menu offered, including hors d’oeuvres, starter, soup, main, dessert and tea or coffee.
Lucciola Restaurant & Bar brunch and dinner costs HK$1,088 per person and HK$588 per child, add free-flow cocktails, prosecco, wine, beer and soft drinks for HK$300 per person, or HK$500 per person to upgrade from prosecco to champagne. The five-course set menu costs HK$588 per person. La Lucciola, The Hari, 330 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
Grain
Herb-smoked roast turkey and all the trimmings at Grain.
Grain’s traditional Christmas Roast Meal is available for evening dinner on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, and for lunch on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Enjoy starters and salads including avocado salad, roast beet salad, hamachi ceviche, house-made hummus with crudités and crackers and truffled mushroom pizza.
The main is more traditional and includes brined and herb-smoked roast turkey with plum and cranberry sauce and sage-apple sourdough stuffing, or there’s the slightly more alternative option of smoked and clove-glazed Japanese sagabuta pork collar with charred cauliflower pine nut butter and crispy bacon. All roast meals come with vegetable sides.
Finish with lemon pistachio meringue tart or mini pecan pies.
The Christmas Roast Meal at Grain costs HK$390 per person and HK$190 per child. Grain, G/F, Shop 1, New Fortune House, 3-5 New Praya, Kennedy Town, Hong Kong.
Bathers
Aussie steak and Yorkshire puddings at Bathers.
Hit the sand at Bathers on Lantau Island and enjoy a delicious beachside feast. The three-course Christmas menu is available for lunch and dinner from noon onwards from December 21 to 27.
Highlights include smoked and pan-seared duck breast with peach and chestnut compote, smoked salmon with avocado cream, crispy squid, a Christmas turkey plate with sausage stuffing, glazed carrots, brussels sprouts and sweet potato mash, and Australian beef flank with roasties and Yorkshire puds stuffed filled with asparagus and mushroom.
Sweet treats include chocolate pudding with coffee caramel and vanilla cream or hot apple pie with custard and mixed berries.
Post-prandial ocean swim optional.
The three-course menu at Bathers costs HK$360 per person or HK$180 per child enjoying the kids’ menu. Bathers, 32 Lower Cheung Sha Village, South Lantau, Hong Kong.
Hue Dining
Soak-up harbour views as you enjoy a four-course Christmas lunch and evening dinner menu, served on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Traditional-with-a-twist, the menu includes pressed turkey wrapped with sourdough chestnut stuffing with Lapsang jus and served with savoy cabbage and poached quince. For pudding, the highlight is Black Forest, with decadent dark chocolate, Kirsch cherry compote and cultured cream, or dig into an Aussie pavlova topped with macerated cherries.
And a Festive Champagne Brunch is also available on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and December 27 from 11am to 3.30pm, featuring sharing starters, one main and one dessert, with free-flow options.
Hue Dining's Christmas lunch menu costs HK$780 per person and the evening dinner menu is HK$880 per person. The Festive Champagne Brunch costs HK$550 per person with a free-flow option including Taittinger Brut Reserve champagne and a selection of ten red and white wines at an additional HK$360 per person. Hue Dining, 1/F Hong Kong Museum of Art, 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.
The Verandah at The Peninsula
Dine in style at The Verandah.
The ‘Grande Dame of the Far East’ is this year inviting guests to dine on board The Peninsula Express.
The Peninsula Hong Kong opened its doors almost a century ago during the Christmas season of 1928, and many of its guests arrived at the Salisbury Road property after long train journeys. This Christmas, the hotel has transformed itself into a bustling vintage train station. Be transported back in time to the romantic era of steam locomotives.
The Verandah restaurant on the hotel’s ground floor will become Grand Salisbury Station with a full-sized train platform and diners are invited to board The Peninsula Express later this month for a festive lunch buffet inside the carriage.
The Verandah Lunch Buffet with carriage dining is HK$688 per person Monday to Thursday, and HK$1,028 per person Friday to Sunday. Evening dinner buffet with carriage dining costs HK$1,028 per person Monday to Sunday. On Christmas Eve, dining costs HK$1,488 for lunch and HK$2,488 for dinner; on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day dining costs HK$1,788 for lunch and HK$1,788 for dinner; New Year’s Eve is dinner-only at HK$2,788 per person. Carriage dining is available November 25 to January 3.
District 8
The District 8 festive feast is available throughout Christmas.
Enjoy a festive feast Kowloon-side and in the New Territories at French-style bistro, District 8. The Christmas set menu is available for evening dinner on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day and also for lunch on Christmas Day.
Enjoy a complimentary glass of mulled wine on arrival and then tuck into a feast of starters including house-smoked and cured duck ham, Japanese hamachi ceviche or burrata cheese topped with beets and apple.
Mains run to traditional grilled turkey roulade with brussels sprouts, smoked bacon, cranberries and chicken consommé, poached sea bass with tiger prawns, cauliflower and sauce beurre blanc, or sweetcorn risotto with spinach and hazelnuts.
Finish with a praline chocolate tart or red berry Eton Mess.
The District 8 Christmas set menu is HK$395 for two courses, or HK$460 for three, or four courses costs HK$520 per person. A three-course children’s menu is available for HK$198. District 8 Elements, R0009 Civic Square, Rooftop Elements Shopping Centre, 1 Austin Road West, West Kowloon, Hong Kong; District 8 Tseung Kwan O, Shop 10, Greenwich Village, Waterfront Promenade, G/F Alto Residences, 29 Tong Yin Street, Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong.
Terrace by LQV
Tasty tucker at Terrace by LQV.
More beachside dining, this time in Stanley on Hong Kong Island. Mediterranean-inspired Terrace by LQV is offering a ‘Réveillon’ menu - the traditional French festive dining celebration. The menu has been designed by head chef Timothé Giry and features classic French dishes traditionally enjoyed at this time of year.
Réveillon lasts all day or all night before Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve and was coined by 18th century nobility to describe their all-night dinner parties during the festive season.
Modern-day guests in Stanley can expect luxurious oyster Vichyssoise with caviar, truffle scallops carpaccio, foie gras terrine and Burgundy snails and caviar with duck fat garlic potato.
On the mains menu, a truffle pigeon pithivier is prepared in-house and served with truffle mash, or there’s French Saint Pierre fillet with coco de Paimpol white beans, champagne mousse and caviar.
Indulge your sweet tooth with Yule log cake or Mont Blanc meringue with chestnut purée and whipped cream.
The Réveillon Menu is available for both lunch and dinner from December 23 to January 2 and costs HK$988 per person. Wine pairing is an additional HK$450 per person. Terrace by LQV, Shop 505, 23 Carmel Road, Stanley Plaza, Stanley, Hong Kong.
Quiero Más
A more-ish Christmas menu at Quiero Más.
Get into the Christmas spirit Spanish-style at Quiero Más. The Central-located restaurant’s festive offerings include a Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day and Boxing Day brunch.
The Christmas Eve dinner includes two menus, one ten-course feast and a slightly more restrained eight-course meal. Highlights include steak tartare with black truffle, crab and caviar and lobster paella.
The eight-course Christmas and Boxing Day brunch features highlights such as 36-month Iberico ham, in-house dry-aged wagyu bavettes and a Basque burnt cheesecake with cranberry coulis.
The ten-course Christmas Eve dinner at Quiero Más costs HK$838 per person and the eight-course dinner HK$638 per person. The Christmas and Boxing Day brunch is Hk538 per person. Quiero Más, 20/F, M88, Wellington Place, 2-8 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong.
Percy's
An American-influenced menu at Percy's.
Drop anchor at SoHo's trendiest seafood spot and tuck into a festive lunch or dinner from December 6 to Christmas Day.
The Christmas menu is an all-American holiday affair featuring dry-aged spiced ham with pineapple sauce, and Percy's signature 12-hour brined roast turkey served with rosemary gravy and cranberry sauce. Festive sides include sweet potato and spiced pecans, brussels sprouts with cured swordfish bacon, mushroom and sausage stuffing and creamy mash.
And for pud there's yummy apple pie.
Festive cocktails are on the menu - get into the Christmas spirit with a holiday eggnog spiked with rum and cognac or a warming glass of spiced mulled wine. A free-flow package is also available, including sparkling, red and white wines, house spirits and beer.
Percy's festive lunch and dinner costs HK$548 per person for a minimum of two diners. On December 23, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day the menu is available for takeaway at HK$548 per person. A two-hour free-flow package is HK$268 per person. Percy's, G/F, 18-18A Shelley Street, Mid-levels, Hong Kong.
Fireside
Alaskan king crab in a brown butter hollandaise.
Enjoy premium heritage meats and seafood at this Central-located restaurant.
Fireside is offering a Christmas Day-only menu featuring appetisers such as Alaskan king crab in a brown butter hollandaise, smoked Hokkaido scallops with Cristal caviar and Girolles mushrooms with smoked egg yolk and cured pancetta.
Main dishes include Fireside’s signature flamed dry-aged beef, French pigeon and butcher’s cut Blackmore wagyu.
Round proceedings off with smoked ‘La Vina’ cheesecake with rhubarb sorbet and petits fours.
The Christmas Menu at Fireside costs HK$1,988 per person. Fireside, 5/F H Code, The Steps, 45 Pottinger Street, Central, Hong Kong.
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