Family-style dining outside the home!
Looking for something more intimate than the noise and crowds you have to deal with at Hong Kong’s most popular restaurants? Or would you rather have people come home but just don’t have the space to host them? This city boasts of a variety of private kitchens which makes entertaining guests with good food and a great location that much easier for you. Whether you’re planning your child’s birthday, a friend’s baby shower or your 25th anniversary, these places are flexible enough to cater to every occasion. Best of all, there’s no clean-up involved, and because you won’t be busy serving your friends, you get to be the hostess with the mostest! Here is a list of our favourite private dining kitchens where you’ll want to hold your next affair.
Read more: How To Celebrate A Milestone Birthday In Hong Kong
Looking for a family-friendly spot to celebrate your next party? Owned by mama of two (three if you count her gorgeous Shih Tzu, Xiao Fung!) Esther Sham, Ta Pantry is ideal for group gatherings (seating a maximum of 24 guests), for everything from baby showers to birthdays. Minimum spending charges apply so make sure you have a large enough group and then choose from four set menus (all guests have to opt for one menu, though dietary restrictions will be taken into account) or opt for a tailored menu. The signature dish is the Melting Onion Duck (pictured) and we also have our eye on the Mama’s Favorite Taro Mascarpone Crème. Kids are more than welcome here and have their own set and a la carte menu to choose from.
Where: 1A Star Street, Wan Chai, Hong Kong (entrance on Electric Street, from Maison Es)
Price Range: Monday to Thursday, minimum spending of $10,000, Friday to Sunday and public holidays, minimum spending of $13,500 (includes food and drink); the tailored menu is $1,200 per person
Contact: 2521 8121, [email protected], www.ta-pantry.com
Those familiar with the private kitchen scene in Hong Kong would have definitely sampled Magnolia’s delicious Cajun and Creole cuisine before it shut down a few years ago. Luckily for us, it has reinvented itself and reopened as Corner Kitchen, just off Hollywood Road. You can get your old Southern fare favourites like Gumbo with chicken, crab and prawns, smoked duck Jambalaya, cornbread muffins with honey butter and of course, the amazing pecan pie.
Where: Corner Kitchen, Ground Floor No. 21 – 23 New Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Price range: $625 per person, including free-flow soft drinks (BYOB with no corkage)
Contact: 2547 8008, [email protected], www.corner-kitchen.com
Think of Cuore as a special invitation to Chef Andrea Oschetti’s own Wong Chuk Hang flat, because that’s exactly what it is. Guests are welcomed into his home – a spacious, 2,500 square foot loft – where he prepares, cooks and serves a four-course, home-style Italian dinner (for a minimum of 10 people, maximum of 40). The atmosphere is cosy and beautiful, with large windows and an open feeling. The chef uses ingredients imported directly from Italy to achieve that home-cooked taste. Just choose from the options on his seasonal menu and he will take it from there. Keeping it exclusive, he only takes one reservation a night, three nights a week and only six months in a year.
Where: 20D Yally Industrial Building, 6 Yip Fat Street, Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong
Price range: $880 per person for dinner, excluding drinks
Contact: 6106 0044, [email protected], cuoreprivatechef.com
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Offering farm-to-table Chinese cuisine made with live seafood and organic ingredients, there is a charm to Yin Yang‘s chef’s choice of the day menus. So you don’t choose the food, just the number of courses and allow former designer and celebrity chef Margaret Xu Yuan to come up with something that’s sure to please. Since it is also a licensed restaurant, drinks and wines are available to order. Lunch is for a minimum of 2 people, dinner for a minimum of 6, and private dinner booking is available for a maximum of 30 indoors and an additional 14 outdoors. Children are welcome in this lovely beachside villa-turned-restaurant and those under eight can choose half the courses of the adult menu at half the price.
Where: House 117, Ting Kau Village, Tsuen Wan, New Territories, Hong Kong
Price range: $880 to $2,000 per adult, for 6 to 10 courses
Contact: 2866 0868, WhatsApp: 9784 2280, [email protected], www.yinyang.hk
Whether you’re organising a mama meet-up, baby shower, leaving-do or your child’s next birthday party, opt for something a little different and book in at GSpot by GSpotCookin! This private dining experience offers prep-n-eat options, as well as catering, cooking leagues and area rentals. With delicious food, plenty of space, a central location and impeccable interior design, it’s sure to be the perfect choice for your next occasion.
Where: 2/F, 35 Bonham Road, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong
Price range: Contact GSpot Cookin’ for details
Contact: 9039 4553, [email protected], www.gspotcookin.com
Pomegranate offers a large variety of Middle-Eastern fare and can accommodate parties of all sizes, going up to 140 people. Choose from the canape menu, ideal for a cocktail party, or the family-style menu for a more substantial meal. Different drinks packages are also available starting at $250 per person.
Where: 4B, Sing Tech Factory Building, 44 Wong Chuk Hang Road
Aberdeen, Hong Kong
Price range: Minimum spending of $12,000 for large parties
Contact: 2580 0663, 2580 0983, [email protected], www.pomegranate.com
Read more: The Flexible Chef: Meals Made Easy With Nealy Fischer
If you’re celebrating a really special occasion and need a place that can accommodate a lot of guests, look at what Culinart has to offer. A full-service catering company, led by Chef Stanley Wong, it has space for 40 seated guests or 60 standing (exclusive parties need a minimum of 15). Specialising in dishes that are a feast for the eyes, as well as the mouth, Culinart can offer something memorable for both your event and your Instagram feed.
Where: Culinart, 22B Kwai Bo Industrial Building, 40 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
Price range: $980 per person, $380 per child
Contact: 2580 0919, [email protected], www.culinart.com
A novel concept – part private kitchen and part art studio – Gitone has the option of adding on a 1.5-hour painting or ceramics workshop before dinner. If you just want to go there for the food though, you can choose from three set menus serving traditional Shanghainese food. Available for both lunch and dinner, you can take kids along who order from the daily lunch set menu. The place is fairly large and accommodates up to 50 people. You can order drinks from its wine list or pay corkage of $100 per wine bottle or $150 per champagne (or others) bottle.
Where: Gitone, G/F, Lei King Wan, 45 Tai Hong Street, Sai Wan Ho, Hong Kong
Price range: $588 to $988 per person
Contact: 2527 3448, [email protected], www.gitone.hk
This is another option for arty foodies. Dine Art is a 4,000 foot classy space made up of equal parts open kitchen and art gallery, where guests can enjoy a unique Italian dining experience while taking in the works on the walls by artists from around the globe including Australian painter Fred Williams and Chinese-French Artist Zao Wou Ki. Dine Art can take on anything from intimate dinners of 10 going up to 50 and more.
Where: Dine Art, 16th Floor, Room A, Kwai Bo Industrial Building, 40 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
Price range: $880 per person
Contact: 2805 8555, 9160 6252, [email protected], www.dinearthk.com
Read more: How To Introduce Your Children To Art
In the Sichuan dialect, Da Ping Huo signifies sharing. And that’s just what eating at this restaurant is all about. It started as a private kitchen close to 20 years back, headed by an artist couple who often entertain their guests by putting on a Chinese opera performance after the meal. If you are a fan of their Sichuan-inspired cooking, the art on display and the singing, you could consider opting for membership at the restaurant’s private kitchen. If eating there with a large group, consider booking the entire place (seats 46) for lunch or dinner. While there is no separate kids’ menu, the kitchen will be considerate and tone down the heat for the little ones.
Where: Da Ping Huo, Shop F & H, G/F, Garley Building, 53A Graham Street, Central, Hong Kong
Price range: A la carte for smaller parties, $30,000 minimum spending for the whole venue.
Contact: 2559 1317, [email protected], www.dapinghuo.com
Think of PlateCulture as a 21st Century social dining platform where guests can experience food from all over the world. It connects hosts and diners, and allows these amazing cooks to showcase their food in a private dining space. No matter your fancy – Korean, British, French, Thai, Mexican, Peruvian, Vietnamese, South African, Latvian, Indonesian, Chinese, Indian, Swedish, Polish, Romanian, Turkish, Spanish, Japanese and more – it has hosts from all over the globe. On top of authentic home-cooked food, the hosts are happy to share their experiences and culture with you while you dine. At PlateCulture, dining is more than just the food, it’s a unique experience. Chances are that you will only go in smaller and more intimate groups, depending on the host’s dining set-up.
If you’re someone who dreams of sharing your passion for cooking and want to meet new people over social dining, click here to become a PlateCulture host.
Where: All over the city!
Price range: Prices vary depending on the host
Visit here or search PlateCulture to download the app.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published on 16, August 2017 and updated by Anita Balagopalan on 24, July 2019
Featured image courtesy of Luis Monse via Unsplash, image 1 courtesy of Ta Pantry, image 2 courtesy of Corner Kitchen, image 3 courtesy of Cuore via Facebook, image 4 courtesy of Yin Yang via Facebook, image 5 courtesy of GSpot Cookin’, image 6 courtesy of Pomegranate via Facebook, image 7 courtesy of Culinart via Facebook, image 8 courtesy of Gitone, image 9 courtesy of Dine Art via Facebook, image 10 courtesy of Da Ping Huo, image 11 courtesy of Pille Riin Priske via Unsplash.
