The best quirky restaurants and cafes in Hong Kong

It's no suprise that Hongkongers love anything Instagrammable, and Beer Beer Bear Pocha is a Korean restaurant that's full of quirky and Instagrammable decor. This colourful restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui is full of retro Y2K vibes with plenty of neon signs, quirky decor like faux arcade games, as well as kitschy stickers and posters. When it comes to their food, Beer Beer Bear Pocha is inspired by Korean pocha cars – streetside vendors that sell street food – and serves casual Korean food that's typically served alongside soju or beer. Aside from standard offerings like seafood kimchi pancakes or army-base stew, Beer Beer Bear Pocha also has indulgent mains like instant jjajangmyeon (black bean noodles) served with melted cheese, black truffle, and a sunny-side up egg; or sizzling pork belly slices with kimchi and melted cheese. 

Does the name sound familiar? Yep, this new resto-bar takes its name from the Hong Kong adult magazine, Lung Fu Pao. Located on Elgin Street, this hangout is a raunchy-themed yakitori-sushi restaurant and bar. Staying true to its namesake, the venue is peppered with racy images and sexual innuendos – from the series of bananas hanging by the entrance to its hentai-themed menu and toilet walls filled with porn magazine tear sheets.

Hara Cafe is an antique Japanese train-themed cafe located inside Anima Tokyo, Tsim Sha Tsui's biggest anime centre. This Instagrammable venue is decked out in Showa-era decor and perfectly recreates real-life carriages with decorative windows that show passing scenery, as well as railway carriages for customers to enjoy their meal privately. Here, you can try a wide selection of washoku (Japanese-Western) cuisine, such as bento sets, speciality sandwiches with fillings like thick-cut pork chops, as well as exquisite Japanese desserts. 

Venture to Tsim Sha Tsui to find Stella Kappo, a Japanese and Italian fusion restaurant that presents the best of both cuisines. While diners can sit at the indoor tables or by the chef’s counter, Stella Kappo also presents a gorgeous terrace where guests can enjoy their meals in transparent tents that look like igloos. When it comes to their fare, Steppa Kappo offers an eight-course dinner tasting meal (from $788) where guests will get to indulging in dishes like risotto with abalone; Anguilla eel with nduja; and A5 Wagyu with daikon and asparagus.

Nara’s popular yakiniku restaurant, Yakiniku Horumon Matchan, has opened its first overseas location in Hong Kong. Unlike other barbeque joints in town, this Japanese restaurant has beefy staff who’ll let you ogle at their sculpted physiques as they serve you food. What’s more, the restaurant offers free plates of meat to customers who can do a certain amount of consecutive pull-ups. If you’d rather not humiliate yourself, simply settle down and tuck into various cuts of premium meats such as thickly sliced beef tongue, Hokkaido pork belly, chicken cartilage, and assorted Wagyu beef platters.

Local cafe On The Hill Coffee Bar has recently opened a new location within Tai Kwun's E Hall, which used to be part of the former Victoria Prison. The cafe operates out of a former jail cell, and customers are free to grab a seat nearby, or wander around the cell block and admire the architecture. Aside from providing a range of standard coffees, On The Hill Coffee Bar also offers Thai Dirty, a combination of espresso with milk and condensed milk – making for a sweet and aromatic creation. The cafe is currently in their soft opening phase and only provides coffee and tea, but will soon provide pastries and other light bites.

Streetwear and coffee come together at Hong Kong’s all-new Bape Cafe. Located inside the clothing brand’s new store in Harbour City, the cafe is decked out with the brand’s iconic motifs, including its signature camouflage print in red, blue, and green at the multi-person dining area. Find sumptuous dishes here like the Bape burger, pepperoni pizza, and Japanese-style yakitori skewers.

Head to Causeway Bay to find Transformers: The Ark, the world's first restaurant themed around the franchise. This restaurant features plenty of Transformers-themed fast food items, such as burgers printed with Optimus Prime logos and an ‘Adventurist Meal’ featuring staple fast food sides that come in a nifty spaceship-shaped box. Customers can place orders and enjoy their meals in dining areas across two floors, and pick up Transformers merch – including official Transformers figurines and exclusive T-shirts and caps – at the souvenir shop on the first floor.

Breakfast at Tiffany's, anyone? Tiffany & Co.'s flagship store in Tsim Sha Tsui is home to Asia's first-ever Tiffany Blue Box Café. The café offers a selection of contemporary cuisine – including the popular afternoon tea set – as well as a display of the brand’s lifestyle products.

Aside from hosting various Asian vendors under one roof, Carnival by Food Fiesta in Taikoo Place also holds the first overseas location of the Japanese hotpot restaurant Kumachan Onsen, who are known for their signature adorable bear-themed hotpots. Enjoy seven different hotpot broths like soya and dashi, as well as a Hong Kong-exclusive mala broth. Kumachan Onsen's menu offers various meat and seafood sets to dunk into your hotpot broth, as well as a complementary assorted vegetable box and your choice of udon or rice.

Head back to 80s Hong Kong at Cafe Match Box. The restaurant manages to mix retro diner vibes and old cha chaan teng flavour without being too gaudy, allowing guests to have feel-good fun with every visit. You can take a seat in one of the Hong Kong minibus booths or the Formica tables while you dine on nostalgic favourites including French toast, baked rice, sizzling steaks and more. There's also outdoor seating, so you can bring your pups and pets with you, as well as a ping pong table and small tricycles for the little ones to entertain themselves with. 

Tucked away in Sha Tin is Yakiniku Tabeyo, a futuristic space-themed yakiniku restaurant. Here, customers can order their desired dishes from their phone, and have their items delivered to their table via spaceships on conveyor belts. Enjoy a variety of meats to grill at your table, or indulge in lavish combos like the Miyazaki Wagyu set, which consists of A5 Wagyu rib eye, A4 Wagyu short plate, and A4 Wagyu Chuck roll.

This Kwun Tong spot is exactly what every city needs – an indoor fishing shrimp farm. The Cube, as we’re dubbing it, is currently Hong Kong’s only indoor venue where you can fish for shrimps, lobsters, and all things crustacean, and then barbecue it straight afterwards. The restaurant provides everything from fishing rods to bait, so all you need to do is sit back and wait for your cooked meal to arrive. 

Elegant and unique, this artsy Causeway Bay eatery is the place to be for a celebration of the finer things in life. Enjoy framed replicas of the Dutch virtuoso’s best pieces, or just simply take in the restaurant’s vibrant, chic atmosphere. Diners can dig into the kitchen’s gourmet Italian menu with steaks, pasta, homemade desserts, and more. The dishes here are so beautiful (and tasty) that you’d think Van Gogh designed them himself.