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beer beer bear
Photograph: Cherry Chan

Quirky restaurants and cafes to visit in Hong Kong

These venues certainly stand out from the crowd

Cherry Chan
Written by
Time Out Hong Kong
&
Cherry Chan
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For a city that's filled with so many serious foodies and numerous Michelin-starred restaurants, Hong Kong is, weirdly enough, a huge fan of quirky, unusual concepts when it comes to dining – just the number of pet cafés and cartoon themed eateries all over town should give you a fair warning. Here are just some of our favourite ones.

RECOMMENDED: Get ready to wrap up the year with the best New Year's Eve dinners in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s quirkiest-themed restaurants

  • Restaurants
  • Korean
  • Tsim Sha Tsui

It's no suprise that Hongkongers love anything Instagrammable, and Beer Beer Bear 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 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 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. 

 

  • Restaurants
  • Central

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.

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  • Restaurants
  • Fusion
  • Tsim Sha Tsui

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.

  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • Central

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.

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  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • Tsim Sha Tsui

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.

  • Restaurants
  • Fast food outlets
  • Causeway Bay

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.

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  • Restaurants
  • Soho

After opening their first venue in Tsim Sha Tsui with a monochrome blue design, Monmono opens another location in Central that's also monochrome but in a vibrant shade of yellow instead. Every corner of Monmono is yellow, from its cutlery and furniture to the displayed artworks created by local illustrator Loszehaha. Here, you can dig into a wide array of Mediterranean and Spanish dishes that are perfect for sharing with a table full of friends.

  • Restaurants
  • Tsim Sha Tsui

If you'd prefer to have a drink in Tsim Sha Tsui while avoiding the hustle and bustle of Knutsford Terrace, head to Base 2 Bar & Restaurant. Unlike other drinking spots in the area, this restobar has a cool and futuristic design throughout their venue. In particular, their second floor has a giant LED screen that displays mesmerising visuals like retro video games and colourful galaxies. Here, you can find a selection of bites that are great for sharing like their special lobster fried rice or prawn carpaccio; a select range of mocktails and cocktails, as well as shisha flavours that can be combined for a bespoke blend. 




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  • Restaurants
  • Food court
  • Taikoo Shing

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.

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  • Restaurants
  • Causeway Bay

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. 

  • Restaurants
  • Chinese
  • Mong Kok

While Mong Kok is home to plenty of street food stalls, Bite by Bite is a new snack and dessert eatery in the area that offers elevated street food classics and Chinese desserts. Passionate about combining traditional flavours with modern food presentation techniques, Bite by Bite’s innovative offerings include fish ball skewers served with masala curry and paratha, eggettes served on a painter’s palette that you can dip into various sauces, and giant souffle pancakes served on a skillet pan. Indulge in Chinese desserts like sweet sesame soup served with iced tofu or tofu fa piled high with various toppings like barley, mochi, and fried bean curd skins.

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  • Restaurants
  • Japanese
  • Sha Tin

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.

  • Things to do
  • San Po Kong

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. 

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  • Restaurants
  • Italian
  • Causeway Bay
  • price 2 of 4

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.

On the lookout for all things weird and wonderful?

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