It ‘s sometimes hard to believe how fast time goes but yes, we are here again at the cusp of yet another New Years Eve so it’s time for TLNHK to give our suggestions of the top 5 places to spend your night sipping top notch wines, awaiting the countdown and bringing in 2012.
Hong Kong is not short of great places with great wines lists but this year we want to give you the low-down on our favourite places that combine great wines and great views of our fair city so you can reflect on the year gone by whilst gazing upon our cityscape which is arguably the best in the world.
So to start we suggest the highest you can get and that has to be Ozone on the 118th floor of the Ritz Carlton hotel in West Kowloon. Ozone is actually the highest bar in the world and has stunning panoramic views of, well basically, the entire country.
Their wine list is long and expansive and drinkers who fancy a tipple of some of the fantastic selection of wines they have on offer will not be disappointed. Let’s hope for a clear night as the bar is so high up that when the weather is against you, all that can be seen is the inside of a cloud, rendering visibility to zero, but if it’s a clear night, expect to have the greatest view of our city that money can buy.
Dropping 69 floors and crossing the harbour we think you should give Café Gray in the Upper House Hotel a visit to bring in the New Year in style. Let sommelier Yvonne Cheung take you through their wildly diverse and extremely mouth-watering wine list and pick something fantastic as you look out over the harbour and Tsim Sha Tsui with 270 degree panoramic views of town.
Café Gray is a fully functional fine dining restaurant too so if a long dinner with great wines overlooking Hong Kong is what takes your fancy then this place has the best of everything for you New Years pleasure.
Swinging 7km westwards and dropping a further 17 floors (we are now on the 32nd floor for those of you not counting down!) TLNHK recommends Sugar at the East Hotel in Tai Koo Shing. With unparalleled views of the whole East Kowloon and the old airport run way, Sugar has an outdoor deck where you can sit and sip fine wines and champagnes in the open air.
Expect the usual Sugar madness with a white theme whilst the bartenders pour sublime wines, shake and make some of the best cocktails in town and, if you are up for it, they are also featuring an ice luge for those who prefer their spirits ice cold, straight up and in copious quantities.
If you have been in Hong Kong for more than 15 years then you’ll know there really is only one place to celebrate New Year’s Eve in true old-colonial style. That’s not to say that it’s a colonial-esque place but for many, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel is the place where New Years Eve was spent on a regular basis.
TLNHK suggests going to M Bar on the 25th floor of the hotel which offers stunning views of Central whilst you indulge in some of the finest wines and champagnes the city has to offer. M Bar may not have been there in the old days, but there’s something about the hotel which reminds us all of days gone by and, as New Years is a time of reflection, we can’t think of a more apt place in Central to spend your night of celebration.
Our last recommendation does not involve picking up the phone, making a reservation, searching for a taxi, worrying about what to wear or caring about which floor you are on and if you have a table by the window.
Get all your friends to grab a great bottle of wine and share in the New Year spirit together round the dinner table whilst indulging yourselves and getting merrier as the midnight hour draws near. What could be a better view than that of friends, family and loved ones all together in the same room celebrating the dawning of another year?
So whatever you do this New Year’s Eve, eat drink and be merry and have yourselves a very happy new year.
Ozone – 118th Floor, The Ritz Carlton Hotel, 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon. Tel: 2263-2263
Café Gray – 49th Floor, The Upper House Hotel, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty. Tel: 3968-1106
Sugar – 32nd Floor, The East Hotel, 29 Tai Koo Shing Road, Island East. Tel: 3968-3968
M Bar – 25th Floor, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 5 Connaught Road, Central. Tel: 2522-0111
Contributed by Alasdair Nicol, TLN Editor – Hong Kong
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