International Chef Chris Mark - who recently served as the head executive chef at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo—has arrived in Hong Kong. His first job was to design a new spring menu for Bizou Bistro & Wine Bar (49 Elgin Street, Soho, Central, 2147 0100). Adding dishes such as maple glazed pork belly ($158), beef rump steak ($178), rice paper rolls ($78), and my favourite—the Kaffir lime crème brulee ($58) to a menu already featuring rotisserie-cooked poultry, meats and vegetables. The half-open kitchen—featuring a custom-built rotisserie directly imported from France—also dishes out chestnut soup, rocket salad, toasted bread, grilled manouri and more. Couples looking for a romantic night out can try the cosy, candle-filled courtyard located in the back of the restaurant. Regular customers will be rewarded, as Bizou is part of the Dining Concepts Frequent Diner Program, with rewards ranging from dinner vouchers to spa treatments! A night of dinner followed by the spa? That’s relaxation you usually can’t find in the hectic world of Hong Kong.

Located next to the Whampoa Dockyard in Hung Hom, Jewel Restaurant (G5 Site 4, Whampoa Garden, Hunghom, 2186 6918) is one of the few places in Hong Kong where you can find true traditional Beijing cuisine. With a chef hailing directly from Beijing, imported tea, and handmade noodles, it’s as close to Beijing as you can get without actually travelling to the Mainland. Start with an appetizer—sea blubber with Chinese aged black vinegar ($68) or the healthy ginseng pigeon soup. The jewel air-dried pork sausage ($68) is thinly sliced and crunchy, a specialty in Beijing. The Chinese spinach pork meatball with vegetable consommé ($48) is stuffed with flavours. My personal favourite is the marinated beef tendon ($55). It’s not just my favourite though, superstars Faye Wong and Carina Lau have stopped by for it, because according to restaurant manager Betty: “You can’t find Beijing food this traditional anywhere else.”

If you’re just looking for sweets, look no further than the Tiffin dessert buffet at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong (1 Harbour Road, 2588 1234). Every American dessert imaginable, coffee cake with streusel topping, carrot walnut cake, apple tart, chocolate sun dried cherries pudding, warm mango and banana pie, milk chocolate sponge cake with whiskey butter cream, Reese’s peanut ice cream, coca cola sherbet, and toasted marshmallows. Now as if plain dessert isn’t enough, you have dessert made to look like regular food—banana hot dogs with fudge, and chocolate nachos…We don’t even know what that is, but it sounds good. The buffet, 6pm-close, is $180 from Sunday to Thursday, and $198 on Friday and Saturday.

Any New Yorkers in the area? Craving traditional pizza straight from the NYC? Famiglia (HK Airport) just opened a store at the HK Airport. Their true-to-home New York pizza with thin, crispy slices are so wide, you’ll have to fold it to eat it - like the Yankees do. What started out as a local pizza place at New York’s Upper Westside in Manhattan has spread all over the United States and Mexico, eventually becoming the official pizza of the Major League Baseball team New York Yankees. NYC represent!

Over at Café Marco (1/F, Harbour City, TST, 2113 3912), they are having a South East Asian Highlights buffet with more than 70 different Malay, Indonesian, and Singaporean choices. Singaporean spring rolls, Indonesian chicken soup, soto ayam, duck breast with plum sauce, and the sambal pineapple chicken salad are all available to satisfy your South East cravings. Of course there will be desserts, from lapis tapioca to bika ambon to the good old fashioned layered cake. On the weekends, the buffet is $338 for adults and $238 for children, if you go on a weekday (Mon to Thurs), you’ll save some dough as the prices drop to $298 and $198 for adults and children, respectively.

Walking along the Knutsford Terrace steps, you will come across a vast variety of choices. Located right at the top of the Knutsford steps, Skewer Skewer (2/F Knutsford Steps, 1 Kimberley Road, TST, 3167 7388) has a new special, 30% off all a la carte menu items after 9:30 pm on Sunday to Thurs. The menu includes roasted Norwegian salmon belly, served with lime on the side, crispy on the outside, warm fish on the inside ($58), king prawn in garlic butter sauce ($138), sautéed beef dice ($98), and the four season sushi ($98), a mix of sashimi, served in a cup.

Those of you that likes to mix and match to suit your taste, Wildfire (2, G/F, Carlton Building, 2-3 Knutsford Terrace, TST, 3690 1598) is offering a “build your own pizza” deal. For $125, you get your choice of three toppings to go with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Just in time for the season, the spring a la carte menu debuts at Spoon (18 Salisbury Road, Kowloon, 2721 1211) offers “the sexy spoon” a set dinner with either six courses ($788) or eight courses ($988) with the menu specially designed by the chef. To order courses by itself, the signature dishes are the pan-seared red tuna w/ satay sauce and spoon style vegetables ($335), wagyu striploin, stuffed potatoes ($525), steamed duck foie gras, chutney of pears and herb salad ($285), and the artisan shell pasta w/ black truffle condiment ($205).

Further down Salisbury Road, a patio seafood buffet is happening at the Patio Coffee Shop (22 Salisbury Road, TST, 2734 6690). Items such as Alaskan king crab legs, chilli crab and stir fried lobster, jumbo tiger prawn, seafood skewer and sea bass. The buffet is $328 per person on Fridays and Saturdays and $308 per head on all other days.

The name may sound a bit awkward, but the “Healthy & Tasty Nuts” late night dessert menu at the Regala Café and Dessert Bar (71 Mody Road, TST, 2722 1818) sure taste good, and they actually live up to the claim of being healthy. Most of the desserts are designed to be health-conscious, the pistachio & raspberry mille feuille provides protein, minerals, vitamins B, C and E. The walnut ganache is rich in fiber and antioxidants. Desserts that are actually healthy? What a novel concept.

Still going strong after fifteen years is El Cid Spanish Restaurant (G/F New Knutsford, 14 Knutsford Terrace, TST, 2312 1898) and they will be celebrating the anniversary with a different theme each week. March 16-23 will be Tapes week, you will be able to enjoy the original tapas menu from fifteen years ago. Paella week follows on the 24-30, you’ll get a free half-liter of Sangria with any order of paellas. The chefs will have specially designed courses for the week of March 31- April 6. Then finally, finishing up the anniversary month will be Spanish dessert week from April 7-15.

IThe Yuu Japanese Dining (4/F, Prosperous Centre, 1 Knutsford Terrace, TST, 2366 2999) has recently opened for business. The speciality of the restaurant is the kushi yaki - skewered and grilled fresh on your order. You can get anything from grilled ox tongue, grilled prawn roll, lamb chop, mushrooms, and even duck tongue. For something different, the edo style omelette ($38) puts an interesting twist to the everyday omelette. The yuu soba—Japanese noodles made from buckwheat flour, is another specialized dish.