Airport Seafood
If you are a big fan of sea urchin and abalone, try the all-you-can-eat dinner at Airport Izakaya in the Regal Airport Hotel (9 Cheong Tat Road, HK International Airport, 2286 6668) with its new menu of Japanese delicacies on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The dinner runs from 6-10pm and will set you back $358 per adult and $238 for a child. From now to October, you can enjoy an extra dish of abalone with homemade sauce and sea urchin sushi. Other dishes include fresh abalone congee, chilled bean curd with sea urchin, and abalone with minced pork and radish in a homemade sauce. The restaurant is open daily from 11:30am-3pm, 6-11pm.

Indoor Grilling
The word ‘grilling’ may summon up memories of all that is unhealthy and smoky, but at the newly opened Mitake Yakiniku (G1019, Kam Sing Mansion, Stage 10, Taikoo Shing, 2513 8886) grilling comes Japanese-style – healthy, and smokeless. Some of the fresh ingredients for you to barbeque include US beef rib finger, Australian corn-fed Wagyu beef, Korean scallops, Japanese black pork and Miyazaki beef. Try Hokkaido Wagyu tataki ($128) with Japanese A5 raw beef, sesame, egg, pine nuts and pear strips and Hokkaido crabmeat and lobster and abalone kamameshi ($118) served with chicken soup. And for something quite different, Mitake also offers two unique barbeque foods – beef short plate ($78), which is the muscle near the cow’s diaphragm, and beef short rib in yoghurt dip ($88). Homemade sauce and seasonings include barbecue, fresh lemon and spicy bean juice, rock salt, lemon and pomelo salt. Side dishes such as leek, lettuce, egg and Japanese spring egg ($6 each) complement the grilled meat. Mitake Yakiniku is open daily 11:30am-3pm, 6-11:30pm.

Dessert Artistry
When the hot weather leads to the desire for dessert, go to epoch coffee bar and desserterie (12-14 Wing Fung Street, Star Street Precinct, 3525 1570) where a collection of desserts and pastries designed by Etienne Irazoqui, former head pastry chef of Sketch in London, has been newly launched. Favourite and special dishes are red red wine soup ($68), a traditional Italian dessert made with strawberry pieces in red wine and spices, deconstructed apple pie ($68) served cold with sliced green apple spiced with cinnamon on an almond sable dough biscuit as the base. If you are addicted to chocolate, go for the seven-layered Valrhona chocolate cake ($30) with a special pu’er tea éclair ($22) filled with chocolate and pu’er tea cream topped by roasted tea leaves. epoch is open 7:30am-12am daily.

Classic Italian
Newly opened Peccato (37 Elgin Street, Soho, Central, 2525 0919) brings the classic flavours of northern Italy to Soho. The ambience is true Italian – warm and comfortable. Recommended appetizers are beef carpaccio with Parmesan, capers, rocket lettuce salad and truffle oil ($105) and bruschetta with tomatoes, sweet clams and white bean puree ($72). Go for lamb rack scottadita, spicy eggplant, roasted potatoes and mint yoghurt ($235) or scampi spaghetti with white wine, garlic and parsley ($180) as the main course. Or try the eight-hour osso buco with wild mushroom and truffled risotto ($198). Opening hours are Sunday-Thursday 12-3pm, 6-10:30pm, Friday-Saturday 2-3pm, 6-11pm.

New Town, New Eats
After the complete renovation of the New Town Plaza in Shatin, the shopping centre has become a hot spot in the New Territories, with large screens broadcasting the latest in fashion shows and news, where people mostly hang out waiting for friends – at the escalator. The levels are individually themed and visiting them all will give a dedicated but weary shopper a good appetite – level 1 is where the food is. But don’t expect to find the usual chains and fast-food joints – theme restaurants have taken their place and are proving hugely popular: get there early or be prepared to queue for up to an hour.

iThai (Shop 122 and 123, 1/F, New Town Plaza 1, Shatin, 2693 3128) serves refreshing Thai and Vietnamese cuisine in a contemporary décor mostly in gold. It is open plan, so you can watch the chef preparing over 20 different Thai salads, such as soft shell crab with spicy papaya salad and dried shrimps ($68) and mango and prawn with vermicelli salad ($55). But those who need a more substantial meal could try river king prawns with orange sauce ($88), oxtail stew Vietnamese style ($72) or fried curry crab Singaporean style ($180 up with additional curry sauce for $30). iThai is open daily 11:30am-midnight.

Organic doesn’t necessarily mean flat and tasteless. Parkview (Shop 117, 1/F, New Town Plaza 1, Shatin, 2699 0428) specializes in healthy food made with organic ingredients and low fat and salt cooking methods. Recommended dishes include organic tofu, tomato with sesame sauce ($36), organic cucumber, avocado and poached chicken breast ($42), steamed sole fillet with spinach and pumpkin ($96) and soufflé with fresh orange and yoghurt ($38). You can enjoy any of these and more daily from 11am-11pm.

You and your friends agree on pizza, but where will you go? You could try the first Shakey’s Pizza (Shop 121, 1/F, New Town Plaza 1, Shatin, 2608 0889) in Hong Kong for a US-style Italian dish. Watch the chef’s every move in the open-plan eatery and perhaps pick up a few ideas to try at home. Shakey’s is a well-known pizza chain in the US, and has launched dishes like Shakey’s famous chicken ($32 /two pieces, $42 /three pieces), pork baby back rib ($88), crab cannelloni ($72) and their Margherita pizza ($68 for 9”, $98 for 12”). Try the thin and crusty pizzas from 11am-11pm.

Wandering Around Tin Hau
At Bon Bon Café (Shop A2-A3, G/F, 96 Electric Road, Tin Hau, 2525 2523) it is easy to sit back and relax over a cup of coffee and an Italian dish or two. But if it is close to your lunch hour try the café’s newly launched three-course set lunch of the day ($45-$88) from 11am-3pm. Later in the day, go for the new tea sets between 3pm and 6pm with enticements such as chicken and cucumber sandwiches with mint ($28), mix seafood mini pizza with pasta ($40) and savoury pancakes ($36). Add $10 for a cup of coffee or tea or $15 for other drinks. The café offers homemade desserts such as apple crumble and mixed berries ($38) and French meringue ($38) or you can order your own by calling in advance. It is open daily 11-12am.

A feature of Happy Valley for three years, Yakitoritei (G/F, 10 Tsing Fung Street, Tin Hau, 2566 9982) has now opened a new outlet in Tin Hau. It is in the style of bars in Japan where diners can drink sake or beer with barbecued foods and watch the chef at work in the open-plan kitchen. A variety of grilled seafoods, vegetables and meat with Hakata salt are served but special to the restaurant are Toro ($80), swordfish ($29), gingko nuts ($16), Japanese dango ($13), chicken skin ($18) and stuffed chicken with goose liver ($50). A vegetable salad comes free as an appetizer. Look out also for the beer and wine promotion of the day on the blackboard. To celebrate the new opening, all diners are allowed free membership of Yakitoritei with a 20% discount. Open daily 6pm-2:30am.

Get Out For Lunch
Taking time off for a great lunch on a busy day can be both a necessity and a little treat. California (G/F, California Tower, 30-32 D’Aguilar Street, LKF, 2521 1345) has launched a three-course set lunch menu ($98-$128) on weekdays. The menu includes French onion soup, tea or coffee and an appetizer of either California potato salad or a mixed green salad. Main courses are a choice between smoked salmon sandwiches, tiger prawn linguine (Alfredo) and grilled Australian rib-eye steak. You can enjoy a free caramel banana cake on Wednesdays. Open Monday-Thursday 12pm-1am, Friday-Saturday 12pm-4am, Sunday 6pm till late.

In the mood for a buffet lunch? Azure Restaurant & Bar (29/F and 30/F, Hotel LKF, 33 Wyndham Street, LKF, 3518 9330) offers a new lunch menu with buffets of appetizers and desserts for $198. The soup of the day, fresh salads and a cheese platter are included. Add $20 and you can choose a main course from a vegetarian selection, succulent sandwiches or an assortment of beef, game and poultry and fish of the day. Azure is open Sunday-Wednesday 7-1am, Thursday-Saturday 7-3am.

Crab Autumn
Autumn is a good time for crab lovers. If you want to try a variety of crab dishes, the dinner buffet at The Spice Market (3/F, Prince, Harbour City, TST, 2113 6046) is the place to go. From now till the end of October, 6:30-9:30pm, numerous crab dishes such as Thai-style hotpot with options of flower crab, Alaska crab and blue swimmer crab. Or offerings like potato and Alaska crabmeat tossed in curry mayonnaise, steamed egg white with crabmeat in Chinese wine, and wok-fried flower crab with ginger and spring onion. You can also enjoy two added-value crab dishes: baked blue swimmer crab bisque wrapped in puff pastry and Alaska king crab soufflé. The buffet is priced at $278 for adults and $178 for children from Sunday to Thursday and $308 for adults, $198 for children on Friday, Saturday and public holidays. The Spice Market is open daily 6am-midnight.

Oceanna (Shop 1204, 12/F, Food Forum, Times Square, Causeway Bay, 2506 3282) has a crab promotion featuring different varieties of crab from the USA, Australia and France. In September, the spotlight will be on the Australian mud crab in a four-course set menu for two with soup, an appetizer, a main course and dessert ($560 for two). While the French edible crab is the menu nighlight in October. The doors are open daily from 12-3pm and 6pm-12am.