words katherine reedy

The Olympics are so close you can taste the excitement. And, thanks to cross-promotion, you can literally savour the moment as restaurants around Hong Kong offer special Olympic-themed menus and specials during the Games.

On August 8, AustCham invites anyone staying in Hong Kong during Beijing’s Olympic Opening Ceremony to join members of the Australian Olympic team currently training in HK to watch a live telecast of the ceremony at their Opening Ceremony Dinner. The buffet and barbecue will take place at the Grand Hyatt (1 Harbour Road, Wanchai, 2522 5054), where the athletes will dine and mingle with guests. Though AustCham has yet to finalize the menu, a spokesperson described the cuisine as classic Australian barbecue. Tickets cost $688 for AustCham members and $988 for non-members. The dinner starts at 7:00pm, and the Opening Ceremony kicks off at 8:08pm.

The Point Bar, Harbour Plaza Metropolis, (7/F, 7 Metropolis Drive, Hunghom, 3160 6888) offers another option for watching the Opening Ceremony broadcast live. While you’re there, take advantage of their 5 Colours Cocktails promotion (running from 3pm to 1am August 1-31), a collection of five fresh-fruit and liqueur cocktails – including fresh mango, cranberry juice, crème de cucrao, crème de melon, and crème de cassis liqueurs – mixed to represent each of the five Olympic colours. Cocktails are $60 each.

If you do go for the ceremony at The Point on the 8th, stop by Harbour Plaza’s Promenade Restaurant (7/F, 3160 6880) for dinner – for that night only, you will score a 50% discount on your order of any of the 5 Colours Cocktails and 12% off the Promenade’s $468 Olympic-themed dinner buffet. The buffet includes dishes named after previous host countries, including the ‘Tokyo 1964’ taco taco, the ‘Beijing 2008’ pork lychee roll (made with pork loin, veal stuffing, lychee and hoi sin orange sauce), the ‘Sydney 2000’ kangaroo kebab (kangaroo meat grilled with herbs, garlic, shallots, ginger and orange juice) and the Gold Medal pink grapefruit terrine. Over-the-top dessert items include the Olympic Torch, a chocolate torch base filled with fruit and chestnut mousse, propped up with an iced doughnut, and the French blood orange cake, decorated as an Olympic racetrack and torch and topped with confection cubes and chocolate. The buffet is open during August from 6:30pm to 10pm, Monday to Thursday.

For those who will watch the Olympic equestrian events live in Shatin, several hotels and restaurants around the stadium will be rolling out the red carpet for equine experts – and taking advantage of the sudden spotlight on the New Territories. Although the Royal Park Hotel (8 Pak Hok Ting Street, Shatin, 2601 2111), where the athletes will be staying, will temporarily close down its 2+2 Café, Chiu Chow Restaurant and One+One Bar for the athletes, its Royal Park Chinese Restaurant (L1, Royal Park Hotel, 2694 3939) and Sakurada Japanese Restaurant (L3, Royal Park Hotel, 2694 3810) will stay open for the public. The Chinese Restaurant will continue to serve its selection of such traditional Chinese dishes as goose liver garnished with goose meat rolls ($50), sautéed fillet of garoupa on crab roe ($68), explosive crab ($238) and crystal yellow croaker ($38). Sakurada, on the other hand, features an August noodle special of cold black noodles ($95), cold green tea noodles ($95), cold cuttlefish sauce noodles ($95) and homemade cold fish with sea urchin noodles ($150).

Immediately behind the Royal Park Hotel lies the New Town Plaza shopping mall (Shatin Centre Street, Shatin, 2697 9898), aglow with Chinese patriotism. In addition to the Equestrian Art exhibition and workshops there till August 13, several of the mall’s restaurants will honour China’s role in the Olympics with a ‘red-hot delicacy’ theme, featuring crimson foods, throughout August. The 12 restaurants taking part are Nam San Gok (Shop 507, L5, 2608 2172), Maxim’s Palace (Shop 801, L8, 2693 6918), Miam Café (Shop 166, L1, 2688 5282), Odeon Taiwanese Café (Shop A181-A182, L1, 2693 4828), LUCULUS Gourmet Shop (Shop 103,L1, 2367 1230), Cookietherapy (Shop 103A, L1), Café Merlion (Shop 127, L1, 2605 3636), Watami (Shop 657-661, L6, 3160 4121), Yummy (Shop A192, L1, 2607 0668), I-SCREAM Gelato (Shop 125, L1, 2681 2902), Oliver’s Super Sandwiches (Shop 126, L1, 2609 2911) and Saint’s Alp Teahouse (Shop A188-A189, L1, 2693 0638). Look out for delicacies like pork kimchi rice ($68) at Korean eatery Nam San Gok, strawberry desserts ($30) at Odeon Taiwanese Café and Italian cherry sorbet ($28 for one scoop) at I-SCREAM Gelato.

If watching the Games ignites your own appetite for competition, the ‘Gastronomic Olympics’ eating contest at The Langham Hotel’s Main St. Deli (8 Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, 2375 1133) should satisfy your desires. The rules are simple: From August 8 to 28, certain items on the restaurant’s a la carte menu – such as the blue ribbon beef burger (8oz for $138, 12oz for $178) and the Brooklyn salad ($138) – will be named ‘Winning Dishes’. Each time a customer orders a Winning Dish meal, he or she will receive a stamp in a personalized ‘Gold Medal passport’. The competitor with the most stamps wins a free night in the newly renovated Grand Langham Room with free access to The Langham Club.

If, on the other hand, the Games just make you want to sit back and watch others strain themselves, you will enjoy seeing the Hong Kong Chefs Association’s National Culinary Team competing for the first time since 1966 in this October’s Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany. They will be cooking for 110 people, against 34 other international teams. On August 5, the team will practice cooking their Olympic menu at the fourth and final trial, held at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (1 Expo Drive, Wanchai, 2582 8888). Guests will have the opportunity to taste the three-course meal and give feedback. Dishes include crab ‘Har Gau’ with scallops, taro and winter melon, five-spice pork tenderloin with braised pork cheeks and seasonal vegetables, and lychee and black tea cream with caramelized apple and mint parfait. The price is $300 for HKCA members and $420 for the public. Book in advance by emailing Rudolf.muller@disney.com. The meal starts at 7pm and only accommodates 120 guests.

Of course, the Olympics are not just about the competitive edge, they foster international cooperation and healthy living as well. Taking its cue from the Olympics’ focus on health and athleticism, the Norwegian Seafood Export Council’s Salmon Festival is marketing its product as a low in calories and high in Omega-3. For the festival, 10 fine restaurants from various ethnicities – the Indian Bombay Dreams, French Chez Patrick, Scandinavian FINDS, Western Frog Face Fish, Greek/Mediterranean Olive, Cantonese Regal Seafood Restaurant, Italian Tivo, Thai/Vietnamese Tru and Japanese Wasabisabi – will feature special salmon menus. Diners at these restaurants will be able to enter a lucky draw for prizes, such as a round-trip ticket to Norway or a dinner for two at FINDS. The promotion runs until August 22.

Equine Snacks

No restaurants or cafés will be found on the official premises of the Hong Kong Olympic Equestrian Venues in Shatin and Beas River according to the HK Equestrian 2008 organizers. Instead, they have arranged stalls offering cheap, affordable food for spectators at both venues. Snacks, including hot dogs, chips and ice creams, will cost $5-$10. Drinks such as soda, milk and beer will also be sold for $5-$10. As a main course, the stalls will serve cold cuts and vegetarian sandwiches and lunch boxes – featuring steamed pork and dried squid, and assorted vegetables in cream sauce, among others – running from $15-$28. Spectators are not allowed to bring outside food or beverages into the stadium.