bc magazine

Bar Leone Named World’s Best Bar…

At an event in Hong Kong, sponsored by the Hong Kong Tourist Board, “The World’s 50 Best Bars” this week announced Hong Kong’s Bar Leone as the World’s Best Bar in 2025.

Bar Leone is certainly a good bar – sadly now to be drowned in people wanting to say they’ve ‘drunk in the World’s Best Bar’! – but is it the World’s Best? Sadly, The World’s 50 Best Bars website doesn’t list any criteria to support the award.

What constitutes ‘best’ is apparently left to the judgment of 800 “drinks experts”. Each voter casts eight votes based on their best bar experiences of the previous 18 months, with a maximum of five bars in their own country. The list is the result of a simple vote count – no totals are released. No breakdown of where the ‘experts’ are from or how many are based in each country/region.

So congratulations to Bar Leone and the other bars on the list, but take the list with a large pinch of salt and get out and explore different bars to find those you enjoy.

Bar Leone
11-15 Bridges Street
Central
Hong Kong
Open: Tuesday-Sunday 17:00-late
No Reservations

images: The World’s 50 Best Bars

Bangladesh 3-4 Hong Kong

Raphaël Merkies completed his hat-trick in the 11th minute of added time to give Hong Kong all three points with a 4-3 victory over Bangladesh in the AFC Asian Cup qualification game in Dhaka.

Bangladesh v Hong Kong – AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers
Date: 8pm, 9 October, 2025
Venue: Bangladesh National Stadium, Dhaka

images: HKFA

The Law Protecting Fair Trials: An Obituary by Tim Hamlett

Readers may be fed up with me complaining about the erosion of the laws restricting the reporting of upcoming court cases. Well, some good news. The erosion has now reached the stage where there is nothing left. I shall not need to return to this topic again.

The law involved is rather unhelpfully labelled “strict liability contempt of court”. The “contempt of court” part means that your conduct is deemed to disturb the administration of justice. The “strict liability” bit indicates that the prosecution does not have to prove that you meant it, only that your publication could have affected the subsequent trial. Its purpose is to ensure that trials are fair….

Read Tim Hamlett’s full article here

King Gnu CEN+RAL Tour 2026 Officially Confirmed

King Gnu have confirmed they are bringing their CEN+RAL Tour to Hong Kong. The tour starts in February 2026, Hong Kong dates are yet to be confirmed.

Spurs Fan Park @ Central Harbourfront

As part of their preseason tour visit to Hong Kong, Tottenham Hotspur will host a fan park at the Central Harbourfront from 26-31 July, featuring a series of activities.

The six-day Spurs Fan Park will feature free football clinics, the opportunity to meet club legend Ledley King, access a range of official Club merchandise, compete in football challenges and win exclusive prizes, as well as a not-to-be-missed opportunity to see and take your picture with the UEFA Europa League trophy, creating lasting memories.

Saturday 26 July
Channel your Inner Spur Football Challenges / Games – 12pm – 8pm
Spurs Football Development Coaching Sessions – 12pm – 2pm & 3pm – 5pm
Spurs Retail Store – 12pm – 8pm

Sunday 27 July
Channel your Inner Spur Football Challenges / Games – 12pm – 8pm
Spurs Football Development Coaching Sessions – 12pm – 2pm & 3pm – 5pm & 6pm-8pm
Spurs Retail Store – 12pm – 8pm

Monday 28 July
Channel your Inner Spur Football Challenges / Games – 12pm – 8pm
Spurs Football Development Coaching Sessions – 12pm – 2pm & 3pm – 5pm & 6pm-8pm
Spurs Retail Store – 12pm – 8pm

Tuesday 29 July
Channel your Inner Spur Football Challenges / Games – 12pm – 8pm
Spurs Football Development Coaching Sessions – 12pm – 2pm & 3pm – 5pm
🏆 Get your photo with the UEFA Europa Trophy – 12pm – 4pm
Spurs Retail Store – 12pm – 8pm
Meet Chirpy & Lily our Club mascots – 12pm-2pm

Wednesday 30 July
Channel your Inner Spur Football Challenges / Games – 4pm – 8pm
Spurs Retail Store – 4pm – 8pm

Thursday 31 July (Matchday)
Channel your Inner Spur Football Challenges / Games – 12pm – 8pm
🏆 Get your photo with the UEFA Europa Trophy – 12pm – 4pm
Q&A with Club Legend Ledley King 1.30pm – 2pm
3×3 Exhibition Match – 2pm – 4pm
Spurs Retail Store – 12pm – 8pm
Meet Chirpy & Lily our Club mascots – 1pm – 4pm

Spurs Fan Park @ Central Harbourfront
Date: Noon-8pm, 26-31 July, 2025
Venue: Central Harbourfront
Tickets: Free

Tottenham Hotspurs v Arsenal
Date: 7:30pm, 31 July, 2025
Venue: Kai Tak Stadium
Tickets: tbc

images: Tottenham Hotspur

T10 Wipha in Mongkok

Normally, typhoons announce themselves in Hong Kong with heavy rain… Wipha arrived, almost exactly as the HK Observatory Storm Track predicted, but with barely a splash of liquid sunshine.

And even after the T10 signal was hoisted, Mongkok was breezy but dry until late afternoon when the walls of rain arrived and I retreated indoors for warm, tasty lai cha (HK-style milk tea).

Gotta keep my hair tidy even in a typhoon

Chapeau to all the restaurant and MTR staff who stayed open to feed and transport workers and tourists alike, offering shelter from the elements.

Cheese Wonder Pop-up Store @ Hysan Place

Popular Japanese dessert brand Cheese Wonder opened a pop-up store in Hysan Place today. The store is offering its signature frozen “No-bake Cheese Cake” and “Double Cheese Cream Sandwich Cookie” from now until 14 July.

The “No-bake Cheese Cake” features an almond biscuit base topped with a double layer of no-bake cheese mouse and cheese soufflé, which is then frozen. Interestingly, it’s almost like three desserts in one – eaten frozen, it’s a bit like cheese ice-cream; semi-thawed, the ice-cream consistency is still there but the moose has more structure; completely thawed, the flavours and textures are more obvious.

“Double Cheese Cream Sandwich Cookie” (box of 6, $182) is a double layer of creamy Hokkaido mascarpone and cheddar cheese wrapped in an almond biscuit base. These are not as nice as No-bake Cheese Cake, there’s too much almond biscuit base and it overpowers the cheese fillings.

The No-bake Cheese Cake (box of 6, $246) is imported fresh from Japan, and there are limited quantities each day. YaiChi founder Elmas Low suggests arriving before 2-3 pm to be certain… Alternatively, you can order online here and have them delivered directly to your home.

Cheese Wonder Pop-up Store @ Hysan Place
1/F Atrium, Hysan Place,
500 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay
Opening Hours: 11am-8pm

Hong Kong 1-0 India

A 93-minute Stefan Pereira penalty saw the red tide, which had engulfed the new Kai Tak Stadium, erupt in joyous celebration as Hong Kong beat India 1-0 in an AFC Asian Cup qualification game.

A record crowd of over 42,000 packed the stadium, creating an atmosphere quite unlike any previous Hong Kong football international. To celebrate the first football game in the new stadium, the HK Football Association arranged the city’s first-ever massive Tifo – the massive banner, covering three sections, screams “Hong Kong Team Kick Ass”.

Fan representative Chester, who helped coordinate the surprise, revealed on a radio program today that the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) masterminded the project.

“I cried multiple times last night,” Chester admitted. “First, when we raised the Tifo, then again during the players’ entrance video – something we’ve only seen in Premier League or J.League matches before.”

“You could really feel how much preparation went into making Kai Tak feel like home,” Chester added, describing the experience as “goosebump-inducing.”

Hong Kong v India – AFC Asian Cup
Date: 8pm, 10 June, 2025
Venue: Kai Tak Stadium
Tickets: $200, $80

images: HKFA