No, I don't think I am wrong, and as a former pre Handover resident of Hong Kong my use of this route goes back a long way.

My interpretation of the OP's final paragraph was that they felt that there had been some change to the service standard which now meant they could not have a pre meal drink, with an unfavourable comparison to other airlines. That's not the case, in fact as hydro0001 has forensically illustrated it is in some ways easier to get that drink now, compared to previous incarnations of the service standard. My own views about this were not part of my answer - actually, I am not sure I actually have a view about this since I'm able to sleep very well in CW even when trolleys used to clatter down the aisles.

The point I was trying to make was that during day time services, which there used to be from HKG, there is a full bar service delivered to all Club passengers before and distinct from the main meal service. But to the best of my recollection this separate bar round has never been a feature of night services from HKG or anywhere else. However as I said, the cabin crew should always provide a drink before, during, after any meal at least on request or self serve via the Club Kitchen, all flight long, and long that flight certainly is. In short there hasn't been a cut back or service removal here, moreover the OP did receive their pre dinner drink. I did suggest, though, that running a full bar service to all passengers at midnight regardless wouldn't make sense or be popular since a lot of passengers would be wanting their food more quickly, compared to a day time flight, so they could sleep.

What may have gone wrong is the way the OP's cabin crew member handled the incident. If the approach was "you can't have a drink before the meal", that's definitely wrong - and didn't happen here, the drink was provided. If the approach was "no, we don't run a bar service before the main meal to all passengers" that would be correct, but the rejoiner should be "but what would you like to drink?". A better answer would have been just the rejoiner and nothing else. My suspicion is that the cabin crew actually remembered - perhaps checked with a colleague - the service standard between the initial encounter and the drink's delivery. And it is a bit complex in some of the details for 4 cabins for multiple times of the day and night.