baggageinhall

I have never been to Hong Kong but will get to spend 12 hours there in a few weeks time. Arriving at 11.45 from BKK and then on the 23.59 to ZRH.

A couple of questions for the experts here:

1) Where should I go for lunch? I am looking for a really special Cantonese meal or somewhere that serves really authentic Peking Duck

(I assume that an 11.45 arrival means that I won't be in the city until 2pm.)

2) What should I go and see after lunch assuming I want to be back at the Wing First Class Lounge for dinner at 9pm?

I wish it could be longer, but it can't so am keen to eat well and see the one or two best sights that I can!

Thanks.

Jamoldo

There are lots of options for you to have lunch. Is it just you, or do you have anyone coming with you/friends in HK who would join? If so, I know there is a Chinese restaurant, which I have heard great things about on the Peak (literally in the shopping mall complex en route to the lookout on top of the building).

This would kill 2 birds with one stone. Get into Central, take a cab to the peak tram, take tram up, walk upto the vista (through the mall), stop for food at the place. Although I've never been, I'll warn you that it won't be cheap.

Tien Yi

Shop 206 & 306, Level 2&3
Telephone: 2907 3888
Opening Hours: 11:00am - 11:00pm
(Mon-Sat) &
10:00am - 11:00pm
(Sun & Public Holidays)

There's lots you can do after that. You can see Stanley and the soutide of the island, explore some wet markets, go up to Mongkok, shop, eat more... etc...

Edited to add: bolded text... whoops

thursday

Peking duck for lunch???? heavy.

The best peking duck can be found in Hong Kong. Much better than Quan ju de in Beijing which do leaner, smaller, less tastey ducks. And their sauce is just bland.

I would suggest the Jade Garden from Maxims group. The one in TST do all the famous dishes though Jade Garden is supposed to be Cantonese cuisine.

I usually have it at my friend's place in TST but they don't open for lunch so can't really recomend it for you.

rkkwan

There are so many great restaurants in Hong Kong, especially Cantonese ones.

I don't usually eat at fancy restaurants, but last time in HK, I had dim sum at this place in the ifc mall:

http://www.ifc.com.hk/english/restaurant.aspx?id=3101

Not cheap, but really really good Cantonese fare. It's connected to the Hong Kong Airport Express station, so you can get there from the airport in half an hour.

Jamoldo

While I have not had a proper Beijing Duck here in HK, I beg to differ on the use of Quanjude as the standard for comparison. While it certainly makes a pretty good duck, there are far better options, such as Liqun or smaller local restaurants in Beijing. I hear Da Dong is the best, but have yet to go and plan to the next time I'm in the Chinese capital.

baggageinhall

Many thanks for the recommendations!

Swiss Tony

I'd think your 2pm estimate for being in the city may be a bit pessimistic.

Flight lands at 11.45am (and I assume no bags checked) you may well be through customs by midday. Trains run every 12 minutes (and are just 100m away, none of the Heathrow nonsense) and take less than half an hour.

I'd reckon that there's a fair chance you'll be in town around 1pm.

baggageinhall

That's good to hear.

Bag situation : I will have one checked piece which I plan to leave at left luggage until I return to HKG in the evening.

As the Swiss flight to ZRH doesn't leave until midnight, I assume that I won't find a Swiss desk open at midday when I arrive?

I did think about taking the bag on the train and then checking it in at the station but this seems a little convoluted!

NewbieRunner

I was in HKG for 34 hours earlier this month. In late afternoon or early evening take the Star Ferry from Hong Kong island back to Kowloon, watch a Symphony of Lights performance at 8:00pm, take a cab to Kowloon station for Airport Express and you should be back at HKG shortly after 9:00pm.

It may seem convoluted but I think checking it in at the station on arrival is the best option. I was on the Airport Express platform at HKG before I knew (having purchased a return ticket at the currency exchange counter). Finding the left luggage place would have taken a lot longer!

rkkwan

You should be able to check through your luggage from BKK, despite being on separate airlines.

There is a manned luggage storage in the Arrivals Hall at HKG, and lockers are in the passage way between T1 and T2. Neither are hard to find.

You say "I", in singular. I think most Peking Duck place will require you to order the whole duck. [I mean, I have never seen Peking Duck offered in portions anywhere in the world.] And at most you can eat is half a bird, and not eating anything else.

baggageinhall

You are right. At one stage, it looked like two friends working in the region might have been able to join me but alas not.

I am veering towards Jamoldo's recommendation of Tien Yi at the moment, the view is pretty spectacular by all accounts.

kchika

I'm sorry but I couldn't stop myself from laughing

Swiss Tony

Does Swiss give you access to the CX lounge???

We flew back with LH and had to "tolerate" the UA IFL as there's not much from *A open at that time of night! When I first read the post I thought about suggesting you had your big meal as dinner in town, maybe having lunch at Stanley or something...

baggageinhall

Strangely enough they do. I had a look at the Swiss website and then rang them up to make sure it hadn't changed, but sure enough LX passengers are invited to use the The Wing rather than the Stained Carpet Club at HKG (though I assume that I could visit the RCC if I wanted to).

The plan was a big duck lunch then a small dinner in the lounge if my friends could show up - they can't so it will be a reasonable lunch followed by dinner in the lounge.

I am flying LHR-FRA-DEL in First and then rather than come home on LH, the vagaries of the BMI FF program allows me to fly DEL-BKK-HKG in C and F and then HKG-ZRH-LHR for the same miles + a small amount of money + the extra taxes.

Part of the rational was to try and meet up with the aforementioned friends. Sadly they now can't, I suppose the LH FCT, TG Royal First and Wing lounges will make up for the disappointment!