Chinese New Year Eating Out Guide

intercontinental-hong-kong-chinese-restaurant-new-year-pudding
Chinese New Year Pudding at Yan Toh Heen, the fine-dining Chinese restaurant at the InterContinental Hong Kong on the Kowloon Peninsula.

Lunar New Year Reunions

The Lunar New Year is the most important holiday of the year in Chinese culture, and family reunions – often held at classy restaurants – are an important part of the festival. Take a look at what eateries in Hong Kong and other Asian cities have on the menu.

Traditionally, Chinese New Year was a two-week festival, culminating with the Lantern Festival, which took place on the 15th day of the new year.

By custom, family reunions were held on Chinese New Year’s Eve, which falls Monday 4 February in 2019.

Because there is a massive fireworks on the second day of Chinese New Year in Hong Kong (Wednesday 7 February in 2019), many Chinese restaurants in the territory serve special menus on that evening to tie in with the spectacle.

But Chinese New Year banquets do not need to be held on New Year’s Eve or the night of the fireworks.

Some restaurants start serving special menus as early as late January and some continue serving them through the end of February.

Fish, dumplings, rice cakes, and fruit all represent wealth and prosperity in Chinese culture so they usually figure prominently on Lunar New Year menus.

Rice cakes in particular can represent a higher position or status. Sweet Rice Balls are eaten for family togetherness, and noodles are eaten for longevity.

Lettuce, dried oysters, and pomelos are particularly popular at Chinese New Year in Hong Kong and neighboring Guangdong province as they represent prosperity. This is because their names are homonyms with auspicious words in Cantonese.

Something to be avoided at Chinese New Year is congee, or rice gruel, as it is considered a poor man’s dish.

Meat should also be avoided at breakfast on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Year of the Pig

Piggie-edition-yusheng-symbolizing-good-fortune
Special Edition Piggie Yusheng is served at Jade, the fine-dining Chinese restaurant at the Fullerton Hotel Singapore. The pig is fashioned from pink beetroot radish. Other ingredients on the platter include white radish, cucumber, carrots, capsicum, and Chinese parsley. The dish is served with house-made Champagne Jelly with edible gold leaf, symbolizing wealth,. It is paired with a signature sweet and tangy Honey Pineapple sauce. Pineapple is pronounced “ong lai” in one of the Chinese dialects spoken in Singapore, translateing as “prosperity has arrived” in English. The dish is available a la carte and comes with salmon. As part of the Grand Fullerton Golden Feast set menu (minimum 10 people), it comes with abalone, lobster, and salmon. Must be ordered two days in advance.

The Pig is the 12th and final animal in the Chinese Zodiac, completing the zodiac’s 12 year cycle.

Roast suckling pig is often served at Chinese New Year feasts, and many chefs will show off their culinary skills by creating dishes in the form of pigs during the festive season this year.

Some Western-style restaurants, in fact, will also try to cash in on the Chinese zodiac by serving pork dishes at the beginning of the Year of the Pig.

Chicken dishes were, in fact, served by a few Western restaurants at the beginning of the Year of the Rooster in 2017 and lamb dishes at the beginning of the Year of the Sheep in 2015.

But this practice can only be taken so far. Imagine the uproar that would have arisen if any restaurant followed suit at the beginning of the current year, which is the Year of the Dog!

Chinese Zodiac Demystified>>

Festive Chinese New Year Dinner Menus

chinese new year dinner set menu at crystal palace restasurant
Crystal Palace is the fine-dining Chinese restaurant at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel. The elegant eatery offers a lavish eight-course Chinese New Year menu.
Chinese New Year Dinner at Jia Chinese restaurant at Nuo Hotel Beijing
Jia, the signature Chinese restaurant at the Nuo Beijing Hotel in Beijing, China, offers three set menus for eight to 10 diners during the Chinese New Year period. Featured dishes include roast suckling pig, poon choi, abalone, and other Cantonese favourites.
Chinese New Year Buffet at Renaissance Cafe in Hong Kong
Cafe Renaissance at the Renaissance Harbour View Hotel Hong Kong offers a Prosperous Chinese New Year Dinner Buffet. Featured dishes include Lo-Hei Salmon Sashimi Salad,  Braised Abalone, Black Mushroom and Sea Cucumber in Oyster Sauce, Chinese New Year Cold Platter, Wok-Fried Prawn with Salted Egg Yolk, Crispy Pork Knuckle and more.
chinese new year set menu at world of color restaurant
World of Color, one of three food and beverage outlets at Disney Explorers Lodge, serves a four-course Golden House set menu.
chinese new year thai set menu
Main Street Corner Cafe at Hong Kong Disneyland serves a Chinese New Year set featuring seafood noodles and satay.
Japanese pork cutlet set meal at Corner Cafe at Hong Kong Disneyland
A Japanese pork cutlet set meal is available at the Corner Cafe at Hong Kong Disneyland.
chinese set meal at hong kong disneyland
Chinese style set meal at the Corner Cafe at Hong Kong Disneyland.

Most Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong and other cities in Asia offer special Chinese New Year menus during the Chinese New Year period.

These include mutli-course set menus, which are served at the table course-by-course and lavish all-you-can eat buffets.

Some Chinese restaurants start serving these special Chinese New Year menus in late January. Some serve them until the end of February. And some serve them only for the first four to seven days of the new year.

Nearly all Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong with views of Victoria Harbour will serve special menus on the second evening of the Chinese New Year, which falls on Wednesday 6 February this year.

Poon Choi – a New Territories Favourite

deluxe-oon-choi-at-renaissance-harbour-view-hong-kong-hotel-dynasty-restaurant
Dynasty, the fine-dining Chinese restaurant at the Renaissance Harbour View Hotel Hong Kong, serves Deluxe Poon Choi with whole fish maw, whole abalone, whole dried scallops, sea cucumbers, Chinese mushrooms, dried oysters, prawns, roasted goose, sea moss, poached chicken, goose webs, “fortune” turnips, and much, much  more!
chinese-new-year-mini-pot-at-hollywood-and-dine
Resembling poon choi, a Chinese New Year Mini Treasure Pot is served at at Hollywood and Dine, one of three food and beverage outlets at Disneyland Hollywood Hotel.

Often associated with the early settlers of Hong Kong’s New Territories, Poon Choi is a favoured dish at the Lunar New Year, other Chinese festivals, weddings, birthdays, and other festive occasions.

Poon choi is, in fact, now served at Chinese restaurants throughout Greater China.

Poon Choi consists mostly of “expensive” ingredients such as meat, poultry, seafood, dried mushrooms, fish balls, ginseng, shark fin, and other delicacies.

If poon choi is short on vegetables, that is because to the farmers in rural Hong Kong that served it, vegetables were nothing special (they toiled, after all, in the fields growing them), and therefore not worthy of being served to honoured guests.

While fine-dining restaurants tend to dress poon choi up a bit, serving it in classy porcelain platters, poon choi is traditionally served in bamboo or wooden containers.

traditionjal poon choi served in wooden basked at dynasty 8 chinese restaurant in macau
Unlike most fine-dining Chinese restaurants, Dynasty 8 at the Conrad Macao Cotai Central in Macau serves a classic Poon Choi suitable for four to six diners in a traditional wooden container. Including  prawns, six-head abalone, conpoy, dried oysters, goose web, and fish maw rolls, it can be ordered as a festive takeaway to be shared at home with family and friends.

I was once invited to a village festival in the New Territories, and if truth be told, the Poon Choi (which I was being confronted with for the first time) did NOT look very appetizing.

Needless to say, I was reluctant to try it, but cultural differences came to the rescue. When I politely declined, the person sitting next to me thought I was being polite.

In traditional Chinese culture, you see, it is considered good manners not to appear greedy and scramble after the choicest tidbits on the table. So if you show reluctance, it can be (mis)interpreted as a sign of “not being selfish”.

“It’s okay!” the person next to me said enthusiastically. “Take some!”

I did, and OMG!!! It was one of the most delicious things I have ever sunk my teeth into.

Fish – a Sign of Prosperity

stir-fried-sliced-red-grouper
Prosperity Stir-fried Sliced Red Grouper is served at Jade in Singapore. According to tradition, it should be served with the head and fish on. But Chef Leong Chee Yeng breaks with tradition by slicing the body into filets and stir-frying them in a tangy, spicy Vietnamese sauce laced with calamsi juice. What I like most is that the bones have been removed!
deep-fried-Chilean-seabass-with-Hawthorn-sauce
A reinterpretation of a Songzi Yu, or pine nut fish, Full of Luck Deep-fried Chilean Seabass with Hawthorn Sauce is scored criss-cross fashion and deep-fried in a hot oil until golden brown. It is then paired with a sweet and sour sauce composing hawthorn, rock sugar, vinegar, tomato ketchup, and chilli sauce and sprinkled with pine nuts.

In the Chinese language, the character for fish is a homonym for the character for surplus, which can also be interpreted as abundance.

Both characters are pronounced “yu” in the Mandarin (or official) Chinese dialect and in many regional Chinese dialects, as well.

As a result, fish have come to symbolize an abundance of something – wealth? Health? Male offspring?

Most Cantonese chefs steam grouper, and despite the fact that most Chinese diners seem to like it prepared this way, I personally don’t care for it – and most of my Western friends agree with me.

What I don’t like is that the surplus (or should I say “abundance”?) of bones makes the fish difficult (and not very enjoyable)  to eat.

When it comes to Pinenut Fish, however, it was love at first bite. I first had it at a restaurant in the Chinese city of Xi’an, of terra cotta warriors fame.

I saw the dish on practically every table – it was obviously very popular with locals. I insisted to trying it, and I – and everyone else at my table – absolutely loved it.

Lo Hei

traditional-lo-hei-at-studio-lounge
Studio Lounge at Disney’s Hollywood Hotel serves a traditional Cantonese Lo Hei at Chinese New Year.
Tao Li Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong serves traditional Lo Hei with salmon sashima and abalone
Tao Li, the fine dining Chinese restaurant at the New World Millennium Hong Kong Hotel, serves Lo Hei, which is prepared with sliced salmon sashimi, shredded abalone, and a variety of condiments such as pickled and shredded ginger, pickled shallots, and coriander.

The Cantonese expression lo hei, which means “to toss”, sounds like “doing well”. By extension, it symbolizes good fortune.

The festive dish usually consists of  raw fish slices, mixed fruit,  and vegetables, all of which are arranged on a platter or serving dish.

Dinners gather around the plate and toss to ingredients into the air, creating a salad.

Special Dishes

Chinese New Year Platter at Studio Lounge in Hong Kong
Studio Lounge at Disney’s Hollywood Hotel serves a Chinese New Year Platter.

Chinese New Year dish at Ming Court restaurant in Kowloon

Whole Abalone with Fish Maw, Sea Cucumber, Shiitake Mushroom, Dried Oyster, Conpoy, and Lettuce Braised in Clay Pot is a featured dish at Ming Court, the fine-dining Chinese restaurant at Cordis, Hong Kong.

Baked stuff sea whelk with parmesan cheese at Ming Court Chinese restaurant in Kowloon
Another featured dish at Ming Court is Baked Stuffed Sea Whelk with Parmesan Cheese.
Shredded Scallop Salad at the Dynasty Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong
Shredded Scallop Salad with Assorted Vegetables is a featured dish on the Deluxe Poon Choi Set Menu at Dynasty, the fine-dining Chinese restaurant at the Renaissance Harbour View Hotel, Hong Kong.

There are certain dishes that – by tradition – are almost always served at Chinese New Year family reunion dinners.

If there were no variation in the menu, however, diners might start get fed up with dining out so creative chefs try to give a new twist to old favourites or come up some altogether new dishes to serve at Chinese New Year banquets.

What you will NOT find on the menu are inexpensive dishes such as congee (or rice gruel).

Better not to star the new year off on the wrong foot!

Vegetarian Dishes

Braised-Omnipork-Bamboo-Pith-Roll.jpeg
Braised Omnipork Bamboo Pith Rolls with broccoli are served during the Chinese New Year period at Ming Court, the fine-dining Chinese restaurant at the Cordis, Hong Kong.
Deep-Fried-Salted-Egg-Yolk-with-Omnipork
Ming Court also serves Deep-fried Salted Egg Yolk with Omnipork during the Chinese New Year period.
Stir-Fried-Omnipork-with-Assorted-Vegetables-and-Chinese-Cabbage
Stir-fried Omnipork with Assorted Vegetables and Chinese Cabbage are also featured during the Chinese New Year period at Ming Court.
Pan-Fried-Lotus-Root-and-Water-Chestnut-with-Omnipork
Pan-fried Lotus Root and Water Chestnuts rounds out special vegetarian offerings served at the Ming Court during the Chinese New Year period.

In response to the growing popularity of healthy foods and vegetarian dishes in Hong Kong, Chef Li Yuet Faat at the Michelin-starred Ming Court restaurant in Mongkok has created a selection of vegetarian Chinese New Year dishes using Omnipork.

Omnipork is a plant-based meat substitute made of peas, non-genetically modified soybeans, mushrooms, and rice.

I must say, the pan-fried lotus root with water chestnuts looks particularly tempting!

Chinese New Year Desserts

cny-singapore-jade-piggie-cookies
In celebration of the Year of the Pig, Jade in Singapore is serving Baked Golden Pineapple Piglets – which can be dined in or taken away in a box of nine. Would you believe rich, buttery pastries stuffed full of a juicy pineapple filling?
eight-treasure-gula-melaka-cake
The Eight Treasure Gula Melaka Butter Cake served at Jade in Singapore bears an uncanny resemblance to a traditional Poon Choi.
Chinese New Year Pudding from Dynasty Restaurant at Hong Kong Renaissance Hotel
Dynasty Restaurant at the Renaissance Harbour View Hotel Hong Kong serves indigenous Chinese New Year desserts. Chinese New Year Puddings are enhanced with just the right amount of coconut juice to create an irresistible taste.  Turnip cakes feature premium Chinese sausage, compoy, dried shrimp, and turnips.  
Taro Pudding at Tang Court Chinese Restaurant at Langham Court Hong Kong
T’ang Court at the Langham Hong Kong serves traditional home-made Chinese New Year desserts such as Turnip Pudding with sweet turnip hand-shredded by chefs and taro pudding filled with conpoy and dried shrimp.
Sweet and savoury Chinese New Year pastries
Main Street Bakery at Hong Kong Disneyland sells sweet and savory pastries such as the “Gold Ingot,” “Ingot Pudding,” “Wishing Fish”, and “Lucky Mousse Cup”.
chinese custard buns
Street vendors at Hong Kong Disneyland serve mouth-watering snacks, such as these custard buns in the shape of piglets.
Chinese New Year Rice Pudding at Nuo Hotel in Beijing China
Jia, the signature Chinese restaurant at the Nuo Hotel Beijing, offers fish-shaped or ingot-shaped New Year rice cakes housed in distinctive red gift boxes.

Elaborate Chinese New Year dinners are usually followed by mouth-watering desserts, which – because of British influences – are often referred to as “puddings” in English.

The most popular Chinese New Year puddings are made of taro or turnip. Many restaurants sell them in gift boxes.

Chinese New Year Hampers

chinese-new-year-abundance-hamper
Like most other Chinese restaurants at hotels in Asia, Jade in Singapore offers Chinese New Year Hampers, such as the Abundance Hamper, which is packed with delectable goodies.

Visiting family and friends during Chinese New Year is customary, and small gifts are usually offered during the visit.

Traditionally, this can include cookies, candy, or fruit. For some strange reason, however, specific brands tend to become “appropriate” in certain locales, which can,  of course, greatly simplify things.

You don’t need to try and figure out what someone would actually like! On an even more practical level, you can also “recycle” these gifts!

For many years, a specific brand of Danish butter cookies was considered de rigueur in Hong Kong, and mountains of them could be found in the aisles of markets throughout the territory.

In recent years, however, a few other brands have been added to the mix – and Italian chocolates and other tasty goodies are now making it difficult for shoppers to navigate the aisles of supermarkets in Hong Kong.

If you really want to show off, however, you might want to consider giving one of the extravagant Chinese New Year hampers that are sold by high-class Chinese restaurants – especially those at hotels.

Afternoon Tea Sets

cny-hong-kong-intercontinental-lobby-lounge-chnese-afternoon-tea-set
The Lobby Lounge at the InterContinental Hong Kong serves Afternoon Tea with a Chinese New Year theme through the end of February.  The menu includes both savoury and sweet bites as well as a basket of plain and raisin scones with with Devenshire clotted cream, earl grey tea jelly, and fresh fruit jam.

Many hotels in Hong Kong and other Asian cities offer afternoon tea sets in their lobby lounges, and the InterContinental Hong Kong is no exception.

Afternoon tea sets – a time-honoured British tradition – should not be confused with Cantonese dim sum.

Afternoon tea sets are usually brought to the table on serving trees, and they generally include both savoury and sweet elements.

Many hotels frequently change the tasty offerings to keep patrons coming back, and they sometimes feature seasonal themes.

In Hong Kong and other Asian cities, tea sets in January and February often have Chinese inspired dishes in celebration of the Lunar New Year.

Festive Cantonese Dim Sum

Shrimp dumplings at Tao Li Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong
Tao Li, the fine-dining Chinese restaurant at the New World Millennium Hong Kong, serves Steamed Shrimp Dumplings with bird’s nest, asparagus, and gold leaf at lunch during the first seven days of the Chinese New Year.
CNY-NWMHK_Tao Li_Chilled puddings with dried longans, wolfberries and gold leaf 鴻運當頭 (金箔杞子圓肉凍糕)-min
Chilled puddings with dried longans, wolfberries and gold leaf is another featured sim at Tao Li.

For the more tradition bound, many Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong are serving special types of dim sum at lunch.

Expect a new take on old favourites such as touches of gold leaf on shrimp dumplings and pork buns.

Chinese New Year – Key Dates

cny-peninsula-gifts

Chinese New Year was traditionally a two-week festival, followed by the Lantern Festival, which took place on the 15th day of the new year.

Nowadays, Chinese New Year – known as the Spring Festival in China proper – has been shortened.

The Spring Festival is officially a week-long holiday in China itself, and people living away from home usually do their best to make it home to spend the holiday with their family

In Taiwan, Chinese New Year’s Eve (Monday 4 February) and the first three days of Chinese New Year (Tuesday 5 to Thursday 7 February) are official holidays.

In Hong Kong and Macau, only the first three days of Chinese New Year (Tuesday 5 to Thursday 7 February) are official holidays.

In Malaysia and Singapore, the first two days of Chinese New Year are official holidays. In Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand, only then first stay of Chinese New Year is an official holiday.

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: