Artisanal Bakery in Sheung Wan

Freshly baked bread is glorious stuff, particularly in Hong Kong where, unless you’re exceptionally well organised, you only really get the good stuff in fancy restaurants before you order. Supermarket bread here is generally dreadful, while cakes in the city tend to be too sweet and packed full of artificial flavours. We say “generally” because a new kid is on the bakery block, a very well dressed kid, called Po’s Atelier.

New American Watering Hole Opens

The Stone Nullah Tavern has just opened and has made a good first impression, mostly because its name contains the word "Tavern". If only real taverns still existed, the kind that Frodo would have visited for a frothy pint of ale and a roast boar leg. Still, this new watering hole is an interesting addition to the Hong Kong drinking and dining scene. All their produce is organic and sourced locally (honestly, it comes from Hong Kong) which is a feat in itself. And a little bit scary. Organic in Hong Kong? Call the SCMP.

HK's Only Intl Craft Beer Festival

Beer. It's glorious. If you're lady orders one in front of the boys your chest swells with pride. It means you've got a woman who knows how to have a good time, if not what it means to be feminine. It'll also mean you've got company at Beertopia, which after its remarkably successful first edition last year, returns to Hong Kong on Saturday, April 13. Don't have a big one the night before or you'll have a melt down before you even get started.

Bourbon Infused or Gold Leaf Cigars

Cigars are pretty bloody manly. Bourbon too. Add in a splash of gold leaf and you’re a lighter away from becoming the gentlemen’s gentlemen. Or a rap star – it would really depend on what else you’re wearing. Whichever way you look at it, cigars infused with bourbon, or smokes wrapped in gold leaf, are plain awesome - a vibrant mix of testosterone and ostentatious good living. It’s the type of thing you should light up after your company’s IPO, or after crashing your boat into your ex-wife’s private marina.

Ted's Lookout is one of the coolest bars/diners we've been to in a while. From a design perspective, it's very similar to 22 Ships except Ted's is more bar than restaurant and feels moodier. It has grey concrete walls and Banksy-esque grafitti which normally looks tragic but here it works. The place is hidden in a Wan Chai cul-de-sac and has great atmosphere - the classic pop in for a drink but end up downing several and coming home in the early hours in need of a cuddle.

David Laris Opens HK Restaurant

David Laris, the eponymous chef behind Laris at Three on the Bund, has opened a formidable Hong Kong restaurant. LARIS Contemporary Dining doesn't have a particular style but it serves well seasoned fare that's normally big on flavour. It's difficult to eat 'Western' in HK and not spend over HK$400/head and this place is no different... but at least you walk out feeling well looked after, rather than looked after by your pervy, handsy, old uncle.

New Kebab Shop Making Waves

27 Kebab House has just opened on Cochrane Street and has been making quite a name for itself. Cheap, cheerful and tasty, they serve pita wrapped deliciousness that feels relatively healthy. Unlike most kebabs, you don’t finish one wondering if you’ve remembered to put the toilet roll in the fridge just in case it all goes nuclear.

Home Brewing Kits Arrive in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's been going nuts for beer lately but perhaps the best has yet to come - your own. The Beer Necessities has just opened, selling home brewing kits in Hong Kong for the first time. They'll give you all the tools to produce delicious beer, and it's cheap too. A pint averages out to HK$5-15 which is the kind of economic incentive that would have every hobo in the world dreaming of winning gold at the international beer awards.

HK's Largest Craft Beer Supplier

The Bottle Shop has arrived in HK, a craft beer retailer with over 200 labels in its catalogue. By their reckoning that makes them the biggest supplier in Hong Kong, a city which has been pushing hard for a craft beer renaissance in recent few years. As the owners point out, for less than a coffee you can be sipping on a quality brewski delivered to your door. Although it's a dangerous road if you start replacing one with the other.

Complete Xmas Wine Packages in HK

Laithwaites Wine is offering a couple of heavily discounted wine packages for Christmas with top French reds and two bottles of Italian bubbly thrown in for free. The cases include the likes of a soft Bordeaux from a 'First Growth' winemaker and a rare Gold-medal Saint-Emilion so you'll be pleased with your purchase. After all, if you don't finish the holiday season with blackened teeth and charred looking gums you're not doing it properly.

Value for Money Wines for Christmas

Christmas is a boozy time of year but you don’t want to get a bout of acid by drinking the bad stuff either. The trick is getting all the vino sorted beforehand because if you’re having a raucous time with your family (or drinking because you’re with your family) you just want to be able to kick back and consume at your leisure. That’s really what Christmas is about - heavy, sinful consumption.

New Restaurant by Madam Sixty Ate Owners

Woolly Pig Concepts, the guys behind Madam Sixty Ate, have launched a new restaurant in Central called Sal Curioso. It's more casual than its Wan Chai counterpart. The food, for instance, is designed for sharing but is still refined, and its location means you don't have to 'choose' to go there - you can just drop in. It's basically a place to go with your mates for a decent meal rather than with your bird to talk about moving in together.

Reasonable Steak Vendor Enters HK Market

Good Chow has arrived in Hong Kong, a new steak specialist selling top quality meat for relatively un-HK prices. We’ve tried a selection and even managed to cook it properly. There are few things worse than an over-done cow. The basic idea behind Good Chow is to provide a range of steaks for affordable rates and deliver them frozen to your door. Methane or no methane, this is what cattle were made for.

Jason Atherton Opens Modern Tapas Restaurant

Jason Atherton, the Michelin-starred British chef who trained at El Bulli, has opened a Hong Kong restaurant with 208 founder Yenn Wong. Located in Wan Chai, 22 Ships serves modern tapas that's refined, light and difficult to find elsewhere in Hong Kong. It's the type of place you'd take your mother-in-law - it's inventive but not so wacky she'd question whether you're party of the new liberal conspiracy.

Slow Water Bath Cooking Specialist

The Helenia is a delightful restaurant that prides itself on sous-vide, or water bath, cooking. Located in Tai Hang, the eatery was founded by a chap called Jonathan who walked past what was then a dilapidated garage and decided to transform it into a charming bistro. It only accommodates 18 people and serves just one seating per night which means you don't get shunted out to make way for the next troop. That's a pet hate of ours, right up there with no reservation policies and refusing to serve tap water. The cheek of it.

Organic Farmers Market in Quarry Bay

Island East Markets, a farmers market showcasing the finest organic produce grown in Hong Kong, will start a 4-week trial period beginning this Sunday. If it's successful the aim is to be there every week - and that’s an idea we can get behind. Fortunately for the organisers, organic food in HK couldn't be more out of touch with reality. Head to CitySuper and you can buy a bottle of wine or a small butter lettuce for the same price. It’s bonkers.

Serves All Things Pork

The Salted Pig, a restaurant dedicated to piggies, has opened underneath Shore in L Place. What we like about the eatery is… the pork. Sausages, bacon, Ploughman’s, scotch eggs – it all sounds delicious, and it is. Sure, you could drop in for their green bean, broad bean and sweet pea salad (served with a warm bacon dressing), but it’s all about their pork. It’s manly and rustic - even if you’re wearing a tie and can see your accountant colleagues pouring over spreadsheets in The Centre.

Astonishing Device Turns Beverages into Gas

Le Whaf is an extraordinary piece of kit that turns any alcoholic beverage - be it a dirty martini or a beer - into inhalable vapour. We know it sounds like fantasy but it’s brought to you by the same guys behind inhalable caffeine and inhalable chocolate so you know it’s the real deal. Next time you’re caught in the office late on a Friday and have to play catch up, just grab half a bottle of King Edward’s and Whaf it up your nose.

On HK's Most Kitted Out Junk

Next Thursday you could be sipping craft beer, eating Malay mango chicken and playing Xbox on a pimped-out junk. The 'Taste of Asia' soiree is the brain child of Lazy Days - a company launched in June intent on giving Hong Kong higher class junk trips - and we've got some spare seats to give away. Craft beer was good enough for generations of Belgian monks so it'd be a shame not to. Praise be to god.

HK’s First Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Parlour

Lab Made, Hong Kong's first liquid nitrogen ice cream parlour, has only been open a month and they've already sold out on two of the last four Sundays. The product is fantastic and costs roughly HK$40-a-pop. They take fresh ingredients, whack it with dry ice and a few moments later you're staring at a pot of cold deliciousness. And don't forget the visuals. The waves of cold, heavy vapour make you feel like you're in Dexter's Laboratory.

Massive Savings on Top Bordeaux

Laithwaites Wine has been in the business for decades and the company is offering NecesCity readers a discount of over 50% on some top Bordeaux. In fact, they're selling a 12-bottle case of Gold-medal winning Bordeaux for HK$999 - that's HK$1,049 below the list price. Just imagine the next time you have the gents round. They'll be applauding your choice of wines (it's a serious matter of pride at any dinner party) while you lap up the applause and hide the receipts.

Private Kitchen/Catering/Cooking Classes

Culinart recently opened in Aberdeen, a food specialist that offers private dining, catering, cooking classes and team building. Created by Chef Stanley Wong, who’s served the likes of Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise (Scientologists still have to eat) the business is run out of a studio that mixes homeliness with top tier dining. Like Heston feeding people out of a manger.

Dutch Cheese & Wine Shop Opens in HK

The Dutch Cheese & More has just opened at 232 Queen’s Rd. Central, a shop dedicated to Dutch cheese, wine (from South Africa) and accessories. To be honest, we didn’t know much cheese came out of Holland apart from Gouda (and judging by their products we weren’t wide of the mark) but we loved everything we tried. If only they had a shop assistant modelled on Goldmember – it’s hard to be believe that accent exists.

Becomes Bi-Annual Event

Restaurant Week returns in July as it evolves into a bi-annual event for the first time. The idea is to let Hong Kongers dine at top eateries for a fraction of the normal price. However, the unique challenge of this bargain is that it frees up your wallet for extras like a round of limoncellos at the end of a meal and a bill that makes you wonder why you bothered in the first place.

Secret Ingredient is launching a special rib-eye meal with OBE Organic and we've got a few of them to give away. It could be prime third date material. Consider, you've started with a classic one/two date combo (drinks on the first night, meal out on the second) but it's time to show her what you're like in private. Plus, she'll already be at your place so you can kiss goodbye to rejection unless you really screw up. Puns very much intended.

Multi-Sensory Shanghai Restaurant

Ultraviolet has opened in Shanghai, a multi-sensory fine dining restaurant by Paul Pairet (of Jade on 36) that’s taken three years to develop, consumed US$2.5M in capital and has been designed not to break even. Considering what's happening in Europe, it’s remarkable that this pioneering project - which is essentially an R&D and marketing scheme - has come to fruition. It’s the kind of spin the new Chief Executive could do with.

Fine Mexican Food in HK for 10 Days

The Four Seasons Hong Kong has invited Mexican chef Jorge González to cook up a storm in our fair city until June 10. We tried his food last night and were pleasantly surprised by the quality, which is odd in itself; because when you think about Mexican fare it should be tasty. The ingredients are all there - coriander, chili, lime and mountains of avocado - but the cuisine’s been rolled under the wheels of the American food industry into one monumental health warning.

Juice Fasting Arrives in HK

Genie has brought juice fasting – the notion of only consuming juice for a few days – to Hong Kong. Established by two young Aussie lasses, we think it’s going to be a hit because Hong Kongers love dramatic regimes. The city is overflowing with those ridiculously large tubs of protein and super foods that should emit a roar when opened. And we all know guys who can’t do without their vegetable shakes in the morning and running up The Peak. Vomit.

Russian Haute Cuisine Coming to HK

Russia isn’t known for its fine dining. In fact, when you hear Russian food you think of heavy stews, potatoes and borscht; the type of fare that would have sustained the Soviet Union against bitter winters, German attacks and state-run television. But times change and this month The Landmark Mandarin Oriental is hosting Varvary, the only restaurant in Russia to earn a spot on San Pellegrino's 'World's 50 Best Restaurants' shortlist.

Make your Own Whisky

Whisky Blender is a cool site where you can blend your own scotch and learn more about the golden nectar. What we most like is its humility. In the ‘About’ section they say, ‘We know that this doesn't compare to the excellent work that professional master blenders do to give us beautifully crafted whiskies... it's just a wee bit of fun.’ Trust the Scots to start a sentence with excellent diction and finish like a punch-drunk peasant.