Dining news: Yong Fu unveils autumn lunch menu, The Doctor’s Residence by Dr Fern launches 0% ABV menu, and more

Hong Kong dining this week drifts between the seasonal and the celebratory. An autumn menu at one of the city’s most celebrated Ningbo kitchens leans into chestnuts, water bamboo and wild orchid, while over in Central, a French neo-bistro recasts brunch with free-flow and a new chef at the helm.

Members’ clubs and bars have their own prescriptions, whisky dressed in contemporary art, cocktails without a trace of alcohol, and DJ nights pitched as therapy. And beyond the harbour, Hong Kong’s chefs pack their knives for Bangkok, while the city’s youngest talent sharpen theirs in competition at home. Keep reading for the details.

Season’s Flavour

Yong Fu Hong Kong’s crispy bombay duck spring rolls

Stir-fried rice cakes with seasonal vegetables for the autumn set lunch

Yong Fu Hong Kong, named among Tatler Best’s Top 20 Restaurants of 2025, has introduced an autumn set lunch menu from September 15, priced at HK$498 per guest. Head chef Liu Zhen’s ten-course line-up leans on Ningbo tradition while making space for refinement: appetisers span handmade sausage with preserved mustard greens to slow-braised shiitake mushrooms, before soups such as yellow croaker with Chinese water plantain or double-boiled Muscovy duck with puffed fish maw. Fried plates such as Bombay duck spring roll or taro-stuffed chicken wings are followed by seafood choices like stir-fried cuttlefish with preserved snow mustard greens or river shrimp with dried greens.

The stir-fry course offers double-braised pork ribs with chestnuts and dried cuttlefish, before a choice of wok-fried rice cake or handmade pork bun, with the signature sesame glutinous rice dumplings to finish. Seasonal accents, chestnuts, water bamboo and wild orchid quietly signal autumn’s arrival, while underlining Yong Fu’s role as one of the few Hong Kong restaurants to spotlight Ningbo cuisine.

The Club Bâtard anniversary bottling: a 1996 Tormore sherry cask dressed in Michael Lau’s Flower series artwork

Club Bâtard marked its first anniversary with a limited whisky bottling: a 1996 Tormore single-sherry-cask release, bottled at 48.9% and limited to 200 bottles at HK$4,580 each. The 27-year-old expression shows how Tormore can move from its usual soft, fruity Speyside base into richer territory. Think medjool dates, molasses, cacao husks and pipe tobacco. The label is by Michael Lau, a Hong Kong artist often called the “godfather of designer toys” for pioneering urban vinyl art with his Gardener series and other work combining street culture, toy design and fine art. Lau’s Flower series, which this bottle’s label draws on, uses bold geometry, floral motifs and a fusion of pop culture and traditional aesthetics to evoke both nostalgia and visual optimism.

Prescription Beats

Rhythm Therapy at The Doctor’s Residence: Cantopop on vinyl with 0% cocktails in hand

The Doctor’s Residence by Dr Fern, newly settled at The Pottinger hotel, is prescribing more than gin this season. Its autumn programme introduces ‘Rhythm Therapy’, mid-week DJ nights running from 9pm with line-ups ranging from disco and nostalgic Cantopop to afro house and jazz-inflected sets, often outdoors where the bar’s terrace earns its keep. September’s schedule includes a charity collaboration with Club Soul Good and the ChickenSoup Foundation (September 12 to 13) and visiting acts through to the month’s end, with ticketed events flagged separately.

Alongside the music, bar manager Babit Burathoki has devised ‘The Placebo Effect’, a 0% ABV menu that trades ethanol for clarity: the Hot Shot Remedy with Everleaf Forest, Darjeeling tea and hot sauce; the jasmine-and-guava Fauxtox; and the Serotonin Boost, spiked with grapefruit soda and Crossip Dandy Smoke. Each is priced at HK$100 plus service, proof that Dr Fern’s prescriptions now cover both the party and the morning after.

The Doctor’s Residence by Dr FernAddress: 3/F, The Pottinger Hotel, 74 Queens Road Central, 21 Stanley Street, Central, Hong Kong

Brunch, Rewritten

Jason Wolf is the newly appointed chef de cuisine at Somm

The Sommkind of brunch includes seared Hokkaido scallop with vadouvan and beurre blanc

Somm at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental has introduced a seasonal ‘Sommkind of Brunch Experience’ under new chef de cuisine Jason Wolf, formerly of Arcane and Davies & Brook.

Available weekends and public holidays from 10.30am to 2.30pm, the format mixes sharing starters such as hand-cut O’Connor tenderloin tartar with wasabi and katsuobushi mayonnaise, or seared Hokkaido scallop with vadouvan and beurre blanc with a choice of main course, from binchotan-grilled black cod to yellow chicken with corn and yuzu-koshu purée.

For groups, a 1.2kg côte de boeuf with truffle gratin is offered at a supplement. Desserts run from raspberry, lychee and rose millefeuille to an XL matcha tiramisu for two. Free-flow options range from the HK$668 Light Brunch up to the HK$1,318 Royale Brunch, which includes premium champagne, sake and sommelier-selected wines.

The Young Chef, Young Waiter, Young Mixologist 2024 finalists

Entries are now open for the Young Chef, Young Waiter, Young Mixologist Hong Kong competition, giving hospitality professionals aged 28 and under the chance to compete for a share of US$15,000 and a place at the World Finals. Applications are free and can be submitted online at youngchefyoungwaiter.com/hong-kong until September 15 with a valid HKID or working visa. The judging panel features Agustin Balbi of Andō and Shane Osborn of Arcane for the chef category; Gerald Li of the Leading Nations group and Lindsay Jang of Yardbird and Always Joy for the waiter category; and mixologists Gavin Yeung of Kinsman and Quentin Luk of Qura, ensuring mentorship across the full spectrum of dining and bar service. Challenges will test cooking, service and bartending skills under pressure, designed to spotlight the next generation of Hong Kong’s hospitality talent.

Bangkok Bound

Andō’s Agustin Balbi will join Thitid ‘Ton’ Tassanakajohn at Bangkok’s Nusara this September

Going to Bangkok this September? Some of Hong Kong’s most talked-about chefs are crossing the border for a series of collaborations worth the airfare. On September 24, Andō’s Agustin Balbi teams with Thitid ‘Ton’ Tassanakajohn at Nusara, blending Spanish-Japanese precision with colourful Thai heritage. Roganic’s Adam Catterall links up with David Toutain at The Ritz-Carlton for a produce-driven, French-leaning tasting menu (September 25 to 26), followed by Louise’s Loïc Portalier bringing Franco-Asian finesse to the same stage (September 27 to 28). Brunch gets its turn as La Terrace by Louise joins Tala Bashmi and Bangkok’s Charmgang (September 27 to 28), before the series wraps with Leela’s Manav Tuli at Jhol (October 4 to 5), a coastal Indian feast that reframes the genre. Think of it as two weeks of Hong Kong flavour refracted through Bangkok’s dining scene, and a chance to catch menus you won’t see again.

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