Catering for Hong Kong's culinary cravings

Relaxnews
Thursday 29 April 2010 00:00 BST
Comments
(21 Concepts Limited)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

For a city that promotes itself as the culinary capital of Asia, the surprising thing is that Hong Kong has up until recently had relatively few English language guides to help diners sort through the city's more than 11,000 restaurants. But things are rapidly changing.

This week sees the launch of Crave, the city's first English-language monthly magazine dedicated solely to food, while the popular online restaurant guide WOM (or Word of Mouth) is at the same time starting up a service for mobile phones. The Hong Kong Government is also getting in on the act, through a series of downloads now available on its tourism website (http://www.discoverhongkong.com)

Crave (www.cravemag.com), which will be officially launched on May 1, opens with an 80-page edition that highlights the city's trendiest eateries, interviews local and international chefs, and provides details on how to try some of Hong Kong's most famous dishes at home. The idea is to provide a service for the city's food fanatics but also to let the world in on its many secrets as well.

"Hong Kong has always taken pride in its role as a culinary capital and we are hoping Crave can expand this image internationally while giving people all around the world a look into the trends and happenings in the local food world," Crave publisher Carmen Li told Relaxnews.

"Most people have heard about Hong Kong dishes, and most people have tasted them. So we are also letting people know how they can cook these dishes at home, a little bit about their history and, for people planning to come to Hong Kong, we will keep them up to date on what new places are opening and what makes this city's restaurants so popular and our chefs so famous."

Meanwhile, WOMobile (available via http://www.womguide.com) is a service that allows people to tap into a data bank of reviews while walking aorund on Hong Kong's frantic streets.

WOM is unqiue in that it only runs reviews submitted by the general public, something its publishers believe gives a more honest view of where and where not to eat. The mobile application also allows diners to file their reviews instantly and to send in photos of their favorite places and dishes.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board has enlisted the help of local chefs and celebrities for its download which introduces visitors to some of the city's traditional dishes such as congee and then suggests where they might try them.

It has been launched as the HKTB looks to further promote the city' s rich culinary culture as a major attraction, following on from the success of last November's Food and Wine Festival and ahead of the city hosting Vinexpo (http://www.vinexpo.com) later this month - the international wine industry's premiere trade event.

MS

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in