OPENINGS: Meals with unbelievable views at Kwan Cheuk Heen in Harbour Grand Hotel, Fortress Hill

This recently opened five-star hotel boasts harbourside views and you get to continue to survey this tinkering urban landscape at their Chinese eatery, Kwan Cheuk Heen. The skyline is visible from this set up of floor to ceiling windows across the restaurant. This eatery doesn't look so bad itself, a posh and polished interior dotted with the usual Chinese motifs (prevalence of the colour red, traditional majestic wood furniture, folksy arts and crafts here and there). Being of Cantonese cooking, there's dim sum by day then traditional Canton classics by night. It's all done with a fine dining direction such as decadent yum cha offerings like steamed shark's fine and black truffle dumpling in soup (HK$78), steamed lobster dumplings (HK$58 a piece), or using Angus beef in a mushroom puff pastry. Seeing as the Harbour Grand is a business hotel, they also have executive lunch menus for a 4-6 persons tailor made for this demographic. You get seven to nine multicourse meals featuring indulgent Cantonese dishes like suckling pigs, braised sharks fins soup or fried rice with chicken and octopus abalone. The Executive Lunches are HK$388 per person. Whether you're a business traveler or local resident, this place is worth splurging for with authentic Chiense meals with some of the best views in this part of town.

5/Floor, Harbour Grand Hotel, 23 Oil Street ,Fortress Hill. Tel: +852 2121-2688.

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OPENINGS: Fresh air fun on the rooftop of the latest Wooloomooloo in Wanchai

Over the last two years, Wanchai has distinguished itself as a happening dining-and-drinking-destination. There is The Pawn's impressive heritage-site-turned-gastropub on Johnston Road, and Bo Innovation's two-Michelin-starred innovative Chinese food next door. Now Lan Kwai Fong's Wooloomooloo has expanded to Wanchai, further stamping this neighbourhood as the place to go.

Few venues in this area have views like this latest addition to the scene. Whether you are at Wooloomooloo's steakhouse on the 31st floor or their roomy rooftop, you will be wowed by almost panoramic views of the Victoria Harbour and the city's skyline. It's already a hit on weekends with Hong Kong's flock of young and trendy things. If you want to avoid the jam, visit on weekdays.

Food isn't served upstairs but if you're hungry, go back to the steakhouse dining room on the 31st floor. The menu is similar to their branch in Lan Kwai Fong, with a meat-heavy selection of Argentinean, American and Australian steaks. There's an obvious leaning to grain-fed steaks from Down Under, as Wooloomooloo is Australian, so try their house rib-eye (HK$350), or a whopping porterhouse at 24 oz (HK$560) if you're super hungry. Floor-to-ceiling windows throughout this dining room guarantee a great visual tour of the city, from Happy Valley to Victoria Harbour and across Causeway Bay area.

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F&B DEATHWATCH: Au revoire to La Mer brassiere on Wyndham Street

Just as one brasserie opens up, another one closes down in Central. La Mer, a French brasserie on Wyndham Street that served plenty of oysters and seafood plus classics like duck confit, has finally said au revoire for good. So far, we're not aware of who or what restaurant group will take over the space.

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OPENINGS: German sausages galore at King Ludwig  

King Ludwig has a handful of branches across the city including the one in Stanley beach's Murray House. Now it's spreading into Wan Chai territory with a new outpost along Hopewell Centre. Spruced up like an old-school beer hall, they have outdoor wood tables that's perfect for families to tuck into German grub alfresco. German classics and comfort food are in abundance here: pork knuckles with a crackling skin, served with sauerkraut and potatoes (HK$145), and of course, plenty of sausages such as the national favourite, Bockwursts (HK$90).

G/Fl., Hopewell Centre, 183 Queens Road East, Wan Chai.  

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OPENINGS: New pub Trafalgar in Wan Chai's extensive beer list impresses beer lovers

Taking over what used to be the Dirty Duck restaurant, Trafalgar strives to be more than just another pub in this drinking district by offering an impressive list of beers. There's also an outdoor terrace where you can nurse a pint or tuck into your Sunday roast as you look out onto the bustling scene below.

There are 50 bottled beers to choose from, plus 11 ales on tap (from HK$45). Draught beers include Belgium staples such as Hoegarden and Leffe Brune, and UK favourites such as Spit Fire or Magners Cider. Trafalger's extensive bottled beers selections will impress hardcore beer aficionados with plenty of boutique brews from the UK and Scotland, such as Yellowhammer and Whitstable Bay Organic ale, and a dark Thomas Hardy Vintage ale.

A pub isn't a pub unless there's hearty Anglo-comfort food to wash down your beer with. Naturally, they have it all here, mostly British classics such as wholesome steak and kidney pies (HK$85- as pictured above), fish n' chips (HK$120) and Toad in a Hole (HK$105). There's also a handful of American favourites such as American style burgers (from HK$65) including their house burger with chicken, cheese, beef and bacon.

5/F, 54-62 Lockhart Rd, The Broadway, Wan Chai, Tel: +852 2110-1513; www.trafalgar.com.hk.

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