Entertainment in Hong Kong
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TakeOut Comedy Club
If your idea of a perfect evening involves laughing, Hong Kong’s first comedy club will blow your socks off with consistent stand-up and improvised acts in English, Cantonese and Mandarin.
reviewed
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Punchline Comedy Club
A veteran on the scene, the Punchline hosts local and imported acts every third Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 9pm to 11pm. Entry costs around $300. Book tickets online or call.
reviewed
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C
Bar 109
Tired of rubbing, er, shoulders with working girls in the Wanch? Well, even if not, the 109 will give you 110 reasons to flock here. It’s a serious chill-out zone cobbled from a 1920s-vintage bakery and divided into three sections, including a bar, a covered ‘outside’ area and a 1st-floor balcony.
reviewed
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D
Club 71
This friendly bar, named after the huge protest march held in 2003, is a haven for artists, activists and bohemians. In an uncanny historical coincidence, the garden in front of the bar is the site where a group of Chinese revolutionaries used to hang out in the early 20th century to plot their campaign to overthrow the Qing dynasty. The socially conscious keep coming back. Find it by taking a sharp right down a narrow alley off Hollywood Rd or via a small footpath running west off Peel St.
reviewed
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E
East End Brewery
This place out in Quarry Bay is a beer lover’s must-visit. You can choose from more than 30 beers and lagers from around the world, including a couple of local microbrews. There’s wi-fi access, too. The branch at Causeway Bay (Ground fl, Sunning Plaza, 10 Hysan Ave) serves up much the same beer and fodder if you can’t make it this far out.
reviewed
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China Beach Club
This pleasant bar-restaurant has a 185-sq-metre rooftop and an open-air balcony overlooking Silvermine Bay Beach. Staff are friendly and helpful, and the food is good as well. The two-for-one cocktail 'hour' can go on well into the night.
reviewed
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G
Neptune Disco II
Neptune II is a fun club with a mostly Filipino crowd and a rockin' covers band. If everything's closing and you can't bear to stop bopping, this is the place to head for. It really rocks at the Sunday afternoon-tea dance starting at 14:00.
reviewed
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Deck ‘N Beer
Offering exactly what it promises on its neon sign, this excellent new bar with no theme or fuss offers a deck, drinks including a good range of bottled beers and not much else – oh, apart from those spectacular waterfront views.
reviewed
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H
New Wally Matt Lounge
The name comes from the old Waltzing Matilda pub, which was one of the daggiest gay watering holes in creation. But New Wally Matt is an upbeat and busy place and actually more a pub than a lounge.
reviewed
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I
Rice Bar
Rice is a popular gay bar in Sheung Wan with a lounge area that sees a bit of dancing as it gets later. It can get very crowded at the weekend.
reviewed
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Happy Valley Racecourse
An outing at the races is one of the quintessential Hong Kong things to do, especially if you happen to be around during one of the weekly Wednesday evening races here. The punters pack into the stands and trackside, cheering, drinking and eating, and the atmosphere is electric.
The first horse races were held here in 1846. Now meetings are held both here and at the newer and larger (but less atmospheric) Sha Tin Racecourse in the New Territories. Check the website for details on betting and tourist packages.
Racing buffs can also visit the Hong Kong Racing Museum.
reviewed
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K
Tastings
One of the most exciting new developments for wine lovers is the arrival of new bars offering tastings of premium wines using new ‘enomatic’ technology that permits them to open a bottle and preserve the contents indefinitely. It means that tasting a seriously rare (and expensive) wine is possible without completely bankrupting yourself. You create a tab by handing over your credit card in exchange for a smart card, which you use to operate the wine dispensing machines, which can deliver a few millilitres for an inexpensive taste or a full glass once you’ve made your choice. Down a narrow side street just off Wellington St, Tastings offers about two dozen wines from its…
reviewed
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Happy Valley Sports Ground
Hong Kong has a fairly lively amateur soccer league. Games are played at the Happy Valley Sports Ground, a group of pitches inside the Happy Valley Racecourse, and at Mong Kok Stadium. For match schedules and venues, check the sports sections of the English-language newspapers or contact the Hong Kong Football Association (2712 9122; www.hkfa.com). The big football event of the year is the Lunar New Year Cup, which is held on the first and fourth days of the Chinese New Year (late January/early February).
reviewed
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Mong Kok Stadium
Hong Kong has a fairly lively amateur soccer league. Games are played at the Happy Valley Sports Ground, a group of pitches inside the Happy Valley Racecourse, and at Mong Kok Stadium. For match schedules and venues, check the sports sections of the English-language newspapers or contact the Hong Kong Football Association (2712 9122; www.hkfa.com). The big football event of the year is the Lunar New Year Cup, which is held on the first and fourth days of the Chinese New Year (late January/early February).
reviewed
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Hong Kong Stadium
The Rugby World Cup Sevens (www.hksevens.com.hk) sees teams from all over the world come together in Hong Kong in late March for three days of lightning-fast 15-minute matches at the 40,000-seat Hong Kong Stadium in So Kon Po, a division of Causeway Bay. Even nonrugby fans scramble to get tickets (adult/child $880/300), because the Sevens is a giant, international, three-day party. For inquiries and tickets, contact the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union (2504 8311; www.hkrugby.com).
reviewed
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Urbtix
Expect to pay around $70 for a seat up the back for the Hong Kong Philharmonic and from about $500 and up for a performance by big-name international acts or an international musical such as Chicago. Bookings for most cultural events can be made by telephone or the internet with Urbtix. There is an Urbtix window at the Hong Kong City Hall in Central, the Queen Elizabeth Stadium un Wan Chai and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui.
reviewed
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Drop
Deluxe lounge action, excellent tunes and potent cocktails keep Drop strong on the scene. It’s like walking into Wallpaper* magazine, but the vibe here is unpretentiously inclusive and the crowd reaches a happy fever pitch on big nights. The members-only policy after 10pm Thursday to Saturday is (flexibly) enforced to keep the dance floor capacity at a manageable ‘packed like sardines’ level. Enter from Cochrane St.
reviewed
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Fringe Club, Theatre & Studio
The Fringe, a friendly and eclectic venue on the border of the Lan Kwai Fong quadrant, has original music in its gallery-bar from 10.30pm on Friday and Saturday, with jazz, rock and world music getting the most airplay. There’s a pleasant rooftop bar open in the warmer months. The intimate theatres, each seating up to a hundred, host eclectic local and international performances in English and Cantonese.
reviewed
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Joe Bananas
JB’s, in Wan Chai forever it seems, has dropped its long-standing wet T-shirt/boxers aesthetic and gone for more of a bamboo-bar feel. Unaccompanied females should expect a good sampler of bad pick-up lines; go with friends and have some un-PC fun. There are free drinks for women from 6pm to 3am on Wednesday, and ‘Crazy Hour’ (6pm to 8pm daily) is even more generous than happy hour.
reviewed
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Executive Bar
You won’t be served if you just turn up at this clubby, masculine bar high above Causeway Bay – it’s by appointment only. Odd perhaps, but worth the trip if you are serious about whisky and bourbon. Several dozen varieties are served here, in large brandy balloons with large orbs of ice hand-chipped by the Japanese proprietor to maximise the tasting experience.
reviewed
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New Makati Pub & Disco
It has to be said: you can’t go lower than this sleazy pick-up joint, named after a Manila neighbourhood. Imagine dimly lit booths, Filipino amahs and middle-aged white male booze-hounds, who all just wanna have fun. In fact it is less wretched than this description might make it sound and it’s a friendly, unpretentious place to dance the morning away.
reviewed
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S
Yun Fu
This tiny but delightful circular bar with Imperial China decor is well worth stopping by for one of the fresh fruit cocktails and to soak up the sounds coming from the DJ’s tiny cubbyhole.
reviewed
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T
DYMK
An excellent, upmarket gay-friendly newcomer, DYMK (or ‘does your mother know?’) caters to a discerning crowd of professionals who lounge in the dimly but stylishly lit booths. There’s an extensive wine list and cocktails including the Thai Me Up and the Pinch My Peach. Reach it through the basement staircase in Eden, the organic bistro next door.
reviewed
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Pawn
This handsome three-storey establishment used to be a row of tenement houses and the century-old Woo Cheong pawn shop. Now it’s occupied by a restaurant and a bar. The slouchy sofas with space to sprawl, shabby chic interiors designed by a filmmaker, plus great little terrace spaces overlooking the tram tracks, make this an ideal location to sample a great selection of lagers, bitters and wine.
reviewed
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Propaganda
Hong Kong’s default gay dance club and meat market; cover charges ($120 to $160) apply on Friday and Saturday (which also get you into Works on Friday). Enter from Ezra’s Lane.
reviewed