Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get our top stories delivered straight to your inbox.
Header image courtesy of @theenvoyhk (via Instagram)
Originally published by Catharina Cheung. Last updated by Jianne Soriano and Celia Lee.
Weekends are for indulgence, and there’s nothing better than waking up late, then spending a good few leisurely hours eating and daytime drinking with friends. Seriously, if brunch were a sport, we would be gold medalists. We’ve already covered cheap brunches, so this time around, we’ve gathered some of Hong Kong’s best mid-range brunches, priced between $300 and $500 so they won’t burn a hole in your wallet.
Trust the team at Pirata to bring us a great Northern Spanish experience in a beautiful venue. Start off this brunch with a selection of sharing tapas including octopus croquettes and huevos rotos broken eggs. There are seven choices of mains, but we will always go for the juicy Boston lobster rice to be shared between two people for an additional $98. Finish off with a choice of desserts such as XXL churros, burnt Basque cheesecake, and chocolate mousse. This brunch is available at $388 with two free-flow options available: champagne at $398 and wines, sangria, and prosecco at $198.
The Optimist, G/F, 239 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai | (+852) 2433 3324
Brazilian-Japanese boteco Uma Nota offers a unique weekend brunch. Diners are treated to a series of petiscos starters, including takoyaki, crispy soft shell crab sandwiches, and a roasted cauliflower salad. Mains are shared between two, with mouth-watering options such as pork loin tonkatsu and green miso marinated and roasted fish. Finish off with the abundant and colourful Uma Nota dessert platter featuring a range of daily options served with ice cream and fresh fruits. Uma Nota’s brunch goes for $420. Elevate your brunch experience and choose between two 90-minute free-flow packages: bubbles and beer are priced at $210 while cocktails, wines, and more go for $290.
Uma Nota, 38 Peel Street, Central | (+852) 2889 7576
Inspired by colonial British cuisine, there is so much to munch through in this all-you-can-eat brunch that you’d best go wearing something with an elasticated waistband. Of the unlimited dishes, we particularly enjoy the butter chicken lollipops, pani puri, marbled herbal tea devilled eggs, and the spinach and cottage cheese köfte. Although you could keep ordering more pulled pork mini-burgers, save space for the mains, which include an all-day breakfast and creamy wild mushroom spaghetti. This weekend brunch goes for $380, and you can also tack on a dessert platter to share for $120 and all-you-can-drink packages at $120 for non-alcoholic and $350 for wines, bubbles, and rosé.
The Envoy, 3/F, The Pottinger, 74 Queen’s Road Central, Central | (+852) 2169 3311
Celebrate the best of Italian cuisine at LucAle, where you can help yourself to unlimited servings of seasonal salads, cheeses, salumi cold cuts, and a pizzetta to share between two. Nobody can stop us from loading up on the burrata! Those with room for more can opt for the supplementary main course and choose from LucAle’s signature mains. The brunch price of $458 is also inclusive of a dessert and two hours of free-flow house wines.
LucAle, 100 Third Street, Sai Ying Pun | (+852) 3611 1842
Decent Portuguese food is not only to be found nearby in Macau; Casa Lisboa does good fare on weekends for $398. Start off with small plates to share, and be sure to enjoy the white wine clams, garlic octopus, and piri piri quail. Pretty much everything in its choice of eight mains is mouth-watering, but if you are too overwhelmed, then it is probably best to go for something traditional such as the signature arroz de pato or the leitao a Bairrada suckling pig. Go slow, or you will regret not saving space for the serradura! Add on the non-alcoholic free-flow for $108, opt for the standard free-flow at $180, or the upgraded free-flow at $250, while individual cocktails and mocktails are available for $78 and $48, respectively.
Casa Lisboa, 2/F, Parekh House, 63 Wyndham Street, Central | (+852) 2905 1168
With a Spanish restaurant, it only makes sense to get the party started with a selection of tapas to share. We love the gambas al Ajillo sizzling garlic prawns, grilled octopus, and Ibérico pork cheeks in red wine. There are six excellent choices for mains, but we will always veer toward the Segovia-style roasted suckling pig or mushroom, chorizo, asparagus, and grilled Ibérico pluma paella, the latter feeds a minimum of two people. As for desserts, there is no doubt that it has to be the leche frita—fried milk with a toffee reduction. Olé’s brunch goes for $498, with three free-flow options available: soft drinks and seasonal juices at $118, cava and sangria at $198, and wines, cava, sangria, and beer at $268, whilst individual cocktails are $108 and mocktails $68.
Olé, 1/F, Shun Ho Tower, 24–30 Ice House Street, Central | (+852) 2523 8624
Tokyolima’s Matsuri brunch is inspired by festivals held in Japan! Diners start their meal with small plates made for sharing; we love the Naughty Causa, though meat lovers are more likely to prefer the selladito beef tataki. This is followed by a selection of refreshing items such as edamame hummus served with toast, and “Ki-mo-chi” fried chicken. You can choose from six main courses. Do not forget to leave room for a selection of sweet treats! A vegetarian menu is also available. This brunch goes for $398, add on the champagne free-flow at $398 or standard free-flow at $198 for an elevated experience.
Tokyolima, G/F, 18–20 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central | (+852) 2811 1152
With a menu created by a two-Michelin-starred chef, Spiga serves cuisine typical of the Italian regions of Lombardy and Piedmont. Its brunch buffet consists of cold cuts, salads, soups, jet-fresh seafood, oysters, fresh bread, and a roast carving station. Pace yourself, because there is still a choice of nine different mains to come, such as pasta, pizzas, steak, and roasted chicken. We particularly like the simplicity of the cotoletta alla Milanese (Milanese-style veal chop with rocket salad and cherry tomato). Take yourself back to buffet tables afterwards for a large range of desserts as well. Brunch at Spiga costs $428, and the two-hour free-flow add-on is $278.
Spiga, 3/F, LHT Tower, 31 Queen’s Road Central, Central | (+852) 2871 0055
We do love us a good Japanese brunch, and Honjo usually serves up some creative reimaging with its dishes. Whet your appetite with edamame, sesame spinach salad, Wagyu tataki, and yuzu-marinated tiger prawns to share, before moving on to the sushi and sashimi station. As for mains, we like the chicken teriyaki and the cauliflower with black truffle butter sauce. If you are not bursting yet, finish off with a black sesame crème brûlée and yuzu sorbet. Brunch costs $498, and the premium free-flow package includes champagne and sake for $398, while the classic option gives you access to Honjo’s signature sake station, prosecco, white and red wine, plum liqueur, beer, and cocktails for $220.
Honjo, 1/F, 77–91 Queen’s Road West, Sheung Wan | (+852) 2663 3772
Ruam’s garden bar and expansive outdoor terrace elevate the alfresco experience of Thai street-side dining. For $358, expect four small plates to start off with (including the papaya salad and pomelo salad rice paper rolls, which is always fun to eat), followed by a choice of mains. We recommend the chu chee pla, a red curry with flounder fillet served with a side of roti to mop up the sauce with. If you still have room for dessert, treat yourself by adding the classic mango sticky rice or a banana roti with coconut ice cream. Throw in an extra $288 for free-flow wine, prosecco, and, of course, Singha beer.
Ruam, 1/F, J Senses, 60 Johnston Road, Wan Chai | (+852) 3160 8535
The brunch at Chaiwala pays tribute to India’s famous festival of colours. Start off with an amazing selection from the chaat station, including pani puri with jal-jeera and Bombay fried chicken, before moving on to mains. Make one selection from each category of biryani, tandoor, and curries; if in doubt, go for the chicken tikka, and either the saag paneer or the gosht kofta curry. The meal is then rounded off with the chef’s selection of sweets for a touch of childhood fancy—all this for $368. We live for mango lassi so adding on the lassi free-flow for $120 is non-negotiable, but we also love grabbing G&Ts from the classic free-flow package ($198).
Chaiwala, B/F, 43–55 Wyndham Street, Central | (+852) 2362 8988
Tucked away upstairs in a nondescript part of Wan Chai, the flagship Pirata restaurant does a great no-fuss brunch. Help yourself to a selection of starters to share including the signature MMM—pork and beef meatballs in tomato sauce—and deep-fried calamari, shrimps, and cod. Next, choose from eight mains—we like the eggplant parmigiana and the Wagyu beef cheek—before wrapping up with dessert freshly made in-house, options include tiramisu, yoghurt panna cotta, and coconut bounty semifreddo. The brunch menu goes for $368, with day-drinking done right with spritz, wines, and beer free-flow at $198.
Pirata, 29/F & 30/F, 239 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai | (+852) 2887 0270
Catharina has recently returned to her hometown of Hong Kong after spending her formative years in Singapore and the UK. She enjoys scouring the city for under-the-radar things to do, see, and eat, and is committed to finding the perfect foundation that will withstand Hong Kong’s heat. She is also an aspiring polyglot, a firm advocate for feminist and LGBTQIA+ issues, and a huge lover of animals. You can find her belting out show-tunes in karaoke, or in bookstores adding new tomes to her ever-growing collection.
Top