Blue Supreme

Opened quietly at the end of 2017, Blue Supreme has the most distinctive programme in Hong Kong for fans of traditional Belgian and mixed-culture styles. The focus is on bottle-conditioned, or "live", beers that continue fermenting after packaging: spontaneously fermented lambics and gueuze, Flemish sour brown ales, farmhouse saisons and Brettanomyces-fermented beers, many sourced directly from Belgium. A row of 12 taps behind the bar backs up the bottle list, and a three-beer flight is the easiest way in.

The corner room at 21 Tung Street is inviting, with dark teal walls, wooden furniture, a high ceiling, a modern jazz soundtrack and tall windows that open onto the pedestrianised street. Seating mixes low stools at long wooden counters, smaller tables and a large communal table. Staff are patient, enthusiastic guides for newcomers to sour beer. Ease in with a more approachable local Hong Kong craft beer on tap, while a short list of around half a dozen wines, skin-contact bottles among them, covers non-beer drinkers.

The kitchen takes its cooking as seriously as its beer, with an American-inspired bistro menu that has been a destination in its own right. Past dishes have included Provençal fries with a citrus dip, shakshuka with dill and feta, soft scrambled eggs with trout roe, and an Iberico pork chop with charred Brussels sprouts.

Follow the neon "Live Beers" sign from the antique galleries of Upper Lascar Row, also known as Cat Street. Time Out lists opening hours of noon to midnight, Tuesday to Sunday. It suits a slow afternoon of sour beer and grazing as much as a full dinner, and makes a natural stop on a wander through the Sheung Wan antiques quarter.