Ho Lan Jeng

Ho Lan Jeng is one of the few bars in Lan Kwai Fong where the beer list is the main event rather than an afterthought. The name is a phonetic play on a Cantonese phrase meaning roughly "so freaking good", and the bar lives up to the swagger: eleven rotating taps pour almost exclusively Hong Kong beer, with Moonzen, Yardley Brothers, Mak's Brewery, Citibrew and Heroes all appearing regularly, alongside beer brewed in-house at the Central location. You have to turn several pages into the menu before finding anything brewed outside the SAR.

The room is a deliberate throwback. Mosaic tiling, carved wooden screens, ceiling fans and staff in old-school Hong Kong restaurant uniforms evoke the 1950s, while neon signs — including one reading gweilo leung cha, "foreigner's herbal tea", a wink at beer — and a dragon mural give it a distinctly photogenic edge. It reads as nostalgic without tipping into theme-bar territory.

The kitchen is a genuine draw too, serving modern Cantonese cooking with a fusion streak: 24-hour slow-cooked Iberico char siu with a fried egg over lard rice, and a signature golden crispy chicken with Thai hot sauce. Formerly known as 65 Peel after its old Peel Street address, the bar now sits on the 2nd floor of LKF29 on Wyndham Street, a short walk from Central MTR.