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Alongside Luk Fook Jewelry are signs for Salisbury Road. Such is Hong Kong’s dichotomy – a generous mixture of Asian and European. It is the quintessential “world city” where tailored suits and medicinal herbs, Versace and Chinese silk are all sold within yards of each other. Starbucks is ordered in Cantonese, English, German, Dutch and Malay after a lunch of spicy braised bok choy and corned beef hash with green tea and a Heineken.

The Star Ferry carries passengers from the Kowloon side to Hong Kong Island proper, where a double decker bus awaits for transit to the town of Stanley on the south end for HK$10 per rider. It’s a thirty minute journey, passing through the Aberdeen Tunnel and around Repulse Bay, and culminating at the edge of the Stanley Market. Hundreds of permanent, covered booths are positioned along the stone walkways of the hill protecting Stanley Town, and shoppers from around the globe attack the narrow passageways in search of bargains for silk, linen, textiles, clothing and every sort of Asian kitsch imaginable.

It is on the eastern side of the market, amidst the jumbled collection of Chinese delis that cater to exhausted and famished tourists, that Lucy’s resides. The entrance commands attention from anyone who has had the pleasure of enjoying a leisurely meal in a small family restaurant within the neighborhoods of Paris or Rome – the look and appeal are identical at Lucy’s. Inside, Hong Kong is once more on the other side of the globe as one makes decisions from the prix fixe menu and chooses vino from a small but impressive wine list that eschews the low-end Australian swill that dominates most Asian restaurants.

Creamed soups, crispy salads, prime beef and home-made pasta make the Westerner feel so much at home as to create a modicum of guilt for such complete deviation from the surrounding local cuisine. After all, though, there is an anniversary to be celebrated, and Lucy’s is so very romantic – and the crepes and espresso are ever so genuine. Indeed, a bona fide guilty pleasure.

This entry was posted on November 25, 2012 at 1:47 am and is filed under Food, Travel with tags aberdeen tunnel, hong kong, hong kong dining, kowloon, lucy's restaurant stanley, repulse bay, stanley market hong kong. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.