#legendeats: The best dishes we ate in January 2021

Need help figuring out what to eat? We’ve got you covered in our monthly #legendeats round-up of Hong Kong’s tastiest dishes.

Mott 32’s plant-based menu

High-end Chinese restaurant Mott 32 has jumped on the plant-based bandwagon by introducing a new plant-based menu for the first time this January. The menu goes beyond the standard vegetarian options with items like crowd favourites, Shanghainese soup dumplings with minced “pork” and tofu, signature Peking duck with crispy tofu skin and pickled cucumber, salt and pepper “squid”, sweet and sour “pork” with red dragon fruit and crispy sesame rice cracker and wok-fried flat rice noodle with “beef”, bean sprouts and soya sauce.

We found that the only difference between the ‘normal’ xiao long bao and its tofu cousin was in its presentation. The star of the show, however, was definitely the signature smoked ‘cod’. Flakey and flavourful, the ‘fish’ literally melts in your mouth.

The plant-based menu at Mott 32 is a standalone menu alongside the restaurant’s usual menu, and will be rolled out across all its global locations in 2021.

Mott 32, Standard Chartered Bank Building, 4-4a Des Voeux Road, Central, +852 2885 8688

Vegan Par-tea afternoon tea set at Miss Lee

Hong Kong doesn’t have nearly enough vegan afternoon tea set options, so we were excited to hear that Miss Lee had introduced a vegan ‘par-tea’ afternoon tea set in January. Located at the end of Wellington Street in Sheung Wan, Miss Lee’s vegan afternoon tea set comes in an elegant bamboo cage with an assortment of Chinese-British treats.

Highlights included the fluffy hawthorn and black sesame scones, tapioca crackers in wasabi and lotus root and curry and beetroot flavours, pumpkin cakes, X.O. sauce rice noodle rolls and red date and coconut milk cake. Accompanied by your choice of tea or fruit juice, this guilt-free indulgence is available for only HK$138 per person.

Miss Lee, G/F, The Wellington, 198 Wellington Street, Sheung Wan, +852 2881 1811

See also: The best vegan desserts in Hong Kong

Rollin’

Part of Landmark’s Belowground offerings, Rollin’ is a Korean food and lifestyle brand selling rice rolls alongside caps, T-shirts and hoodies. Their savoury rice rolls and roll cakes come in mini bespoke sneaker boxes, and come in flavours from keto egg salad to Mortadella sandwich. Mixing and matching the flavours within the box, we tested the truffle beef rice roll and the Korean fishcake, which were wrapped in a crispy seaweed wrapper and stuffed with warm rice and crispy lettuce. We’ll definitely be back to try the other flavours as they are (wait for it…) rolled out.

Rollin, Belowground, Basement Floor, LANDMARK, Central

Drunken Pot lunch set

With restaurants closed for dinner and cooler temperatures in Hong Kong, The Drunken Pot’s lunchtime sets are a godsend for hot pot fanatics. Priced at HK$68 for 60 minutes and HK$108 for 90 minutes, the sets are available between 12-6pm and include more than 50 free-flow broths, dishes, snacks, desserts and beverages – even on weekends.

On our visit, we tried the Malaysian laksa seafood broth accompanied with gorgeous sea views from our windowsill table, along with unlimited orders of celtuce, fishballs, dumplings, mushrooms and vegetables (they also have plenty of meat options for carnivores).

Drinks and desserts are also free-flow, which included bubble tea, monk fruit and chrysanthemum tea, condensed milk and taro balls and Taiwanese shaved ice with melon. Act fast, because the Drunken Pot’s lunchtime sets are only available until 28 February 2021.

Drunken Pot, 27/F, V Point, 18 Tang Lung Street, Causeway Bay, +852 2323 7098

Leaves & Liberty pop-up

Available as a pop-up at Beef & Liberty in the month of January (with several plant-based items staying on the menu afterward), the Leaves & Liberty takeover offered a huge menu of vegan options at the usual meaty restaurant.

We had the chance to try a few starters, including the creamed corn, mushroom tempura and salads, but the highlight was definitely their plant-based burgers. The Impossible Double Smashed with Cheese was a hearty, beefy alternative to the real thing, while the ‘Shrumami burger and its homemade quinoa patty was a bit less satisfying due to its grainy texture. We loved Peggy Chan’s limited edition burger the most – called The Aftershroom, it featured a breaded Lion’s Mane mushroom patty with homemade ‘veganise’, Yangnyeom sauce and butter lettuce. The sweet potato buns also added a subtle sweet flavour, while the kimchi slaw added crunch.

See all options from Leaves & Liberty’s plant-based menu.

Beef & Liberty, 3/F California Tower, 30-32 D’Aguilar St, Central, +852 2450 5778

Pirata weekend brunch

Famed for their brunch, dunch and funch, Pirata continues to offer value-for-money menus with antipasto, starters, mains and desserts. Priced at HK$298 per head, some of the crowd favourites include the lobster spaghetti (Mancini spaghetti, live Boston lobster, bisque, brandy and cherry tomatoes), lasagne pesto alla Genovese (pecorino cheese, green beans, pine nuts and basil) and the orecchiette with sausage and N’djuja (homemade orecchiette, Italian sausage, spicy n’djuja and cherry tomatoes).

Be sure to add two hours of free-flow wine, Peronis or peach Bellinis for just HK$180 per person.

Pirata, 30F, 239 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai, +852 2887 0270