Food Opera

Grand Century Plaza is not the prettiest mall in the world, especially if you’re looking at it once you exit the Mongkok East MTR station. The place is stuffy and has a slightly musty smell clinging in the air as a result of the ongoing renovations. It can get kind of packed too because the renovations close off some of the areas of the floor, meaning there’s less of a pathway for people to walk on.
But it you keep going up, the mall will start to look good as new — it literally is, because those floors have just finished undergoing renovations. Food Opera, the food court, is located on the third floor.
Food Opera is actually owned by a Singaporean company, similar to Food Republic — hence Singaporean stalls like Toast Box and Hainanese Sergeant Chicken Rice. I have been here a couple of times, and generally I avoid food courts because it’s impossible to find a seat and the food, although cheap, isn’t great — but Food Opera is one food court that I don’t mind going to. It doesn’t get too crowded so it’s never really difficult to get a seat, unlike many food courts in HK!
There’s a good variety of food — Singaporean (of course), Thai, traditional Cantonese food like BBQ pork rice, and even express teppanyaki! At this food court, I’ve visited the Toast Box, the chicken rice stall and the Thai food one. I prefer going to an actual Toast Box that is its own restaurant (like the Times Square or Jordan one) just because it’s less crowded, but the standard of the food is not bad. The chicken rice is really good — the chicken meat is nice and tender, but I find the portion a little bit on the small side. The Thai food stall has a good amount of Thai favorites like pineapple and fried rice, all of which are plenty generous in portion and are pretty good too.
One thing that’s a little strange about their ordering system is if you order a drink with your meal, you have to bring the receipt and go to the food court’s drinks counter and collect it. This can be a little annoying because depending on where you are, you have to make a round.
So if you’re at GCP and don’t know what to eat, head for the food court. You’ll be spoilt for choice and the prices are very reasonable!