Harbourside

Not only the food tastes so fresh, the service is excellent! Finally got my five-​star hotel service after experiencing ill treatment from Terranea in LA.

Harbourside café is on the lower level of the InterContinental Hong Kong right above the Tsimshatsui waterfront promenade. It directly faces Hong Kong Central with its skyscrappers. The view at night is fantastic, and the New Year fireworks offer a magnificent spectacle and passing cruise liners sail a mere 100 yards across the glass curtain wall (see picture attached). The big ones tower above the window wall. Their famous buffet began with the opening of the hotel in the early 1980s. It lines the entire narrow wall of the room parallel to the windows. Seating is usually 3 long rows along the length and about ²⁄₃ of the diners can have a view of the water.
The buffet has a huge array of appetizers with lots of shell fish and seafood as well as deli meats. Of course everyone goes for the Australian lobsters, split in half. Plenty of sushi as well as various kinds of noodles and Chinese barbecues and roasts. The salad selections are fresh and luscious green with lots of add on’s. They always have a huge Cantonese steamed fish (normally garoupa) which is irresistible. The carving station always has standing rib plus at least one other choice such as turkey. And the dessert spread is simply unrivaled with a chocolate fountain (two on Sundays). Their signature style of pastries and cakes is to make them small so that you can eat more variety. It is impossible to leave without being fully stuffed! For US$ 15, you can buy endless glasses of wine. On Sundays, this includes champagne.
For about 40 years this buffet has maintained its standards without fail. The other great HK buffet is at the Island Shangri-la’s Café Too which began about 15 years ago. The style is different. Reservation here for dinner on weekends is hard to get. But they have two seatings per night, 5:30 and 8:00. The online reservation page works well. If you are solo or party of two, you may be lucky by showing up around 7 when they can squeeze you in.
I have not seen such a fine buffet anywhere else outside of Hong Kong continue standards for so long. They’ve had similar in Beijing around the Olympics but by summer of 2012 it was all reduced vastly in opulence. Haven’t found one yet in the big Apple.

One of Hong Kongs great brunch options. On the pricier side but good quality and great service.
Being gluten intolerant these Vigers can always be a challenge but the Intercon have done it right and labelled every dish to indicate if gluten is present. The labeling also includes if nuts, dairy, or soy are present. However, if you don’t want to just go by what the label says they will happily have a chef walk you through the whole buffet to see what you can and can’t eat.
For the price it is nonsensical to not have the free flowing champagne or wine at only a $ 50 premium.

With a bunch of places in mind to go for brunch in and around Hong Kong, Harbourside at the Intercontinental was not far down my list. We made reservations a few weeks in advance because they book up quickly. The Sunday brunch that is offered is about $ 808HKD plus 10%. There is an option for free flow Champagne (Perrier Jouet) for about $ 858HKD plus 10%.
Having been here on numerous occasions for my share of boozy brunches, I feel the quality of the food has gone down in the recent year. A lot of people love having the lobsters and the cold seafood bar. The bar in my most recent visit seems a bit messy and not as much variety of the types of seafood begin offered.
The staff here are always very pleasant. There are servers walking around with bottles and bottles of champagne ready to top you up before you’re on empty. They keep the bubbles coming so you don’t even think about eating the food? That seems to be a tactic that worked on me. I didn’t notice the downfall of the food until my buzz wore off.
The brunch is one of the longer ones compared to other places. You can be seated starting 11:30 and the last drop of bubbly would be poured into your glass at 3:00. The cost of the buffet also covers you a drink at the end of your meal should you want a latte or tea to finish you off.