Start the Year of the Ox in the luckiest way possible: with a Lunar New Year banquet. By HK Staff. The Lunar New Year banquet is one of the most important feasts of the year. Families gather to dine on auspicious-sounding foods, including hair moss, or “fat choi,” a play on the Chinese phrase “get rich,” and sun-dried oysters, “hou si,” phonetically identical to “good market.” Here’s where to start your new year with a bang.

1. Fook Lam Moon
Situated between Wan Chai and Admiralty, the flagship location of this famous Cantonese restaurant—now with one Michelin star—features two banquet menus. Classic dishes include salted chicken, baked stuffed crab and a crispy suckling pig. Don’t forget the ubiquitous black moss and dried oysters stewed in a thick oyster sauce.
35-45 Johnston Rd., Wan Chai, 2866-0663.

2. Yan Toh Heen
Yan Toh Heen’s “Fat Choy” menu offers traditional Lunar New Year delicacies with a modern twist. At $988 per person, it’s available Jan 25 and 26, and Jan 28-Feb 9. Try their garoupa rolls with asparagus, whole abalone, and wagyu beef roll with enoki mushrooms. The traditional black moss and dried oyster dish is served sizzling in a Korean-style stone pot. Save some room for the multi-grain rice with scallop, pinenuts and chestnuts wrapped and steamed in a lotus leaf, a far healthier option than fried rice. Last but not least, dessert is sweetened bird’s nest and sesame dumplings in red bean cream.
InterContinental, 18 Salisbury Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, 2313-2323.

3. Ming Court
Award-winning chef Tsang of Ming Court is set to cook up a storm this Lunar New Year. Try his top dishes from Jan 26 to Feb 8, which include braised spare ribs soup with black moss, dried oysters and lotus root; steamed egg with bird’s nest and assorted seafood; bamboo pith stuffed with crabmeat and egg white; and braised abalone with black mushrooms and savory Yunnan ham. To “open the year” with a luncheon, try his dim sum specialties such as steamed pork dumplings with sea moss, dried oyster and pig’s tongue, double-boiled pear with orange peel and Chinese herbs, and his famous pan-fried Chinese New Year pudding.
6/F, Langham Place, 555 Shanghai St., Mong Kok, 3552-3300.

4. Angelini
For something a little different, the renowned Italian restaurant at the Kowloon Shangri-La is presenting a Capodanno Chinese menu, a four-course blend of Chinese and Italian flavors. Available from Jan 26 to Jan 31, the set features such interesting fusion items as braised abalone with Chinese dried sausage with a balsamic reduction, linguine with garlic, extra virgin olive oil and dried fish eggs; a choice of either red garoupa with mushroom ravioli in fish consommé or slow-baked pork shank with mango mustard for the main, and rice pudding with pistachios. The set menu is priced at $780 per person.
Kowloon Shangri-La, 4 Mody Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, 2733-8750.

5. Cucina
With its jaw-dropping harbor view, Cucina is offering two Chinese New Year dinner sets featuring contemporary and classic Cantonese dishes. The $888 menu features pan-fried foie gras and suckling pig, grilled jumbo scallop and honey Yunnan ham, braised abalone stuffed with hairy melon, poached sliced chicken with vegetables and a glutinous rice dumpling in pumpkin soup for dessert. The $688 menu includes an Asian appetizer platter, golden-fried oysters with onion sauce, braised sea cucumber with shiitake, steamed garoupa fillet with bamboo pith on lotus leaf, and aromatic steamed rice with preserved sausage and chicken. The meal ends with ground almond purée with glutinous rice dumpling.
6/F, Marco Polo Hong Kong Hotel, Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, 17 Canton Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, 2113-0808.

6. Man Wah
The Mandarin Oriental Hotel’s Chinese restaurant, with a view of the city and beautiful ceiling lanterns, will be open during Lunar New Year for you to enjoy a special Cantonese feast. Savor some of the chef’s specialties such as wok-fried lobster in chili sauce, bird’s nest soup with crabmeat, and deep-fried garoupa fillet.
The Mandarin Oriental, 5 Connaught Rd., Central, 2825-4003.

Poon Choi
If you’re looking for a more rustic Cantonese dining experience, visit a walled village in the New Territories. Locals feast on poon choi, a time-honored village dish with layers of ingredients served in a metal basin. Customarily eaten on festival days, poon choi symbolizes prosperity and abundance.

Ping Shan Traditional Poon Choi
Run by members of the Tang clan, Ping Shan is regarded as the city’s oldest and most traditional poon choi restaurant. It serves the basin dish with only the freshest shrimp, chicken, Chinese mushrooms and more. It also faces several historical monuments, like Hung Shing Temple and Kun Ting Study Hall, and is located at the starting point of the Ping Shan Heritage Trail, a five-minute walk from Tin Shui Wai MTR station.
G/F, 36 Tong Fong Village, Ping Ha Road, Yuen Long,
2617-8000.

Tai Foon Hei Poon Choi
Tai Foon Hei is another alternative for tasting one of the best traditional basin meals in Hong Kong. Try their signature abalone basin with savory oyster sauce. All poon choi here are made from ancestral recipes, and vegetarian versions are available for Buddhists and picky Westerners. Order by phone one day in advance.
G/F, 74-76 Kau Yuk Rd., Yuen Long, 2478-9395.

Tsui Hang Village
For deluxe poon choi in the city, Tsui Hang Village Restaurant’s coming out with some “Heritage Bowls.” Try the sumptuous casserole ($780 for six) with a whole fish stuffed with prawns, dried mussels and glutinous rice, stuffed bitter melon and deep-fried beancurd. For flavorful casserole from the Jiangsu province, try the whole duck ($880 for six) de-boned and stuffed with abalone, sea cucumber, oysters, lily bulbs, lotus seeds, mushrooms, fried beancurd skin flakes and preserved ham, all simmered in the duck’s own juices.
Tsui Hang Village Restaurant, 2/F, New World Tower, 16-18 Queen’s Rd. Central, 2524-2012.