Hong Kong Day 1: Kowloon Shangrila Hotel, Chao Zhou Restaurant, Nathan Road, Aberdeen Fishball and Noodle Restaurant

As you may notice in my previous blog entries, I am a huge fan of Shangrila hotels and resorts! My recent stay in Shangrila Mactan sealed my loyalty to the chain as they always exceed my expectations. I originally booked my hotel somewhere in Wanchai but switched to Kowloon Shangrila at the last minute. With a perfect location in Tsim Sha Tsui East and ultra spacious rooms compared to Hong Kong standards, I can say that Kowloon Shangrila is definitely the best value 5 star hotel in the city.

We were very fortunate enough to have been upgraded by Shangri-la with complimentary Horizon Club lounge access and daily breakfast. Now I am getting hooked to hotel lounges! The Horizon Club in Kowloon Shangri-la is one of the best I’ve been. The service is fantastic and the people manning the club are always eager to help. The lounge opens toward an expansive  beautiful view of Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong island and is breathtaking during night time.The food quality is top notch. Every afternoon, I am always eagerly waiting for the gourmet sandwiches, my favorite of which is the salmon sandwich. During early evenings, light but high-quality finger foods are served. Drinks both alcoholic and non-alcoholic are served through out the day. Since we’re non-alcoholic drinkers, my brother drowned himself with Nepresso coffee, I drowned myself with Evian water.  Overall, I think the Horizon Club in Kowloon Shangri-la is a good value for money which I am willing to personally spend for. If you want to book Horizon Club rooms, I recommend you to book through Agoda where the club rooms with free lounge access and breakfast cost only about USD125.00 more.

Cozy Lounge

Fruits served during afternoons.

Here’s my favorite salmon sandwich.

Evening canapes – orange fish eggs over pan fried scallops, pork bun, fried dumpling, and sushi.

Smoked salmon with crakers.

Fantastic Hong Kong evening skyline view from the Kowloon Shangrila Horizon Club Lounge.

Kowloon Shangrila Room Tips

If you are booking a Deluxe Room, make sure to request for a partial harbour view room. Rooms facing the Tsim Sha Tsui Center building have better views than the other side.

Day Time view from Kowloon Shangrila Deluxe Room – Partial Harbour View

Night Time view from Kowloon Shangrila Deluxe Room – Partial Harbour View

Compare Rates of Kowloon Shangri-la Hong Kong from 30+ Sites in One Search

Lunch at Chao Zhou Restaurant

Since we arrived at almost past noon time, our first agenda in our Hong Kong is to find gastronomic Cantonese food to fill our hungry tummies. We explored the surrounding area of Kowloon Shangri-la and found that there are a quite a number of high-end restaurants in the nearby buildings. Since we are looking for an authentic hole in the wall Cantonese restaurant, we followed where the workers normally eat and found Chao Zhou Restaurant tucked in the basement of the building across.

The facade of the restaurant is very unassuming but their beef rice is to die for. The food in Chao Zhou is cheap given the huge servings. Prepare to spend HKD 35 to HKD 60 (USD 4.50 to USD 8.00) per person. You can find a more detailed review of Chao Zhou Restaurant in my Hong Kong Food Trip blog series as part of Cheap Eats.

Nathan Road

After a very satisfying meal in Chao Zhou Restaurant, we walked for about 10 minutes to reach the most famous street in Hong Kong which is Nathan Road. This is the major shopping street in Hong Kong selling all kinds of stuff from clothing, medicines to electronics. Since it is not our intent to do shopping in Hong Kong, we just window shopped. For me, Nathan Road is too crowded with people, endlessly busy from day to night. Despite of the maddening crowd, I still like this street as this showcases the real Hong Kong.

From small clothing shops…

to big clothing shops like H&M and Giordano…

to Sasa beauty stores…all can be found along Nathan Road.

Dinner at Aberdeen Fishball and Noodle Restaurant

We explored Nathan Road and its nearby side streets for the whole afternoon. While passing along Humpreys Avenue, one restaurant caught our eye due to its retro look. Since we saw a lot of people inside, we decided to have our dinner in Aberdeen Fishball and Noodle Restaurant. This restaurant is much more expensive than Chao Zhou so be prepared to spend HKD 120 – 150 per person (USD 16 – 20 per person). Be sure to order their Peking duck!

You can find a more detailed review of Aberdeen Fishball Restaurant in my Hong Kong Food Trip blog series as part of Mid-range Dining.