The Continental

A grill held to brasserie form

Char, rest and a clean slice decide most of the plates at The Continental in Admiralty, Hong Kong, a modern reading of the grand European cafe that opened in October 2014. The founding kitchen language came through the UK chef and food writer Rowley Leigh as chef consultant, who brought a compact, low-fuss Anglo-French brasserie menu to a city that mostly specialises meal by meal. Swire Hotels operates the venue, which occupies a stand-alone structure on the roof of the Pacific Place mall at driveway plaza level, L4, 88 Queensway, with cityscape views across a garden courtyard. Current descriptions name Executive Chef Graham Long as the keeper of the classically influenced menu, seasonal in its movement and built for all-day use without becoming loose.

Market fish, prime meat, and the Josper

The kitchen works market-fresh fish, oysters, crustacea, prime meats, poultry and vegetables over the Josper grill, and the signature dishes sit squarely in that lane. Ribeye depends on char, rest and correct slicing. Lobster spaghetti has to keep the shellfish sweet while the pasta stays taut. Jerusalem artichoke risotto asks for earth, starch and patience rather than ornament. Around them the house has been known for smoked Loch Duart salmon, grilled tiger prawn, mushroom soup, hamachi scallop ceviche, bream, kedgeree, pastries, and griddled scallops with chestnut purée, shiso and lemon. The wine program is curated rather than encyclopedic, and service is built around the table's appetite instead of a cellar performance. Small plates run beside the a la carte card, which is what lets one room carry breakfast through late-night drinks.

Natural light over the pass

The room works in a way many Hong Kong dining rooms cannot. The main dining room is high-ceilinged and warm with natural light, while the covered terrace gives the place its second rhythm: air moving across the table, the garden courtyard close by, Admiralty's office and hotel traffic held at a small remove. David Collins Studio drew the interiors, and a refurbishment around 2022 and 2023 sharpened the outdoor terrace. Noise stays conversational, which changes how the craft lands. A ribeye can arrive without theater. A plate of lobster spaghetti can be read for sauce, pasta and shellfish rather than occasion. The room gives the kitchen permission to stay clear.

The terrace as the lasting station

The place matters because Hong Kong has few European brasseries with this much outdoor ease attached to a serious grill, and because it stayed open and hospitable through the difficult years after 2020. Reimagined by The Upper House, it holds its position as one of the city's foremost al fresco rooms. If the kitchen ends on craft rather than novelty, it ends with ribeye, lobster spaghetti and the covered terrace at Pacific Place.