Netflix and chill: how to beat winter when the polar vortex hits Hong Kong this weekend

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If you’ve never had cheese fondue, this weekend is crying out for you to give it a try. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Daniel Mossin Hong KongandBernice Chanin Vancouver

Published: 2:42pm, 20 Jan 2016Updated: 3:03pm, 20 Jan 2016

A freak weather system is about to push icy conditions straight from the Arctic Circle to Hong Kong, so we’ve put together a guide to the best ways you can stand up to winter and experience the best warming fun this city can offer.

1. Hotpot

This steaming table-top cooking method is sure to banish cold. Here are some of Hong Kong’s best hotpot restaurants.

Dong Lai Shun at the basement of the Royal Garden Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui East offers its signature mutton hotpot, with the meat from Inner Mongolian black-headed mutton sliced so thinly it’s cooked in seconds and stays tender even when boiled for a long time. The restaurant also serves a mean ma po tofu.
B2/F, Royal Garden Hotel, 64 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East. Tel: 2733 2020

A selection of foods to dip in a hot pot at Megan's Kitchen. Photo: SCMP Pictures

For the adventurous eaters out there, Megan’s Kitchen offers colourful dumplings and soup bases to keep your meal interesting, like Parma ham consommé hotpot soup base, anchovy pork balls and courgette and cherry tomatoes with Parma ham dumplings.
5/F, Lucky Centre, 165-171 Wan Chai Road, Wan Chai. Tel: 2588 8305

The Drunken Pot’s four-cornered offering. Photo: Supplied

Or head to where the hipsters are going to warm themselves up over in Tsim Sha Tsui to the newest hotpot place in town, The Drunken Pot. There the hotpots pack an alcoholic punch with “sake bombs”. Or spice it up with Szechuan Mala. Fill the hotpot with items from Angus beef to Alaskan King crab.
Restaurant 1, 2/F, No. 8 Observatory Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Tel: 2321 9038

2. Go to Switzerland

Roll-neck sweaters used to be mandatory for fondue to fit with open fires and shag rugs, but they’re optional now.