BEIJING

Sunday library afternoon tea

The Victorian Age tradition of afternoon tea comes to life at Chapter, as Godiva chocolate and Conrad Beijing team up to create a blend of new and old favorites to tempt and warm you. Scones with clotted cream and sweet jams, savory finger sandwiches, assorted cakes and pastries abound on the library shelves, with soothing live music. 228 yuan ($13.90) plus service charge including free-flow coffee, tea and hot chocolate; 428 yuan plus service charge with free-flow champagne.

Sundays beginning Jan 15, 3-5:30 pm; 29 North Dongsanhuan Road, Chaoyang district. 010-6584-6270.

HONG KONG

Dinner with a bang

The annual Chinese New Year fireworks show above Victoria Harbor is one of the world's great spectacles, and Upper House chef Gray Kunz offers guests a special menu to enjoy on the second day of the New Year, Jan 29, with a front-row seat for the fireworks.

Priced at HK$1,288 ($166), the five-course menu will include Fine de Claire oysters with Mandarin granite, followed by double-boiled oxtail consomme with truffle-cabbage dumplings. The main course will be XO-butter poached Maine lobster with sauteed pea sprouts and black tea-glazed pigeon with foie gras pastilla. Desserts include Kunz's signature sweet: milk chocolate paved with pomegranate and cashew nuts. Vegetarian options are also available.

Pacific Place, 88 Queensway. 852-2918-1838.

Street food's fresh new look

ZS Hospitality Group has opened its fourth and final concept, Lee Lo Mei, in No 8 Lyndhurst Terrace. Culinary director Joe Lee and head chef Max Lee pay homage to old Hong Kong-style street food as they give dishes a modern twist. The menu features Hong Kong-style small plates and big plates including local canteen style dishes, cast-iron grill-cooked dishes, claypot rice, and "Lee's Dessert Surprise". Signature dishes include spicy shelter crab (steamed hand-picked fresh crab meat and roe, dried-shrimp, garlic chili crumbs) for HK$108 ($13.90), and steamed cheung fun (rice noodle steamed with sous-vide chicken, foie gras, black truffle and mushroom consomme) for HK$138.

G/F-1/F, 8 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central district. 852-2896-1838.

Dinner comes with a hammer

China Tang Landmark is hosting a range of dining performances, available to groups of six to 24. Our fave is the flaming clay-pot chicken (HK$688 for six to 12 people): a deboned bird is stuffed with braised pork, red dates, crushed chestnuts and other goodies and baked for hours in layers of lotus leaf and clay. Presented at the table, the clay shell is set on fire, then whacked with a hammer to reveal the juicy chicken inside. Other dishes in the show include Peking duck carving and Malaysian tea pouring.

4/F, Landmark Atrium, 15 Queen's Road, Central district. 852-2522-2148.

China Daily