InterContinental Hong Kong’s View Of The Fireworks, Photo Credit: InterContinental Hotels Group
The Year of the Rooster is upon us and, around the world, multi-course dinners are being served and fireworks are being set off. We’ve rounded up six places to ring in the Chinese New Year, from an oceanfront restaurant in Bali to an urban hideaway on New York’s Fifth Avenue.
San Francisco
Just a block from Chinatown, Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco makes a great base for ringing in the new year.
Pick up one of the hotel’s free Chinatown guides and spend the day exploring the vibrant neighborhood. Back at the hotel, sip a warming 60 Year cocktail (so named for the lunar calendar’s 60-year cycle) or Chinese teas with pastries like lychee layer cake.
The St. Regis Bali Resort’s Kayuputi, Photo Credit: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc
Bali
This year, Chinese New Year falls on January 28, but The St. Regis Bali Resort starts its celebrations on January 27. After a dynamic lion dance performance, dinner will be served in Boneka and Kayuputi Restaurant.
Dinner is family-friendly at Boneka, with a buffet spread that features goodies like Wagyu beef, crispy Peking duck, oysters, river prawns and an untraditional, but no less delicious, tandoori station. Cap things off on a sweet note with a trip to the restaurant’s chocolate fountain.
At ocean-view Kayuputi, dinner is a six-course degustation menu, which welcomes in the year with Hokkaido scallops, Canadian lobster and Soon Hock fish.
Hong Kong
The annual fireworks display (January 29) over Victoria Harbour is stunning, and The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, the city’s tallest hotel, is one of the best places to see it. All five restaurants and bars at this Forbes Travel Five-Star property are hosting Chinese New Year soirées.
Four-Star Tosca is serving an Italian prix-fixe menu on Sunday.
Four-Star Tin Lung Heen is putting on the ritz January 28 through February 11 with six inventive courses at lunch and eight at dinner.
Better for families will be the afternoon tea service and the lunch and dinner buffets at Café 103.
Five-Star InterContinental Hong Kong also rests on the harbor and, with its walls of windows, is a prime spot for catching the fireworks that light up the city. The hotel fully utilizes its excellent vantage point by having a Chinese New Year dinner in its signature restaurant, Four-Star Yan Toh Heen. The eatery is hosting an eight-course fireworks dinner on January 29, featuring Yoshihama abalone, barbecued suckling pig and crispy lobster roll.
Until February 2, a five-course menu including dishes such as wok-fried Wagyu beef and fried rice with scallops and crab roe are also available.
For more casual fireworks viewing, sip cocktails and listen to live jazz in the Lobby Lounge.
Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto’s High Tea, Photo Credit: Shangri-La International Hotel Management LTD
Toronto
Kick off festivities January 28 at Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto’s Lobby Lounge with a traditional lion dance. Admire the agile dancers as they perform rigorous routines to the beat of the drums.
Afterward, stay for some tea and music from a live band. The Toronto hotel is known for its excellent afternoon teas, so don’t miss this seasonal edition, created specially to mark the beginning of the Year of the Rooster.
Available through February 4, the tea includes finger sandwiches like poached Atlantic lobster with citrus crème fraîche on brioche and a barbecue duck bun in a rice paper roll with marinated wild mushroom, coriander shoots and ginger emulsion.
You won’t be able to resist pastries like Chinese five-spice scones served with housemade pandan-leaf curd, strawberry jam and Cornish clotted cream.
Taipei
Book one of Four-Star Regent Taipei’s Chinese New Year packages (January 27 to February 1), and you’ll gain access to classes that will immerse you in Chinese culture, including calligraphy, paper-cutting and Dragon Beard candy-making (similar to cotton candy, but even better).
On January 28, the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar, a colorful dragon dance will take place in the lobby, ushering in a prosperous and auspicious Year of the Rooster.
The Peninsula New York, Photo Credit: The Peninsula Hotels
New York
On the other side of the ocean, Five-Star The Peninsula New York celebrates the Year of the Rooster with a special room package, dinner, afternoon tea (think Peking duck buns instead of scones) and fun activities. Try your hand at calligraphy or preparing Chinese dishes, too.
The aforementioned room promotion consists of a suite upgrade, breakfast (Chinese or continental) and an extra bed at no cost, making it ideal for families. Suite guests can also hop into a chauffeured Mini Cooper and tool around New York for three hours.
On January 28, Four-Star restaurant Clement hosts a Chinese New Year Kitchen Table dinner, where you will tuck into rich pork belly foie gras and Hainanese-style chicken.
