Laila Harilela is public relations director of the Harilela Hotels group, which includes The Hari and the Holiday Inn Golden Mile.
I’m a real foodie who eats everything. I guess it comes from my father, really. When all my sisters went off to study and moved out after marrying, I was left and he would recreate dishes from restaurants. Plus, my Chinese nanny was also a really good cook.
I used to steam salted fish in my flat in the Harilela house and the whole floor would scold me. “What’s the matter with you, Laila! The house stinks now.” I would think, “Hey, that’s my lunch.”
I really like The Satay Inn in The Fullerton (2/F, The Fullerton Ocean Park Hotel, 3 Ocean Drive, Wong Chuk Hang. Tel: 2166 7455). My friends and I like to go for a delicious chicken curry and some veggies with salted fish. I can’t wait to go back and try more dishes. The view also just takes your breath away. The sea is so calm.
I love Sichuan, and the food is amazing in Grand Majestic Sichuan (Shop 301, Alexandra House, 16-18 Chater Road, Central. Tel: 2151 1299). The atmosphere is pretty good too, although I found the music is a little too loud to talk.
For Cantonese, I do like Loong Yuen (Basement 1, Holiday Inn Golden Mile, 50 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Tel: 2315 1006). I’ve tried so many places but the food is usually the same. It’s got to the point if I’m just getting the usual dishes I don’t need to go elsewhere. I love the Chinese fried chicken with the prawn crackers. They also just started serving Peking duck with different condiments and presentation and it’s really good.
I also love a good wonton noodle. In Tsim Sha Tsui, I would go to Mak’s Noodle (19 Lock Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Tel: 2301 3233). It’s quite famous. I love the broth, I love the bite-sized wontons. Everything is perfect for me. It’s my place to go to for a quick meal with wontons and a plate of vegetables.
In Kowloon Tong, we order things like salted fish diced chicken fried rice and stir-fried noodles from Kam Kee Cafe (Shop 5-8, 13-15, Franki Centre, 320 Junction Road, Kowloon Tong. Tel: 2207 0488), which is also a bar.
I love Thai food too. We go to Namo Avant Thai Restaurant (Shop G18, Empire Centre, 68 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Tel: 2739 1133). Their basil chicken is one of our favourites.
There’s another beautiful place to go on a late afternoon called The Bayside (Shop G1, G/F, Whampoa Garden, 18 Tak Fung Street, Hung Hom. Tel: 2123 2177). Even on a hot day, there’s always a breeze. They do really good baby-sized pizzas called pizzettes that are so crispy and are great with a glass of champagne or a margarita. It feels like being in the Mediterranean.
Overseas, one of my favourite places is in Lisbon, Portugal. It’s called Pateo (Rua Nova da Trindade 18, Lisbon. Tel: +351 21 583 0290). Really beautiful – I want to go back. It’s part of a big place incorporating three different restaurants inside. If you go up, there’s a big bar and you look over all the diners on the balcony.
