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Charmaine Mok
Charmaine Mok
Hong Kong
@supercharz
Deputy culture editor 
Charmaine Mok is the Deputy Culture Editor at SCMP and the desk's food and wine specialist. She has been working in food media since 2007, and most memorably drank 50 coffees over three days in the name of research. She’s devoted to telling unexpected stories of the dining scene in Asia and those who shape it, and is always in the mood for noodles and/or a cheeky beverage.

In this week’s issue of the Global Impact newsletter, we take a deep dive into Chinese food culture, its history and how it influences cuisines from around the region.

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Picture this: while watching a cult Japanese food film, you get a craving for the dishes you see displayed on screen. At Savour Cinema in Hong Kong, you get served exactly that.

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Li combines his French and Chinese fine-dining training at his new Hong Kong restaurant Jee, where he and mentor Siu Hin-chi are devising complicated twists on classic dishes.

We examine Chinese superstitions and traditions about foods to eat and avoid in pregnancy, some of them still practised today, others not – such as eating the head of a white-haired dog.

A Charli XCX ‘brat’-themed matcha latte, a Shanghainese and Sichuanese mash-up, a festival dedicated to sardines and other Portuguese food – it is all happening in Hong Kong this weekend.

Restaurant A, recently opened by Raw’s former head chef Alain Huang, is a notable addition to the ranks of one-Michelin-star restaurants in Taiwan, which now number 40.

You may not have been up at 4am on July 27 (or maybe you were) for a McDonald’s McGriddles sandwich, but at these five places in Hong Kong making their own versions, there are no early-morning queues.

Hong Kong coffee culture gets an extra shot with five new cafes that serve up a wide selection of cakes, snacks and hot dishes, and of course, great lattes and more.

From a 14-course steak brunch for two to a two-hour chocolate-making workshop to sampling the hottest noodle trend in Japan, some of the best food and drink options this weekend in Hong Kong.

After Japanese egg salad sandwiches (tamago sando) started appearing in US 7-Elevens without Kewpie mayonnaise, Charmaine Mok visited the Kewpie mayonnaise museum to discover its secrets.

An English breakfast pizza collaboration, Japanese barbecue served by buff staff, a social enterprise bakery cafe – there is no shortage of new food and drink experiences to have this weekend.

This weekend in Hong Kong, you can try afternoon tea with Doraemon, Asian food with a Korean twist, a seven-course charity dinner, cocktails from two veterans, and catch a private chef at large.

In business nearly 120 years, Liu Ma Kee closed almost overnight on July 18. Two weeks earlier, a public health alert about bacteria levels in a batch of its fermented tofu had led to a rush of product returns.

Coa dethroned as No 1 on the ranking for 2024 by another Hong Kong bar, newcomer Bar Leone, which went straight into top place. Macau earned its first spot on the list, and Singapore again had the most venues.

Shingo Gokan, owner of 10 bars spanning Japan, China and the US, talks about the moments leading to the opening of his eponymous new cocktail bar in Hong Kong’s Central neighbourhood.

Whether it’s Chinese, Japanese, pizza, posh hotel seafood or any other, buffets are much-loved by diners and everyone has their own strategy – including ones that help you avoid awkward conversations.