A terrific place to have a meal at Victoria Peak in 2025

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Things to do in Hong Kong - The Peak Lookout Restaurant

A terrific place to have a meal at Victoria Peak in 2025

The Big 3 at Victoria Peak in Hong Kong - The Peak Tower, the “wok” shaped building, the superb Peak Galleria Mall, the huge complex on the right and the absolutely terrific Peak Lookout Restaurant to the left with the reddish roof

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The Peak Lookout Restaurant | Victoria Peak | Hong Kong

The Peak Lookout Restaurant at Victoria Peak in Hong Kong is my favourite restaurant in Hong Kong by a long way, I have eaten in there many hundreds of times since 1972 and was there most recently on January 15th 2025 with two of my tour guide friends who treated me to a lovely birthday lunch.

My friends who treated me were Amy of Hong Kong Greeters and Ashley of Ashley M Private Tours, two of the very best private tour guides in Hong Kong!

Before you go into the restaurant, on the pavement look to the right, walk 10 yards and take a photo of one of the old historic and last remaining colonial postboxes, the original colour was red, it is a very rare sight!

I also wish they would perhaps consider going back to a 1950’s look for the Restaurant, this was when it was at its most iconic! notwithstanding that I love the whole English ambience with a light French Touch, the building is just so interesting and it is really something when darkness falls.

Over the years I have heard many negative comments about the restaurant and whilst the restaurant is not perfect (but what restaurant is?) to me it is outstanding. It is not a Chinese Restaurant it has a real international feel about it, a huge menu (the menu is like 2 feet in length!) and offers food from Asia and around the world.

Let me be clear, it is NOT cheap but it is also not expensive when you compare it too many restaurants in Hong Kong but it has something that many restaurants crave, it has a long, long history, it is an iconic building and after eating there for 53 years now, the food is just great.

I am NOT a food critic in any shape or form, I am just a regular guy that likes good food and the Peak Lookout Restaurant excels on all counts and NO this is not a sponsored ad for the restaurant! I am a pretty anonymous and they would not recognise me anyway and when my lunch dates told them it was my Birthday half way through our meal they really went the extra mile when desert was served up ! (my birthday was on January 13th) a classy place.

I am never quite sure how one defines what would be the “Best Restaurants in Hong Kong” food is such a personal thing and what I love you might hate, also I am pretty sure the Peak Lookout Restaurant is NOT listed in the Michelin Guide, I have eaten in a number of 3 star Michelin Restaurants in Hong Kong (both Chinese and European Restaurants), some food was pretty amazing as recognised by my country bumpkin palette and some was pretty average, I tell myself that eating food in a restaurant is not just about how the food tastes, it is an entire experience with many facets. I have eaten in over 1,250 Chinese Restaurants and countless Western Restaurants in Hong Kong since 1972 and yet my favourite remains to this day, the Peak Lookout Restaurant. go figure.

I have been to Victoria Peak or the Peak over 6,000 times since 1972, I cannot imagine a better place to relax and soak up the Hong Kong vibe and I get quite annoyed at people (both residents and visitors) who call the restaurant a tourist trap, of course everyone is entitled to an opinion but tourist trap?

If you want a reference to a restaurant that is a tourist trap at Victoria Peak then visit Bubba Gumps in the Peak Tower just 30 yards away from the Peak Lookout Restaurant (and by the way, the food is pretty good in Bubba Gumps, as mentioned I am just a regular guy)

This is a direct quote from a leading online lifestyle magazine in Hong Kong

“The Peak Lookout is a tourist magnet… and with that comes tourist prices. However, the view on a clear day and the serene old-school ambience is enough to attract even us locals. The international menu covers the best dishes from around the world – steaks, curries, even nachos – and it’s also the perfect spot for a romantic date too.”

Yes, this is a fairly standard description by many lifestyle magazines in Hong Kong, the journalist who wrote this article probably never did any research on the history and yes, Tourists eat in there but tourists are known to eat in pretty much any restaurant in Hong Kong, this does not mean it is a tourist trap!

Note the following :

Roughly by most estimates 6 - 7 million people use the Peak Tram yearly to go up (and down) to see the most magnificent city view in the world and that is just too tempting a figure to ignore for retailers and restaurant owners, it brings out the very worst in commercialism, it is estimated that given a lot of people use cars, taxis, buses and such to go up and down from the Peak you are talking probably a true figure of maybe 12 million people + who visit the Peak on a yearly basis and that is a conservative figure and it is going to get a lot worse. Mainland Chinese Tourists are roughly 75 - 80% of all tourists.

That is the sort of foot traffic that makes restaurateurs rub their hands with glee but no matter how many times I go to the Peak Lookout Restaurant it never feels crowded, (the restaurant is quite large) there are always empty tables and it has a very relaxing atmosphere and I always get the impression that at least half of the patrons are Hong Kong residents.

I have NEVER had a bad meal there, I find the staff to be very friendly and kind and yes, sometimes it feels they are short staffed but the restaurant is managed by a very famous and well regarded Restaurant Group, they know what they are doing.

If I had one small gripe it is the outdoor terrace, there are only a few months in the year when it would qualify as a pleasant experience as it is either to hot and humid or wet or too cold, I much prefer to be indoors and in the summer the bugs are a real menace if you are sat outside, you spend half the time swatting away bees, wasps and mosquitoes! - naturally this is just my personal opinion.

This is a comment on the Peak Lookout website which is not quite correct and even journalists and food critics call the it an iconic city | skyline view - eh????

This is the offending and incorrect quote and it really should be corrected

“Surrounded by lush greenery and panoramic views of Hong Kong’s skyline”

From the terrace there is certainly NO view of the panoramic Hong Kong Skyline which you get from the Peak Tower, The Lions Pavilion, the Peak Galleria or the stunning view from the Lugard Road Lookout, the building is one floor and is simply in the wrong location, you will understand if you stand in the terrace.

The view you do get is one of lush greenery, a reservoir, some tall apartment blocks and some of Hong Kong’s 263 islands + the South China Sea and trust me, the masses of huge trees and overgrown vegetation hinder even that view at times.

Please note that part of the alfresco dining area fronts onto Harlech Road and you still cannot see the panoramic city view as it is blocked by the Peak Tower and its loading area for trucks and such.

This does not (to me) detract from the overall experience, you are there for the ambience and great food!

So ladies and gentleman if you find yourself in Hong Kong then visit Victoria Peak and do drop into the Peak Lookout Restaurant for a GREAT meal!

ps, if you scroll down you will see the 2 images I took of the panoramic city view from the Lugard Road Lookout at Victoria Peak, the day view and the night view, let me be clear, this is NOT the view you get from anywhere in the Peak Lookout Restaurant!

The Peak Lookout Restaurant when it was known as the Peak Cafe from 1947 - 2001

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I do like to look at historic images, most people have no idea or would even give a moments thought to the historical significance of the Peak Lookout Restaurant (as it was named in 2001) formerly the Peak Cafe which opened in 1947 after WW2

It is a Grade 11 Historic Building

Architectural Merit of the Peak Lookout Building

The Old Peak Café was given Grade II Historic Building status in Hong Kong by the Antiquities and Monuments Office in 1981.

“ Old Peak Café is a pitched-roof single-storey building built in the style of an English country cottage. It is built in the style of architecture known as Arts and Crafts which was a popular style in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. Externally, notable architectural features are the stone walls, arched windows, black-and-white half timbering to the gable and
prominent stone chimney stack. The use of Chinese tiles for the roof is a local adaptation. The low random rubble masonry boundary wall and the trees and shrubs in the garden complete the image of a picturesque rustic cottage.”

I should point out that on quite a few articles written on the history of the Peak Cafe Building many quote that the building was around in the 18th Century (1701 - 1800) it was not, the earliest building was erected in the 19th Century!

My understanding is that prior to 1901 | 1902 when it became a Rickshaw | Sedan Chair depot the site had a building that was used by the Peak Tram Company which opened in 1888, The Peak Tram was built to essentially provide a means of transport to the Peak Hotel and later it became very handy for the Governor of Hong Kong who had a summer residence at the Peak.

The building was used as an Engineering shed as it were.

The building with its use as being a rickshaw | sedan chair depot faded as time marched on, roads were built, car sales exploded and the need for rickshaws | sedan chairs dwindled. The building was partially destroyed during the Japanese Occupation in WW2 when it was apparently used as a Police Station and after the war, the Peak Cafe was born. I often daydream about time travel and visiting Hong Kong in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, the Peak Cafe would have been my first stop!

The Peak Cafe thrived because even back then visiting Victoria Peak was the no. 1 thing to do in Hong Kong and yet in 1973 the restaurant faced closure as the Hong Kong Government had plans to redevelop the site, the Government wanted to use the land and build a multi storey car park to supplement the car park in front of the Peak Tower, a huge outcry erupted, petitions were signed, protests were held and the Government backed down and the Peak Cafe carried on… further protection for the building ensued in 1981 when it got its listing as a historic building.

The proposed car park has never been an issue since and in fact there is a huge car park under the Peak Galleria Mall which has more than enough capacity, the Peak Galleria Mall is on the site of the original car park.

Since 1973 the restaurant has thrived and as tourism numbers sky rocketed it was inevitable that changes might happen, the Hong Kong Government owns the land and the building and the Government Property Agency charges a hefty rent to restaurant operators… interest from large restaurant groups essentially forced out the original owner of the Peak Cafe, they simply offered the Government more rent.

So in 2001 the Peak Cafe closed and reopened as the Peak Lookout Restaurant and it is still there and still thriving.

Just for reference - In 2006 the rental of the Peak Lookout Restaurant was HK$1.8 million (US$229,630) a month in rent, this had dropped to HK$230,000 (US$29,490) in 2019 and currently it is a very reasonable HK$112,000 (US$14,360) per month, or 20 per cent of gross income (presumably whichever is higherC that is an astonishing drop in rent since 2006! please bear in mind that the lease to operate the restaurant is a bid system and clearly in 2006 the winning bid was made to wipe out any potential competition! Post Covid rents are a lot more reasonable.

My first meal there was in 1972 and since then I have been there many hundreds of times, it is by far my favourite restaurant in Hong Kong.!

One of those quirky oddities exists here when it comes to the Peak Cafe.

Prior to the 2001 bid for the rights to run a restaurant on the site of the Peak Cafe, the operator was the Cafe Deco Group. They lost out on the bid and in a fit of pique they refused to let the new owners use the name “Peak Cafe” and even went as far as opening the Peak Cafe Bar which is still located on Shelley Street off the Mid Levels escalator, it still causes confusion to this day!

This is why the name changed from Peak Cafe to the Peak Lookout Restaurant.

The Peak Mansion Apartment Block, the original Peak Tower and the Peak Cafe (The Peak Lookout Restaurant)

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Prior to the Peak Hotel closing in 1936 there was a very famous apartment block built in front of the Peak Hotel in 1928 which was demolished in 1990 to make way for the Peak Galleria. You can see the large white apartment block to the right of the original Peak Tower and car park. The apartments were bought by the Hong Kong Government in 1956 and used for senior Government Employees. I am guessing the image was taken in the 1970’s as this original version of the Peak Tower opened in 1972.

I personally have a lot of fond memories of the Peak Mansion Apartments, our family was involved in the June 1972 Kotewall Road Landslide disaster and we were made homeless and for 6 months (I was 11 years old! then) I stayed at a friends apartment in Peak Mansions and used to take the Peak Tram everyday to Bowen Road where my school was located, the Bowen Road Peak Tram Station did exist for a long time before it was closed down decades ago.

As you can imagine, I frequented the Peak Cafe many times given its close proximity to the Peak Mansion Apartments, prices were very affordable and kids were welcome… it became a hangout of sorts for a bunch of 11 and 12 year old kids living at Victoria Peak, yes they had kid friendly food - those were the days!

I cannot express how much I loved living at Victoria Peak and hanging out at the Peak Cafe.

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Jamie, Your Passionate Hong Kong Expert & Storyteller

Discover Hong Kong - Pearl of the Orient

Learn about the unbiased, real Hong Kong | forget what you read in the press!

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