Elsewhere in this journal I wrote a review of my favorite pub/bar, Carnegies. So here’s a review of my favorite cocktail lounge, Half Past Ten. Located above Lan Kwai Fong and below Caine Rd. at 10 Glenealy St. in Central, it can be hard to find but that’s part of its charm. If you get lost looking for it, grab your cell phone and dial 2869-9089 for directions.
In fact, if we hadn’t moved to a flat around the corner from it, we would have never discovered it ourselves. We wandered in one evening after telling ourselves, many times, that "We should check this place out." We finally did and met Flora, the hostess and server, and Paddy, the bartender, and found out that Happy Hour is two-for-one on drinks, and were hooked from then on.
The problem for me with Hong Kong cocktail lounges (as opposed to pubs or bars) has always been that they were either in hotels and mostly patronized by tourists and business people (besides being very pricey), or they were places where I didn’t feel welcome because I didn’t speak Cantonese. Half Past Ten has neither of those drawbacks. It’s not cheap, but with a half-price Happy Hour, Pam and I could drink and gossip for an hour or so for about the same cost as regular time in a pub. Flora and Paddy went out of their way to make us feel welcome. They left us alone when we want that, too.
The ambiance is intimate and comfortable, with couches along the walls and a small bar. The place is divided into a number of small rooms and alcoves so that even when it’s crowded, privacy is possible. The sound system is excellent and the music is usually made up of old standard jazz, soft rock, and blues later in the evening.
It has an excellent selection of whiskeys and other liquors, and the usual selection of mixed drinks with some "Signature" drinks you can only get here. They also feature Champagne Cocktails, Margaritas, and Martinis. I particularly like the Flirtini; champagne, cointreau, vodka, and pineapple juice, and the Crantini; Triple Sec, Dry Vermouth, Vodka, and Cranberry Juice. My wife Pam usually drinks wine, and they have some really good stuff at reasonable prices. They also have some very good stuff at much higher prices. They have Stella Artois, my favorite, and Hoegaarden, a wheat beer, on tap. They also serve "Mocktails" and juices for those who abstain from alcohol.
We usually drop in early so I can’t speak for its late-night ambiance, but they stay open as late as they need to depending on customer demand. They open at 5pm, but it’s best to show up closer to 5:30 or 6 so they can get their act together. They’re open every day.
After 14 years of avoiding so-called cocktail lounges, it’s nice to find one we really like.