December 21st, 2011
One of Hong Kong’s most glamorous bars for socialising and all-day dining – MO Bar is prominently located at the street level entrance to The Landmark Mandarin Oriental. Situated within the prestigious Landmark mixed retail-lifestyle-office development in the heart of the Central business and retail district, The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, since its 2005 opening, has established itself in the leading echelon of the many luxury hotel properties in Hong Kong. Combining a sleek, contemporary design with luxurious accommodations, and stellar dining and bar concepts, the hotel is the popular choice of a discerning international and local clientele. The MO Bar, together with the award winning ( Michelin two-starred) signature restaurant, Amber , highlight the consummate dining and social-drinking experiences presented by The Landmark Mandarin Oriental. MO Bar is renowned for it’s all-day dining, sumptuous cocktails, and the afternoon teas. In addition, special events are held during the year including Unplugged Concerts by leading international performers, the annual Masters Of Mixology event, and contemporary afternoon tea collaborations with famous fashion labels. With it’s inimitable style and sophistication, MO Bar has become one of the iconic bars of Hong Kong and asserts a glamorous and evocative attraction.
The entrance to MO Bar
MO Bar occupies a large, high ceiling space, opening directly off from the main entrance to the hotel. Full height glass windows overlook the traffic on Queens Road and suffuse the interior with natural light during the day. The contemporary design for the interior was created by renowned interior designer Adam Tihany who drew inspiration from the local influences of Hong Kong’s geography and internationalism. The entrance was created as an abstract boat-like feature – resembling a classic Hong Kong sailing junk. The design of the bar itself features a lotus pond effect, with a large mirrored “draw-bridge” highlighting the bottles display. At one end of the room an enormous red lighted circle mounted onto the wall overlooks the space- the large “O” being the Chinese character for “shared experience”. A staircase in the rear corner of the room leads up to a small private room- named the “Shell”- that partly overlooks the main bar area below.
Overlooking the main bar space
The all-day dining concept at MO Bar features fresh organic produce and commences in the mornings with a Breakfast Buffet, which is followed by an a la carte Lunch menu. Featured dishes from the Lunch menu include Tasmanian Salmon Tartare with chive cream & salmon eggs; Moroccan chicken with lemon & green olive tajine, carrot & navel orange salad with steamed couscous; and Traditional beef burger – 180g wagyu beef burger, romaine lettuce, claussen dill pickle, tomato & red onion relish, sesame seed bun. The Afternoon Tea is always popular and takes on a contemporary interpretation with selections of petite sandwiches and pastries accompanied by luxury teas. The selections are changed every month to take advantage of seasonal ingredients. And taking the Afternoon Tea experience to another level are the regular collaborations with prestigious international fashion brands to create distinctive dishes that draw inspiration from the ethos of the designers. The MO Bar chefs interpret the brand influences and express these in the sweet and savory dishes through the medium of shape, color, texture, ingredients etc.. See the photograph below of the Stella McCartney Afternoon Tea that was featured in March 2011.
The evenings bring cocktails from the extensive bar menu, Dining from the a la carte menu, and on Wednesday to Saturday evenings, the chic sounds from three resident DJ’s that play until the early hours. MO Bar also frequently host live music events, and invitation-only concerts by world renowned musicians. Previous guest performers have included- Annie Lennox, Alicia Keys and John Legend.
The bar- with mirrored “draw-bridge” feature
The “Big O”- dominates one end of the room- with DJ station in front
The bartender muddling a cocktail
The Bar Menu is highlighted by the signature, Asian-influenced creations- MOtini’s and MOcktails. The cocktails at MO Bar are prepared with premium spirits, all syrups and infusions are made in-house, and all fruit juices are freshly squeezed daily. The cocktail selections are categorized into groupings of “Classic & Vintage” and “Modern & Bespoke”. The Classics include the “air mail”– dating from c. 1919- Havana Club 7 Years rum, orange blossom honey, lime & n/v prosecco di conegliano; and the “hemingway daiquiri”- c. 1948- Havana Club 3 years rum, Luxardo maraschino liqueur, grapefruit & lime. Modern & Bespoke signatures include- “MOtox”- Belvedere cytrus vodka, Luxardo lemoncello , coriander, ginger root, cloudy apple, pineapple & lemon; and “MO rose petal”- Belvedere vodka, lychee liqueur, rose syrup & lychee.
Complimenting the cocktails, the Bar Menu also offers selections of premium spirits ( all standard pours are double shots – 50ml), vintage and n/v champagnes, whiskeys and single malts, sake and shochu, beer and cider, plus non-alcoholic Mocktails, fruit juices and soft drinks, premium Jing teas, and illy coffee.
“Taste of Life”– Aperol, Pimms No. 1, dry orange liquor, lemon juice, orange juice, honey, kumquat & sea salt. Created by the MO Bar resident mixologist John Ng after he found a jar of home-made kumquats at home, named “Taste of Life” because the drink is sweet, sour, a little salty and there is a pinch of bitterness in the aftertaste, much like life with its ups and downs.
Signature cocktail- “The MOtox” – Belvedere cytrus vodka, luxardo lemoncello, ginger root, cloudy apple, pineapple and lemon. Known to most locals as the Hong Kong cocktail – as it contains all the quintessential Chinese ingredients used in cooking.
The Stella McCartney Afternoon Tea- March 2011- based on her Spring /Summer 2011 collection
MO Bar at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
Address: The Landmark, 15 Queens Road, Central. Hong Kong
MTR: Central station – 3 minutes walk
Tel: +852. 2132 0077
Website: www.mandarinoriental.com/landmark/
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/TheLandmarkMandarinOriental
Opening hours:
Breakfast Buffet: Monday to Friday 07:00 ~ 10:30 am Saturday & Sunday 07:00 ~ 11:30 am
Lunch: Monday to Saturday: 12:00 ~ 3:00 pm Sunday: Lobster Lunch 12:00 pm ~ 2:15 pm
Afternoon Tea : Monday to Saturday 3:30 pm ~ 5:30 pm Sunday 3:30 pm ~ 5:30 pm
Dinner: Monday to Sunday 6:30 pm ~ 10:30 pm
Food photograph courtesy of the venue
