Contemporary European gastronomy and flavourful cocktails at luxurious new rooftop venue
September 10th, 2018
After its much-anticipated opening Hong Kong’s The Murray, a Niccolo Hotel, now crowns its iconic building with Popinjays, a rooftop dining experience that reinterprets the city’s vibrant, cosmopolitan charm with the flavours of modern French cuisine. The bar-and-restaurant concept takes its name from the flocks of crested cockatoos that thrive in the Garden Road and nearby botanical spaces. With interiors created by the renowned Foster + Partners, Popinjays is set to entice the city’s fashionable crowd, business leaders and hotel residents.
Eschewing vivid colours, Popinjays interior expresses itself with a sophisticated combination of cool greys highlighted with gold accents and bold blues. Encased in a floor-to-ceiling glass pavilion, guests can admire a panoramic view of Hong Kong’s dramatic skyline from the elevated setting. The rooftop setting is highlighted by a 420 square meter wraparound terrace that offers al fresco dining and relaxed drinks. And for intimate private gatherings, The Aviary is a luxurious room that serves exclusive dinners for up to 14 guests.
Restaurant guests can choose from weekly updated four to six-course degustation menus which are offered by Chef Didier Quennouelle. Drawing on his 25-year culinary experience, Chef Quennouelle’s European menu shines with his contemporary palette and presentation skills, often stylized with visuals of birds. Among signature dishes, standouts include Vitello Tonnato – an appetizer of thinly-sliced veal marinated and slowly poached in yellowfin tuna sauce; and the Roast Vendée Pigeon – embodies rich and complex flavors elevated with jus and delicate blackberry sauce.
Meanwhile, at the cocktail bar, Peruvian native Manuel Saavedra-Ramirez presides as head mixologist, crafting an avian-inspired signature drinks list. Highlights include the Blue Macaw – a tropical -inspired cocktail with Mexican flavours; and Popinjays Punch – a sweet and spicy concoction that mixes Darjeeling, Hennessy VSOP, cloves and pineapple. Other cocktail specialties include the Gin and Tonic Experience, which fuses traditional spirits with exotic flavours; and an assemblage of Forgotten Classics.
Popinjays is located on the 25th-floor rooftop of The Murray, A Niccolo Hotel in Central – open Tuesdays to Saturdays – with the bar serving drinks from 5 p.m., and dinner at the restaurant from 6:30 pm.
Design by Foster + Partners
Cuisine & Cocktails
Featured contributor: Caris Cruz
(Images credit The Murray)
