Diana Hubbell

New York

Journalist at Freelance

Associate Editor, Places at Atlas Obscura

James Beard-winning food journo Associate Editor, Places @atlasobscura Illo by Adam Waito. She/Her

Articles

Dowling's at The Carlyle Is Pure Old New York Charm — Resy | Right This Way

1 week ago | blog.resy.com | Diana Hubbell

There’s just one problem: Bemelmans Bar is infamously hard to get into. It only recently started offering reservations by allocating a small number of seats on Resy — and since the majority of the bar is dedicated to walk-ins, to score one of those coveted seats, especially on a weekend night, you’ll have to battle for the privilege.
Wu Chi Kai’s Neon Light Workshop.

1 week ago | atlasobscura.com | Diana Hubbell

Hong Kong’s skyline used to look very different. Specifically, Victoria Harbour once boasted a distinctly neon glow. For decades, the city was associated with neon, and its restaurants and bars in particular had immense neon signs, some of which emerged as iconic. In recent years, LED lights have almost entirely taken the place of neon, and the heavy old glass and metal signs have been deemed safety hazards by the local government, and are gradually being removed from Hong Kong’s streets.
The Cell

1 week ago | atlasobscura.com | Diana Hubbell

The oldest bar in Hong Kong is a topic of serious debate, but some would argue that the title belongs to this former water hold for off-duty officers. The British-era Marine Police Headquarters Compound, located near the ferry terminal in Kowloon, was built in 1884, and included a mess hall that also functioned as a bar.
Kowloon Soy Co. Ltd.

1 week ago | atlasobscura.com | Diana Hubbell

Stroll along Queen’s Road Central, in Hong Kong, a wide avenue of modern skyscrapers, hotels, restaurants and malls, turn into Graham Street, and you may feel like you’ve time-travelled. The narrow, sloping street smells like drying fish, and is home to an open-air produce stall and a shopfront that’s changed little since the ‘70s. The latter is the remaining commercial outlet of Kowloon Soy Co. Ltd. The company was founded in 1917 by the grandfather of the current owner.
Tai Tung Bakery

1 week ago | atlasobscura.com | Diana Hubbell

Pop into any local-style bakery or cha chaan teng (a local-style diner) in Hong Kong, and you’re likely to encounter a fist-sized bun with a scored top. This is the pineapple bun, named not for any tropical ingredient, but rather for that surface, which is thought to resemble that of the eponymous fruit. These days, the pineapple bun is found at Chinese bakeries across the world, but it got its start in Hong Kong.
Boston Restaurant

2 weeks ago | atlasobscura.com | Diana Hubbell

It’s Hong Kong, in the early ‘70s, and you want a steak. Where do you go? Most likely, to Boston. Boston Restaurant, that is. Open since 1966, Boston is one of Hong Kong’s longest-standing, so-called “soy sauce western” restaurants, places that serve a local interpretation of European food. During the previous century, there were several places in Hong Kong serving this cuisine. Today, Boston is one of only a scant handful that remain.
Tai Ping Koon Restaurant

2 weeks ago | atlasobscura.com | Diana Hubbell

The legend goes that, in 1930s Hong Kong, a foreign customer at Tai Ping Koon Restaurant couldn’t remember the name of a menu item and asked for “sweet wings,” which a waiter misheard as “Swiss wings.” It’s likely apocryphal, but the name and the dish—chicken wings in a sweet/salty/savory glaze—became one, and Swiss wings are now a Hong Kong classic, found at restaurants across the territory.
Chan Chi Kee Cutlery Co.

2 weeks ago | atlasobscura.com | Diana Hubbell

From meat cleavers to woks to solid wood chopping boards and bamboo steamers, Shanghai Street, in Kowloon, sells it all. It’s Hong Kong’s go-to street for kitchen supplies, and one of the strip’s most legendary stores is Chan Chi Kee Cutlery Co.The current owner claims that the shop was started by his grandfather “Before WWII.” As the name indicates, the brand was originally known for its knives and cleavers. Until the ‘90s, they were made in Hong Kong.
Lin Heung Tea House

2 weeks ago | atlasobscura.com | Diana Hubbell

It’s not hard to find dim sum in Hong Kong, but finding the type of traditional place you have likely pictured in your mind is getting difficult these days.Ling Heung is thought to be Hong Kong’s oldest dim sum house. The restaurant can trace its roots back to mainland China in the late 19th century, and has been at its current location since 1996.
Oi Man Sang

2 weeks ago | atlasobscura.com | Diana Hubbell

Follow the flames. Oi Man Sang, a restaurant in Hong Kong, can be located by the fire and smoke that emerges from its streetside, semi-open-air kitchen. Restaurants like this were once common in Hong Kong. They were known as dai pai dong, and at their peak, numbered in the hundreds.