Breakfast at 3:00 AM in Hong Kong

The Flying Pan:
9 Old Bailey St. Central, Phone: 2140 -6333;
3rd Floor 81-85 Lockhart Rd., Wan Chai, Phone: 2528-9997.

In my younger days, after last call at whatever watering hole my friends and I were ending the evening…er, morning, we would head to the nearest open coffee shop for an early breakfast or in some cases a late supper. Unfortunately, all too often, we’d end up at Denny’s, which some of you may know is not noted for it’s delicious food so much as for its willingness to serve anything on the menu 24 hours a day, seven days a week and cheaply at that.

Flying Pan, Central

Hong Kong is doing much better with the establishment of the Flying Pan restaurants in Central, on Old Bailey near the escalator and in Wanchai on the corner of Lockhart and Luard. I recently had breakfast at the Wanchai location with a refugee friend from the old days, who opined as he dug into his denver omelet with extra jalapenos, “I would have given anything to have been able to go to a place like this when I lived here.”

I totally agree with him and even though, my late nights out usually end before midnight nowadays, I like being able to cap the evening off with a full breakfast, obviating the need to get up the next morning and cook one. The Flying Pan offers every kind of breakfast meal you could possibly want - 10 variations on Eggs Benedict, 16 different kinds of omelet’s, 10 varieties of egg dishes, pancakes, waffles, french toast, five different side dishes, cereal, fruit, bagels, biscuits, english muffins, toast, their four “Fabulous Flying Combos,” which humble the traditional American or British breakfast and what they call “Sunrise Sandwiches,” something even Denny’s never thought of.

Eggs Puerto Rico, An Exclusive Dish

To drink, in addition to the bottomless coffee cup and tea, they have smoothies, milk shakes, ice cream floats, soft drinks, beer, wine, alcoholic beverages and mocktails. Oh, and if you are still unsatiated they offer ice cream sundaes for dessert.

But the kicker is that their prices are astoundingly reasonable. Without printing the price list, let me say that I have never spent more than HK$120.00 including the service charge and that was the morning I had one of the Combos and a smoothie. If you are a long way from your last paycheck, you can have a full breakfast with coffee and side dishes for about HK$85.00 all in. If that’s too much, the Sunrise Sandwiches start at HK$20.00 - such a deal!!!!!!!! Think about what a full breakfast costs in one of the hotels or at Delaney’s or Dan Ryan’s or what it tastes like at one of the all night pubs.

Enough, enough; I know it sounds like I am a part owner but the truth is, as in my other food and drink entries, I have no connection with this establishment. In fact, I haven’t the slightest idea who even owns or runs the place. I just want to make sure that I do my part to insure they stay in business so I can have a great breakfast whenever I want one.

In fact, while writing this, I decided to pop over to the Central location for lunch…er, breakfast.