In a city that puts space at a premium – and a restaurant scene that packs in its punters accordingly – it must have been a pleasant surprise for the designers of Hong Kong’s Nanhai No. 1 to be given 1,000 square metres for just 200 diners. The owners, it seems, were aware that leg-room goes very far in the eyes of the high end restaurant reviewer.

So does a memorable view. With half of the restaurant’s perimeter wrapped in double-height, floor to ceiling glass, the Nan Hai pulls in a pleasing abundance of light and a 30-storey-high eyeful of the harbour, among other sights. (As one diner joyfully observed, the world class view includes the world class glass encased men’s bathroom in the nearby Peninsula Hotel.)
With such a strong connection to water (pun intended) and a menu stacked with contemporary Chinese seafood dishes, the Elite Concepts group and their designers, EC Studio Manila, opted for a maritime theme. A rummage into China’s sea faring history gave them fifteenth century exploits of Chinese naval explorer Zheng He and his fleet of treasure ships, and thus a unique design narrative was born.

The restaurant combines the stately formality of a colonial-era dining room with playful nautical elements. The warm, polished wood planks used for flooring evoke a ship deck, as do porthole shaped windows in doors, brass marine pulley lamps at the bar and curtains of nautical-style ropes. The romance of old-time exploration is further expressed in contemporary-style glass panelling etched with old trading routes, in framed sketches and naturalist charts, and the small brass models of globes and telescopes set in the centre of bar tables. The 80 square metre terrace outside, yet to be furnished, boasts a rather retro pay-per-view telescope.

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