Words by Aude Camus
Certain Hong Kong addresses come with stories — and this one has many. For years, this basement beneath Hollywood Road was where nights spiralled into the kind of chaos that only Drop could deliver. Later, Quality Goods Club kept the spirit alive with music, sweat, and a little mischief.
And now, that same staircase leads somewhere new: Yume, a Japanese-inspired cocktail lounge that feels like the perfect answer to how Hong Kong wants to go out today — slower, earlier, moodier, and with a really good drink in hand.
Because let’s be honest: nightlife has changed (or is it just me, now that I have two kids?). We no longer need to start at 11pm. Sometimes, all I want is a place where the lighting dips low at 6pm, where the playlist is smooth enough to talk over, and where the cocktails are crafted with intention rather than flair-for-flair’s-sake.
Where Tokyo meets Hong Kong — in a basement we all remember
Certain Hong Kong addresses come with stories — and this one has many. For years, this basement beneath Hollywood Road was where nights spiralled into the kind of chaos that only Drop could deliver. Later, Quality Goods Club kept the spirit alive with music, sweat, and a little mischief.
And now, that same staircase leads somewhere new: Yume, a Japanese-inspired cocktail lounge that feels like the perfect answer to how Hong Kong wants to go out today — slower, earlier, moodier, and with a really good drink in hand.
Because let’s be honest: nightlife has changed (or is it just me, now that I have two kids?). We no longer need to start at 11pm. Sometimes, all I want is a place where the lighting dips low at 6pm, where the playlist is smooth enough to talk over, and where the cocktails are crafted with intention rather than flair-for-flair’s-sake.
Where Tokyo meets Hong Kong — in a basement we all remember
Step inside and the transformation is instant. The space has gone from late-night club to cinematic lounge, with Japanese design cues everywhere: clean lines, shoji-like window panels, warm amber tones, and lighting that shifts through the night like a mood ring.
It feels like Tokyo’s underground cocktail scene — just lifted and dropped into Central.
Cocktails with a Japanese soul
It feels like Tokyo’s underground cocktail scene — just lifted and dropped into Central.
Cocktails with a Japanese soul
The first menu, Dream Is Destiny, is all about seasonality and imagination. There’s even an origami “fortune teller” you open to choose your drink — playful, nostalgic, very Yume.
I tried two cocktails, both excellent and very different:
IKIGAI
A low-ABV beauty that feels like sunset in a glass. Campari and Suze give it bitterness, vermouth rosso rounds it out, and a fragrant strawberry cordial softens the edges. It’s topped with Thomas Henry watermelon soda, which makes it feel light, fizzy, and just happy.
But the fun part? You’re meant to bite into the edible “strawberry-wasabi-sesame leather” as you sip. Sweetness, spice, bitterness, fruit — it all comes together perfectly.
IT WAS ALL A DREAM
A clarified milk punch, but make it tropical and sultry. Rum, rye, coconut milk, warm spices, pineapple, citrus… it’s silky and creamy while still being surprisingly easy to drink. It tastes like being on holiday. But a chic, linen-shirt, toes-in-the-sand kind of holiday — not the tequila-shots-on-the-beach kind.
The bar bites? Genuinely impressive
I tried two cocktails, both excellent and very different:
IKIGAI
A low-ABV beauty that feels like sunset in a glass. Campari and Suze give it bitterness, vermouth rosso rounds it out, and a fragrant strawberry cordial softens the edges. It’s topped with Thomas Henry watermelon soda, which makes it feel light, fizzy, and just happy.
But the fun part? You’re meant to bite into the edible “strawberry-wasabi-sesame leather” as you sip. Sweetness, spice, bitterness, fruit — it all comes together perfectly.
IT WAS ALL A DREAM
A clarified milk punch, but make it tropical and sultry. Rum, rye, coconut milk, warm spices, pineapple, citrus… it’s silky and creamy while still being surprisingly easy to drink. It tastes like being on holiday. But a chic, linen-shirt, toes-in-the-sand kind of holiday — not the tequila-shots-on-the-beach kind.
The bar bites? Genuinely impressive
Too many bars treat food like an afterthought. Yume does the opposite — the small plates are good enough to build a night around. My favourites: the Iberico pork katsu sando — crisp, juicy, deeply satisfying — and the beef tartare on a shiso leaf — light, aromatic, perfectly seasoned
The menu is designed to be shared, making it perfect whether you’re on a date, out with the girls, or easing into a night you’re not ready to define yet.
A new chapter for a legendary Hong Kong basement
What I love most about Yume is that it respects the address’s past without trying to recreate it. The energy is more mature now — sophisticated early on, playful later, with lighting that changes as the evening does. Come for after-work drinks. Stay for the playlist. Stay longer because the lighting made you forget the time. Stay even longer because someone orders another round.
The menu is designed to be shared, making it perfect whether you’re on a date, out with the girls, or easing into a night you’re not ready to define yet.
A new chapter for a legendary Hong Kong basement
What I love most about Yume is that it respects the address’s past without trying to recreate it. The energy is more mature now — sophisticated early on, playful later, with lighting that changes as the evening does. Come for after-work drinks. Stay for the playlist. Stay longer because the lighting made you forget the time. Stay even longer because someone orders another round.
Yume
Basement, On Lok House, 39–43 Hollywood Road, Central
https://www.instagram.com/yume.hkg/
This article is based on a cocktail tasting hosted by Yume for selected members of the media. No money has been paid to publish this review which is entirely based on the genuine opinion of its author.
