Lunch @ ZAKS (Discovery Bay), Hong Kong

Last weekend we hopped on the ferry and headed out to Discovery Bay on Lantau Island, about a 25-minute ride from the pier in Central. It was almost exactly 2 years ago when we first went to DB to check it out as part of our considerations of where to live in Hong Kong. It's quite a lovely location, and not even the thunderstorm forecast nor the fact that we weren't there for pleasure could stop us from enjoying the spacious greenery, (relatively) fresh air and the laidback atmosphere that makes DB a very popular living choice for expats. As it turned out, it did not rain once when we were there on Sunday, and the sun even made a cheery appearance. We had an enjoyable lunch at ZAKS, one of the more popular restaurants in Discovery Bay Plaza. We'd eaten its famed banoffee pie on our first trip 2 years ago, and it was nice to finally try out ZAKS' main menu.

Our 3.5-year-old is now old enough to appreciate that he has something very important in common with the restaurant's name:

Double levels to the already spacious restaurant:

Space is definitely not an issue on this island, and this is reflected by ZAKS' expansive interior. There is a large beachfront dining terrace and dining alfresco is hugely popular here, but I'd booked for an indoor table because I wasn't keen on getting rained on, nor having to deal with the muggy heat and mosquitoes. The only thing we didn't like about the restaurant design was the fact that there is only one unisex toilet to service the whole restaurant, and it was up a flight of stairs! In fact, hubby and kid were directed to use the public toilets outside (also up another flight of stairs) because the upstairs dining area hadn't yet opened for service. It's a small inconvenience but doubly so with a young child. Service was basic but adequate and friendly enough. The menu was impressively extensive, ranging from pizza and pasta to Asian noodles and curries as well as some Mexican dishes and various meat and seafood plates. I'm always a little wary about restaurants that offer such a wide range of cuisines as it leaves little room for quality control, but we stuck to the basics and weren't disappointed.

Honey & Chilli Prawn Skewers for the boy who loves prawns. They were nicely cooked and tasty:

Hubby got the #9 ZAKS House-special Pizza on "super thin crispy crust", which was quite good. There were sausages, ham, pepperoni, green peppers, onion & pineapple, and hubby requested an additional topping of olives - these toppings turned out to be a good combination, and I loved the crispy crust:

Sweet Pumpkin & Asparagus Risotto. This was a delicious vegetarian option. The rice grains were perfectly cooked to a lovely creamy texture but with an al dente crunch, and the pumpkin, peas and asparagus were delicious:

We had an enjoyable experience at ZAKS. It's worth a visit if you find yourself in Discovery Bay.

ZAKS
Shop G04 (Ground Floor) & 103 (1st Floor),
Block A, D Deck,
Discovery Bay Plaza,
Lantau Island
Hong Kong
Tel. +85 2987 6232