The Flying Pan. I would rate this as my favourite brunch place on the name alone, so the fact that it plays cracking 80s tunes and serves spot-hittingly decent brunch 24 HOURS a day is definitely a bonus.
The menu is exactly what you want from an all-day breakfast place, or exactly what you don’t with a hangover, as it is so exhaustive as to include virtually every western brunch dish I think I’ve ever heard of, with every conceivable combination or taste apparently catered to. As well as eggs done any way you like with various meaty accompaniments, or poached on muffin with hollandaise in endless variations on the classic Benedict, or in omelettes, or the Full English, or in ‘Sunrise Sandwiches’, they also do scrambled tofu. If that’s what you’re into.
Other options include savoury crepes, pancakes and waffles or French toast, and there are some good value meal deals where you can add sides like baked beans, salad or lyonnaise potatoes.
On paper, then, perfect. In reality: not very perfect. The plates were cold, they were a bit stingy on the spinach for my eggs Florentine (poached eggs, spinach and bacon on muffin) and the lyonnaise potatoes were a bit under. The Benedict across the table looked better, though, with a large slab of gammon nestling under each egg. On another occasion I had the eponymous Flying Pan – bacon, eggs, sausage patty and ham. Again the food was only lukewarm and the porky products on my plate had the texture of processed meat. No, no, no. Sorry, just no.
It’s not ridiculously cramped for Hong Kong but on a Saturday afternoon was heaving when we arrived and there were queues outside by the time we left, so be warned, although there’s also a Wan Chai and Discovery Bay branch if it just has to be the Pan.
I can’t decide whether I’m pro- or anti-Pan. On the one hand it sums up everything that’s good about Hong Kong – mixing all sorts of cultural breakfast heritage from English to Continental to North American and even Mexican. It’s just that the execution isn’t very good and the heritage of some of the meat is obviously not great. Certainly not as good as The Brunch Club and pretty much only passable if you’re so hungover you can’t speak or so drunk you don’t care
The staff are lovely, though, and it’s pretty cheap. If I can remember next time, I’ll stop off there immediately after the club to nip any potential hangover in the bud before it has a chance to fester until the following day…
The Flying Pan; Old Bailey St, Central
Expect to pay about HK$60-80 a head
Death Noodle 
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