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Writer's pictureJohn Chow

Wanchai: Meet Moreish & Malt

Updated: Dec 7, 2022


A Contemporary Western Dining in Wan Chai

The design of the Moreish & Malt restaurant in Wan Chai was a simple refurbishment of an existing and tired Japanese teppanyaki restaurant. The client, a young and vibrant restaurant group was targeting a more youthful demographic and needed a refreshing design to reinvigorate the venue.

The site was an L-shape space, long end facing a bright an open street, the short end nestling deep into the building setback. The ceiling was high, and the space awash with natural light. The tenancy while wide to the street was relatively shallow, and a large central column stood awkwardly in the apex of the space.

Metagram approached the design with three simple principles; brightness, color and simple sophistication.

Brightness was a response to the site. Most restaurants in Hong Kong have very low ceilings and suffer from lack of daylight due to a highly built up urban area, this site had a wonderful outlook to a not so busy street, so it made alot of sense to maximize the openness, bring in light and similarly visibility from the street. Diners would be able to enjoy the daylight and openness of the space, and from outside, a full height feature wall stood out, comprised of CNC cut geometric wood panel tiles, that matched a corporate design of the Moreish & Malt company.

Colour was a response to the client. Being younger and wanting to attract a style conscious demographic, Metagram selected a contemporary color scheme of deep red, cream and blue. Red was chosen to be the primary colour; the central column was highlighted in deep red; the bar face was highlighted in a geometric pattern of three types of red tone marble, such as red travertine; tables were topped in deep terracotta subway tiles.

Blue terrazzo and cushion upholstery was dotted through the space, and finally cream color baked-paint millwork tied the two colours together.

One material which stood out was the vinyl flooring by Tarkett, called iQ Surface, which featured a seamless abstracted terrazzo pattern that was easily installed over the previous restaurant's dull ceramic floor.

The back space of the restaurant, along the short end of the L-shaped space, was designed to provide a more intimate dining experience. Metagram capitalised on the lesser light, tiles, and antique mirror to create the feeling of a vintage subway diner.

The lighting design by LightOrigin Studio aimed to complement the intention of the spaces. Besides creating the intimate atmosphere in the back section of the restaurant, the front featured flexible lighting that would highlight the geometric feature wall so that it would be visible from a block away in evenings, while still providing a comfortable ambience for diners.

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