Smoking Bars

rani

rani

Administrator
Our Mother's Day.

We thought we'd head over to the Dicken's Bar at the Excelsior Hotel for their lunch buffet. Unfortunately, D wasn't allowed in. Since they've applied for an exemption to the Non-Smoking ban, under 18 are no longer allowed. Actually most of the bars in SOHO/LKF have applied for an exemption! So that leaves us with very few options if you want pub grub.

I think I prefer non-smoking sections to no-entry..

The complete list of bars granted exemptions is here:
http://www.tobaccocontrol.gov.hk/eng...ments.html#bar
 
I wonder why don't they allow kids into smoking bars? It's not as if the kid is going to be smoke. Or is it for the protection of the child?
 
Obviously, it's for the protection of the children ("passive smoking"). It's just annoying that the government passed this law and has alerted everyone about it, but at the same time it's already giving out exemptions. The whole smoking ban idea was too ambitious anyway.
 
Rani, I agree with you: would also prefer non-smoking sections rather than being rejected to enter. The whole thing seems so rigid.
 
I'd rather live with no-entry. So many non-smoking sections were so pathetic that they were meaningless. Thereb seem to be too many exemptions. The system works perfectly in Ireland, I cannot understand why they cannot get it right here.
 
The smoking exemption does mean there are few places in Central/Wanchai etc. where you can take children. We had the same problem a couple of weeks ago.

The Pickled Pelican on Wyndham Street has an exemption but on Saturday and Sunday afternoons the manager makes the bar non smoking so babies and children can go. As a result we now go most Saturdays. There's also plenty of space for our little one to crawl around, and the staff love him and take him off to play while we eat!

Personally I think the smoking ban is typical of the HK govt.- they know it is necessary and yet pander to the food and beverage lobby! They haven't the guts to go all the way and do the job properly.
Smoking and non-smoking areas do not work especially in HK where many restaurants and bars are tiny!

I can not wait for the ban to apply to all restaurants and bars- roll on 2009!
 
I agree that non smoking areas don't work.I always felt that letting people to smoke in one area of the room and not another is like drawing an invisible line down the centre of a swimming pool and allowing people to pee in one end but not the other end. Would you still want to swim in that pool?
 
Mom of 2,

Aren't kids allowed in pubs during the day in Ireland? I don't smoke, and am not crazy about my child being exposed to 2nd Hand smoke. My problem is that we have very few kid friendly restaurants in HK, and at least we could pop into a pub knowing there's something on the menu that D could have. I can't wait till he's open to trying new things and we can go for dim sum or sushi. But right now we're kinda stuck!

Bekyboo, thanks for letting us know about Pickled Pelican. Hope the others follow their lead.
 
Yes, Rani, they are. In fact they always have been (even before the smoking ban). What I meant was that the Irish smoking ban is a blanket ban, not a million loopholes like the HK one, and in many bars and restaurants, business actually increased on the back of it as people who'd avoided smokey places for decades started to frequent pubs etc. again. Believe me, if they can pull it off in Ireland, itr can work anywhere!
 
one thing i gotta defend the hk govt for about the smoking ban. in hk, the situation is quite different than in a lot of european or n. american cities. in hk, most of the bars are in high rises. plus, there are gazillion of competition re: restaurants, pubs, bars, discos, karaoke, etc. it gets very complicated. for overseas, when ppl can't smoke in the restaurant, they only need to push the door to go on the street. in hk, they probably have to take the lift down to g/f & smoke there. i'm all for banning smoking, i just understand the difficulty the govt faces.

in fact, since smoking has been banned indoors, i have been inhaling 2nd smoke so much more now, cos so many ppl are smoking on the streets & at the entrances of office bldgs!
 
Typically perscriptive of the Hong Kong Govt. Dont let us parents make the decision ourselves! Allow exemptions - fine, but then allow parents the right to decide if they want to take their kids or not. We used to love to go to Delaneys and when it was not too full, not much smoke and sit near a window, so we were okay with that.
 
We tried Delaney's the other night and were surprised at not being able to bring a baby in.
I guess the ban makes slightly more sense than banning babies from horse tracks.
2009 will be great, assuming that 2009 doesn't become 2019 and they fill in the space with loopholes.
 
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