A new restaurant in Hong Kong’s Admiralty district promises patrons plenty of bang for their buck with an explosive mix of cuisine, design, and heritage. Named AMMO, the venue is housed in a colonial building once used by the British army to store explosives, which has been serving as the Asia Society Hong Kong Center since February.

On the east-meets-Mediterranean menu are simple dishes like sea urchin with zucchini sauce, quail salad with grapes and pancetta, angel hair pasta with uni, and tagliolini with tomato sauce. Among the tasty tapas are cuttlefish cappuccino, langoustine wrapped in Vietnamese rice paper and basil, and Cantabrico anchovies on Alta Mura bread.

Behind the scenes are chef Roland Schuller (from The Drawing Room) and chef and restaurateur Tony Cheng. The vision is to provide elegant yet affordable cuisine in a pleasant environment free of the fussiness usually associated with fine dining.

The slightly surreal heavily metallic interiors reference the building’s history and were inspired in part by the classic 1965 sci-fi flick Alphaville, which explores connections between society, art, and technology. (Case in point: the three copper-pipe chandeliers shaped like spiral staircases, a recurring theme in the film.)

Patrons can ponder these connections at the bar, which features over 300 wines and signature cocktails like the Kiwi Basil Martini.

Asia Society Hong Kong Center, 9 Justice Drive, Admiralty; 852/2537-9888