Over the decades, one of the lesser-known (but wholly accurate) nicknames that Hong Kong has garnered, particularly amongst regional tourists, is ‘drink & food heaven.’ And with good reason.
Boasting the world’s 6th highest concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants, the Chinese megacity serves up a lot more than just world-class Cantonese cookery. Fine French eateries with leviathan wine cellars await, as do temples to traditional Korean cuisine and Hong Kong’s famously affordable cha chaan teng diners.
In truth, we’d have no trouble extending this list out to 20, maybe even 30, entries. So, with the BH traveller firmly in mind, consider this our showcase of the very best-of-the-best restaurants you’ll find in the +852 — all equally unmissable.
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Lung King Heen, Central
Contact: +852 3196 8882
Pricing: Lunchtime set menus starting at $180
Famously the first Chinese restaurant to be awarded the coveted three-Michelin-star rating back in 2009, Lung King Heen remains a fixture of the Hong Kong fine dining scene — as popular with hardcore fly-in/fly-out foodies as it is the city’s rainmaking class.
Under the leadership of Executive Chef Chan Yan Tak, who has steered Lung King Heen to a three-Michelin-star rating for 14 consecutive years, the specialty here is the full breadth of classic Cantonese cuisine. Plus: one or two of Chef Chan’s own quietly innovative specialties.
Sample whole casseroles of fish maw and Japanese abalone, or the so-simple-so-good pleasures of a truffled lobster spring roll, all in a lofted setting that does justice to this iconic restaurant’s name (it literally translates as “view of the dragon”).
Clarence by Olivier Elzer, Central
Contact: +852 3568 1397
Pricing: Three-course lunch sets starting at $75
A more casual and culturally agile concept from award-winning chef Olivier Elzer, Clarence is the sort of restaurant that only a French expatriate — living and working in Hong Kong for over a decade — would be brazen enough to conceive.
Clarence draws influence from Japanese robata cooking, alongside Elzer’s personal mission to make French cuisine that is light, modern, and more suited to the Asian palate. Consequently, a lot of the restaurant’s signature dishes are prepped whole and served family-style.
There’s a 400g wing of skate, cooked on the bone with brown butter; or a selection of fun small bites — such as scallops or frog legs — served on skewers, in what the staff jokingly refer to as “yakifrenchy” style.
Like a number of other high-end European eateries in Hong Kong, the setting is also a bonus for out-of-towners. Within earshot of the famous Mid-Levels escalator, the main dining room overlooks the nearby Tai Kwun cultural centre; and, a little farther off, The Peak.
Sushi Fujimoto, Central
Contact: +852 6013 2900
Pricing: Lunch omakase starting at $300
Let’s be clear: with Hong Kong’s famously large population of Japanese expats (roughly 23,000 in 2023) there’s no shortage of good-to-excellent restaurants here specialising in sushi.
Michelin maniacs will probably default to Sushi Shikon, whereas securing reservations at a venue as small as Kanesaka offers its own masochistic brand of satisfaction.
However, as far as we’re concerned, Sushi Fujimoto (named for charismatic Chef-Owner Fujimoto Kenichi) is the one omakase restaurant in the region that’s worthy of your repeat business.
A veteran of two-Michelin-starred Sushi Saito, Fujimoto does things a little differently at his eponymous establishment. There are none of the strained pleasantries you’d associate with edomae sushi joints in Tokyo — yet all of the authenticity.
Predictably, individual pieces of nigiri (hand-pressed sushi) change with whatever’s in season, but Fujimoto-san always ensures that diners get a superlative selection of tuna — including a decadent handroll of finely chopped toro — toward the meal’s end.
For a big night out, ask to order from the restaurant’s small, but well-curated, list of vintage Champagnes.
Hansik Goo, SoHo
Contact: +852 2798 8768
Pricing: Lunchtime set menus starting at $115
If you’ve enjoyed the hatted stylings of Allta in Australia, then chances are that you’ll be thoroughly impressed by Hansik Goo. The first international project from Michelin-starred Seoul chef Mingoo Kang, the specialty here is all the greatest hits of Korea’s culinary canon — as seen through a contemporary lens.
For first-time diners, the restaurant’s signature tasting menu is a solid place to start: offering up 11 courses at a relatively reasonable price (for Hong Kong, at any rate) that showcase typical Korean ingredients.
Still, there’s a reason why Head Chef Park Seung Hun and his team came away with a Michelin star earlier this year.
Comforting staples like mandu (traditional wheat flour dumplings) are given a royal makeover — studded with morels and wrapped in razor-thin sheets of abalone. And as for the signature Korean Fried Chicken? The one posted wall-to-wall on Instagram? It’s an add-on that’s all but compulsory.
Luk Yu Tea House, Central
Contact: +852 2523 5464
Pricing: $75 per head
A must-hit spot for dim sum aficionados, with a fanbase counting the likes of Neil Perry and Mimi Thorisson, Luk Yu delivers an impressive shot of nostalgia — to go with the best har gow (prawn dumplings) and barbequed pork buns you’re liable to eat on Hong Kong island.
One of the city’s last historic tea houses, established in 1933, it is awash in a mixture of European Art-Deco and traditional Chinese design. Simply put, the ambience here is singular — down to the calligraphic menus and lovably grouchy waitstaff (most of whom dress in smart, many-pocketed white jackets).
Word to the wise: if you happen to be staying in town for a few days, use the time to endear yourself to Luk Yu’s doormen. They offer the surest means of snagging a table on the ground floor dining room, usually reserved for regulars.
Australia Dairy Company, Jordan
Contact: +852 2730 1356
Pricing:$15 per head
No list of the best restaurants in Hong Kong would be complete without at least one cha chaan teng (i.e. Hong Kong-style diner). And in the realm of such cheap, cheerful, and highly nostalgic fare, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Australia Dairy Company.
Located in the Kowloon neighbourhood of Jordan, a visit to this establishment — specialising in egg and milk-based breakfast items — is akin to a rite of passage for serious food tourists.
Almost everybody differs on what you should order, but for something that really sums up the spirit of cha chaan teng we’d recommend springing for the ham & macaroni soup, scrambled egg with toast, and a piping-hot cup of ‘Hong Kong style’ milk tea. All this for as little as $12.
Western media outlets have written at length about Australia Dairy Company’s famously abrasive service, but we think it’s fairer to characterise the vibe as efficient. Roll up, queue (hopefully not for very long), wolf down your combo of choice, and scoot. In off-peak hours, the whole process can take as little as 10 minutes — short and sweet.
Ming Pavilion, Admiralty
Contact: +852 2820 8580
Pricing: $155 per head
Situated adjacent to the famously palatial swimming pool at The Island Shangri-La, Ming Pavilion is one of the hotel’s two Chinese restaurants — with a hyper-specific focus on Hokkien cuisine.
Inspired by the culinary traditions of Southern China, diners who enjoy the food of the Malaysian and Singaporean diasporas are bound to recognise numerous of Ming Pavilion’s dishes. Executed here, in line with the 5-star setting, using a generous amount of polish.
Expect vibrant wok-cooked dishes and a range of delicate seafood flavours. The restaurant benefits from the wider hotel’s award-winning wine list, but what you really ought to be ordering are any of the brews — made to order, tableside — by Tiffany Chan, Ming Pavilion’s resident tea master.
The Chairman, SoHo
Contact: +852 2555 2202
Pricing: $150 per head
Ranked #26 in this year’s list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, The Chairman has attained the kind of global profile that its staff and owner Danny Yip probably didn’t imagine for themselves when it opened 15 years ago. Now? Punters wait for as long as 10 months in order to secure a booking.
Currently set in an elevated dining room in the SoHo neighbourhood of Central (not far from the restaurant’s original location), there’s a compelling argument to be made that The Chairman is the single best Cantonese restaurant anywhere in the world. Certainly: it’s a refrain that you’ll hear among Chairman regulars — an eclectic cast of tycoons, food bloggers, connected out-of-towners, and the occasional celebrity.
We arrive at this assessment based on the modesty with which the whole operation is run. The dining room is homely, there’s no million-dollar wine cellar, and the waitstaff are — in the best tradition of Hong Kong hospitality — diligent without being chummy.
That total lack of pretension allows diners to focus on what’s in their bowl. And at The Chairman, you’ll be hard-pressed to stop at one signature dish. Fortunate enough to be visiting for the first time? Then definitely make it a point to order one of the restaurant’s claypot rices, the delectable ‘first cut’ char siu, and flower crab steamed with rice noodles.
The latter dish alone is well worth securing a booking for.
Oi Man Sang, Sham Shui Po
Contact: +852 2393 9315
Pricing: $40 per head
Sure, you could fill the open-air food stall quota of your trip to Hong Kong with more centrally located options (like Tung Po Kitchen). But, to experience a really ineffable and authentic part of the city’s food culture, Oi Man Sang is pure bucket list stuff.
At this frenetic establishment in the Kowloon district of Sham Shui Po, diners sit at rickety plastic tables — partially spilling out onto the sidewalk — and tuck into a range of moreish, lager-friendly plates that have been kissed with the ‘breath of the wok’ (wok hay in Chinese).
Cooked on an infernally hot kerosene stove powered by literal jet fuel, Hongkongers have been coming here for decades to get the signature stir-fried black pepper beef with potato.
Razor clams in black bean sauce or a whole mud crab cooked ‘Typhoon Shelter’ style are similarly unskippable — as Chef & Bon Appétit presenter Lucas Sin explains below.
Seventh Son, Wanchai
Contact: +852 2892 2888
Pricing: $150 per head
Squirrelled away in an unassuming Wanchai business hotel, Seventh Son is so named for Chef-Owner Chui Wai Kwan — who comes from the same clan behind legendary Hong Kong restaurant Fook Lam Moon.
At Seventh Son, Chef Chui and his team craft a range of traditional Cantonese dishes; alongside recipes channelling the cuisine of a bygone era. There’s the usual assortment of braised hoi mei (i.e. air-dried seafood), excellent barbequed meats and — per our previous description — a whole shell of baked crab meat that employs a few choice European cooking techniques.
As with most of the finer Canto inclusions on our list, tackling Seventh Son is a task best done en masse. Ditto if you want to take a run at the restaurant’s mother of all signature dishes: a whole roasted suckling pig, served with Peking Duck-style trimmings.
Ando, Central
Contact: +852 9161 8697
Pricing: Three-course lunch sets starting at $135
Lauded with commendations from both Asia’s 50 Best and the Hong Kong Michelin Guide, Ando is an unusual addition to our list — a fusion restaurant with equal footings in the world of Japanese and Spanish cuisine.
Helmed by Argentinian chef Agustin Balbi, whose culinary training took him to Japan for five years, the menu here cleaves to inspirations that are rustic and deeply personal. The 5-course lunch experience scores high on the dollar value index (and includes Balbi’s signature Caldoso rice course).
That said, if you’re looking to properly push the boat out, a nighttime visit is always preferred; with the signature dinner degustation extending to nine dishes. Be sure to grab five with Carlito Chiu, Ando’s award-winning Wine Director, who will steer you in the direction of cold-climate Japanese producers — many of which you won’t find here in Oz.
Bâtard, Central
Contact: +852 6339 5052
Pricing: $155 per head
Once upon a time one of western Hong Kong Island’s best-kept culinary secrets, Bâtard (named for the legendary Bâtard-Montrachet wine appellation) has gotten a whole lot more visible thanks to its relocation to Central.
Located inside the same heritage-grade building that houses The Armoury and Jimmy’s Kitchen, it can come as little surprise that Bâtard is pretty much the ultimate playground for plonk-loving epicures.
Chateau Margaux, Romanée-Conti, even new guard Aussie innovators like Place of Changing Winds: if you’re a serious oenophile — with a line of credit to match — Bâtard is a venue guaranteed to get you excited.
The catch? You’ll have to be a member, or at the very least “know a guy who knows a guy,” in order to snag a reservation here. But word on the street is that, with the arrival of Executive Chef Jun Kai (formerly of Les Amis Singapore), your persistence will be rewarded.
Ho Lee Fook, SoHo
Contact: +852 2810 0860
Pricing: $80 per head
A favourite of Hong Kong Island expats and the city’s well-heeled visitors, Ho Lee Fook comes the closest to replicating the drama of high-end Chinese eateries in Sydney and Melbourne. Think textbook Canto food: albeit through a raucous, deliberately cinematic lens.
Having worked for Andrew McConnell in the late 2010s, Executive Chef ArChan Chan joined Ho Lee Fook in 2021 — bringing with her a wealth of the winking, upbeat creativity that Melburnians so enjoy in their Asian food scene.
The very trad dishes — like tea-smoked chicken or steamed mud crab — are undeniably delicious, but it’s when you get into the snack and dessert selection that the totality of Ho Lee Fook’s operation starts to make sense.
A welcome wall of golden ‘beckoning cats’ and the restaurant’s overwhelmingly rouge underground dining room are statements that could come off kitsch in the wrong hands. But with a big bowl of pandan French toast in front of you? It all feels so right.
If you’ve enjoyed this guide to the best restaurants in Hong Kong, here are a few more stories — which cover how to make the most of your time in the territory — below:
