Hong Kong's Colorful Dining Scene Lets You Travel the World By Taste

(SPOT.ph) It’s called Asia’s melting pot, being home to a population of seven million people of different ethnic backgrounds—primarily Chinese, Indonesian, Thai, Filipino, American, Canadian, British, and Australian. That’s Hong Kong for you. In bringing together people from all over the world, it also brings together a wide spectrum of flavors— and what awaits is a mecca of a dining scene, where local eateries and traditional Cantonese gems sit side by side with bars and restaurants serving different cuisines and genres, led by chefs and restaurateurs from around the globe.

“Hong Kong is always a great place for food, has a very unique combination of great chefs, and great access to top notch ingredients,” Agustin Ferrando Balbi tells SPOT.ph. The Argentina-born chef moved to Hong Kong in 2016, opening Japanese restaurant Haku on Finance Street with Chef Hideaki Matsuo; he now heads Ando in Central, which also lets him showcase his Argentinian and Spanish background. “More importantly, eating in Hong Kong culture is almost like a national sport. People appreciate all ranges of dining offers and they eat out very very often—all these elements, combined with the convenience and how close restaurants are in one city, are what make Hong Kong super special.”

Neapolitan chef Antimo Maria Merone has a similar sentiment. “As a chef I found the Hong Kong restaurant scene one of the most variegated in the world. All major world cuisines are highly represented at different levels, and there are niche options as well,” he tells us. “This was something that really fascinated me when I arrived 12 years ago and today it still does.” Merone first worked the kitchen as chef de cuisine at L’Altro, an Italian fine-dining spot on Queen’s Road; in 2021, he opened Estro, his very own, more personalized, contemporary Italian restaurant with the JIA Group.

Chef Ricardo Chaneton, who hails from Venezuela, calls Hong Kong an impressive destination for dining, and raves about its sheer variety of dining spots. “I love Hong Kong because you can have any cuisine in the world, I would say. And it’s always very good,” he says, his eyes brightening. The Hong Kong chapter of his career began with a position at Restaurant Petrus at Island Shangri-La; he returned briefly to South America but flew back to Hong Kong and opened Mono, another JIA Group establishment, and dubbed a window into refined Latin American gastronomic culture.

“For example, you want to have Senegalese cuisine… you don't have to take the flight [to Senegal]. You just take a little ride to Kowloon side and you can have a beautiful discovery. A journey of flavors. If you want cuisine from Japan, you have amazing Japanese restaurants, French restaurants, Italian restaurants. The local cuisine is amazing. One of my favorite cuisines in the world is Chinese,” Chaneton explains. “[Hong Kong] is a dining destination because you have all kinds of cuisine and they are all good. A lot of restaurants are very good.”

At a junket led by the Hong Kong Tourism Board in October, we went around six Hong Kong dining spots that painted a picture of the city's colorful mosaic of restaurants. And we discovered for ourselves the truth behind what the above chefs mean about Hong Kong being a portal to the flavors of the world. The best part about it, at least for us in the Philippines, it’s just around 1,330 kilometers or a two-hour flight away. 

Also read:  
Hong Kong Guide to Under-the-Radar Spots: Sai Kung, Tai O 
The SPOT.ph Guide to Exploring Hong Kong by Train 

Bookmark these restaurants when in Hong Kong:

Estro

Estro, which translates to “inspiration” in Italian, is headed by Chef Antimo Maria Merone, who hails from Naples. “My little dream was to have my own restaurant where to express myself, my identity, my aesthetic. Estro is the realisation of that dream I had,” he tells SPOT.ph.

A strict traditionalist, Merone is anything but. Taking after Italy’s history as well as personal memories, the chef takes Italian—specifically, Neapolitan—classics to the contemporary realm by incorporating more progressive techniques and flavor combinations centered around seasonal ingredients.

Standouts on our visit include courses of aori ika (bigfin reef squid) cut into fettuccine-esque strands, cooked in olive oil and dressed in a sauce of Sicilian almond milk and lemon. He also offers a French seabass, simply poached for a tender bite and served with a sauce of concentrated fish jus. *Their signature is a dish of homemade bottoni pasta, which Estro gives seasonal variations (the version then came filled with Buffalo robiola and parmigiano, and was glossy from being glazed with chicken jus, guanciale, and peppercorn).

It’s no wonder this restaurant on Duddell Street has received numerous accolades over the years; they currently hold one Michelin star and are 32nd on the 2025 edition of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Estro is at Level 2, 1 Duddell Street, Central District, Hong Kong. For inquiries and reservations, check out Estro's website.

The Chairman

To be called the Best Restaurant in Hong Kong by 50 Best Restaurants is no small feat; neither is holding one Michelin star or being #2 on this year’s Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. The Chairman does justice to these titles by championing Cantonese culinary traditions. Behind the establishment is Danny Yip, who has a background in tech entrepreneurship and culinary arts; and Chef Kwok Keung Tung, who was born in China and got the opportunity to train in Hong Kong, eventually meeting Yip and partnering up.

The Wellington, Central has been their address since moving after the pandemic. The interior is an homage to 1940s Hong Kong while incorporating tropical touches and sophisticated whimsy. Cookbooks line the shelves of their teal walls.

Together, Yip and Tung like to experiment and research on different ingredients, and both have a strong grasp of Cantonese cooking tradition. They use these to create new dishes. Rather than rely on frills or excess, the two go back to basics and emphasize the use of proper techniques and high-quality ingredients—whether they’re preparing something as simple as steamed razor clams (scented with lemon aged for over 20 years) which they served us; something as decadent as pork char siu (theirs is fatty yet clean-tasting, with a good amount of marbling in each piece); or as elaborate as their famous Camphor wood smoked black foot goose (with thin yet crisp, laquered skin, and deeply flavored flesh).

Two more favorites on our visit were a) the steamed fresh flower crab that’s cooked in aged shaoxing wine with a touch of chicken oil, and served with fresh flat rice noodles; and b) the claypot rice dish of aged eel (which bears an umami-rich, complex-tasting bite), cured pigeon, and Chinese liver sausages, the juices of which all get absorbed by the fragrant rice.

The Chairman is at The Wellington, 198 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong. For inquiries and reservations, check out The Chairman Group's website.

Ando

Chef Agustin Ferrando Balbi has quite the multi-faceted background. He was born in Ramos Mejía, Argentina and was raised by a Spanish-Italian family. He had stints at Peruvian-Japanese spot Osaka in Buenos Aires as well as a number of restaurants in the U.S. before he flew to Japan where he got to work in Michelin-starred establishments—Zurriola in Tokyo (serving modern Spanish), Cuisine[s] Michel Troisgros in Tokyo (serving contemporary French), and Nihonryori Ryugin in Tokyo (serving Japanese). The chef's colorful journey is reflected in Ando, Balbi’s own one-Michelin starred restaurant that’s currently at #41 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Japanese, Spanish, Argentinian, and other global elements come together here to create a whole that well exceeds its sum. Some cross-cultural compositions on our visit featured Hokkaido scallops under a blanket of tomatoes, mint, and a zingy scoop of lime sorbet; and a king crab meat steamed with extra-virgin olive oil and covered with glistening beads of Kaviari caviar.

There, too, was a standout slab of Argentinian Angus beef, cooked over charcoal and accompanied by a mushroom croquette and deeply savory sherry sauce; and a  pan-fried kinki fish over razor clams and daikon vivified by plankton sauce. Also not to be missed on their menu are non-alcoholic beverages that are superb and surprisingly complex in their own right; in particular, the light yet effervescent, fruity-floral Noble Truth Cranberry Rose Sparkling Tea remains fresh on my mind.

Ando is at 1/F Somptueux Central 52, Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong. For inquiries and reservations, check out Ando's website.

Caprice

A three-Michelin starred establishment that's #18 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025, Caprice embodies grandeur in every aspect—from the tables draped in pristine white tablecloths and the plush leather seats with tufted accents to the glistening chandeliers and the tall glass windows that give diners a view of Victoria Harbour.

Currently leading their kitchen is Chef Guillaume Galliot, who was born in Chambray-Les-Tours in the Loire Valley, France. As early as 15 years old, Galliot had the opportunity to apprentice for chefs Jacques and Laurent Pourcel at the renowned Jardin des Sens restaurant in Montpellier. From there he would go on to work at the likes of François Plantation in Saint Barthélemy; Hotel Crystal in Marrakech, Morocco; Raffles Hotel in Beijing and Singapore (he was the youngest sous chef in history at the latter); and famously, The Tasting Room by Galliot at City of Dreams Macau.

Caprice gives diners a glimpse of French cuisine at its most enigmatic, what with their use of topnotch ingredients to take classics to sublime heights. On our visit: the succulent meat of Alaskan king crab starred in the Crabe Royal d’Alaska, crowned with Gillardeau Oyster and Osciètre Gros Grains Caviar; and carbonara with buttery abalone came with generous shavings of Alba white truffle from Plantin Selection.

The humble purée de pomme de terre (mashed potatoes) was given a luxe upgrade with champagne sauce and Kristal Caviar from La Maison Kaviari. And then you’ve got dishes illustrating Caprice’s willingness to push the envelope—like the signature Homard Bleu Breton (Brittany blue lobster) in a ruby-red sauce of earthy beetroot and husky chocolate (!).

Caprice is at 6/F Four Seasons Hotel, 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong. For inquiries and reservations, check out Caprice's website.

VEA

Chef Vicky Cheng’s background is diverse, to say the least—the young chef was born in Hong Kong, moved to Toronto at age nine, and soon headed to New York where he got his French culinary training and worked at Daniel Boulud’s eponymous restaurant.

Yearning for food of his hometown, he eventually flew back to Hong Kong and opened VEA in 2015. It’s here that Cheng strings together the different parts of his story into one restaurant, melding his Chinese roots with his Western training and know-how in French culinary arts. 

Traditional Chinese ingredients alongside French classical techniques are featured heavily at VEA. One case in point during our visit: a plate of Racan pigeon and Guangdong guava, dressed in a sauce of 20-year aged dried mandarin peel—thus evoking French duck à l'Orange with Cantonese flair.

Cheng also has a special place in his heart for the delicacy that is dried seafood, which he sources from Hong Kong’s Dried Seafood Street and which he uses in more contemporary applications. For instance: we witnessed the team’s way of bringing out fish maw’s delicate flavor with a sauce of emulsified collagen and butter, tinged with kaffir and brine from caviar. And then there was a dish of sea cucumber, but whose soft, quivering flesh hid a (literally) crabby interior of snow crab, king crab, and the roe of hairy crab. 

VEA is at 30/F The Wellington, 198 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong. For inquiries and reservations, check out VEA's website.

Mono

Latin-American cuisine is given an especially adventurous interpretation at Mono, which holds one Michelin star and was #24 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. At the helm is Venezuelan Chef Ricardo Chaneton, who has worked at top kitchens around the world, his resume listing the likes of InterContinental Tamanaco Hotel in Caracas, Venezuela; Quique Dacosta restaurant in Dénia, Spain; Mirazur in Menton, France; and Petrus at the Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong.

Across Mono’s menu, the flavors are as explosive as they are complex—a point our taste buds would attest to given the dishes on our visit. There was the Taco de Obulon, which marries Latin-American and Hong Kong elements with a filling of tender abalone in homemade X.O. corn tortillas, amped up with liver consomme. The “Fabien D’eneour” Plounéour-Menez Pigeon incited oohs and ahhs with its succulent meat, then taken to a spunky direction with ancho chile-imbued pigeon jus, chimichurri, and celtuce-kombu mille feuille.

Then there's Mono's Imperial Langoustine, the restaurant's signature for a reason. It intriguingly pits together the scampi’s juicy flesh with four expressions of Ecuadorian cacao: cacao tea (made with cacao husks, served in a tea cup on the side); cacao fruit (wedges of which accompany the seafood); nibs (in adorning the cacao pulp); cacao paste (imbuing a velvety sauce with the juices from langoustine heads). The idea, Chaneton explains, was to pair the fruitiness of the chocolate with the "sweetest crustacean in the world"—and the dish takes advantage of both aspects to create a surprisingly harmonious sum.

Mono is at 5/F, 18 On Lan Street, Central, Hong Kong. For inquiries and reservations, check out Mono's website.

Note: Photos were taken in October 2024. Visit the restaurants’ respective websites for updated menus.

Special thanks to the Hong Kong Tourism Board.