The secret ingredient in Hong Kong’s fine dining scene? Memory
Childhood memories have a way of coming full circle. Years ago, during a family trip to Hong Kong, my mother allowed my sister and me one choice each at Toys R Us. While I’ve forgotten my selection, I remember my sister choosing a globe, which she would spin, her finger landing on different countries as she learned their names. Recently, I returned to Hong Kong for “Savoring Hong Kong,” a culinary journey coinciding with the Wine & Dine Festival last October. As I experienced six restaurants over four days, that childhood memory resurfaced — each meal felt like spinning my sister’s globe, with Hong Kong serving as a stage where world cuisines converge.
Beyond the festival’s 200-plus booths at Central Harbourfront Event Space, I explored six distinct dining experiences alongside foodies from across Asia—restaurateurs, writers, content creators, chefs and more. From chef Vicky Cheng’s “boundaryless” Chinese cuisine at Wing to Spanish Japanese fusion at Andō, from Neighborhood’s intimate family-style setting to Mono’s Latin soul, from the legendary Chairman’s time-honored preparations to Estro’s refined Italian vision—each meal showcased why Hong Kong remains Asia’s most compelling dining destination. In Hong Kong, point to any cuisine on that imaginary globe, make a reservation and prepare for a meal that might just transform how you think about food.
Wing
The morning begins in Sheung Wan’s dried seafood district, where chef Vicky Cheng leads us through storefronts. These shops might fool you into thinking they sell antiques. But instead of jade and porcelain, dried fish maw and century-old sea cucumber fill the shelves. “Each shop here holds more value than a gold store,” he notes, inspecting ingredients destined for Wing’s current menu. His second restaurant, on the 29th floor of The Wellington, showcases Cheng’s “boundaryless Chinese cuisine.”
This philosophy comes alive in dishes that defy categorization: chili Alaskan king crab served with crispy cheung fun, Australian sea cucumber enhanced with yellow fungus rice and fish maw collagen, baby pigeon gleaming with sugarcane glaze. The tasting menu concludes with a surprise—a savory little pie that arrives like a grandmother’s loving afterthought, reminding us that tradition beats at Wing’s heart even as boundaries dissolve. During the market tour, his wife, Polly Cheng, shares the vision of their dream Chinese restaurant: “We built this restaurant so our children remember who they are.”
“Elevated east meets west dining experience, a dinner that I will cherish for a very long time,” writes Tantra Martinus, influencer and entrepreneur, Jakarta, Indonesia.
(29F, The Wellington, 198 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong wingrestaurant.hk @wingrestaurant_hk)'
Ando
At Andō, Argentinian chef Agustin Ferrando Balbi transforms memories of his grandmother’s kitchen into artful expressions on the plate. He opened the restaurant in partnership with JIA Group in 2020, earning a Michelin star and the #37 spot on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
The tasting menu unfolds like chapters of Balbi’s culinary journey—from his Spanish and Italian roots to his transformative years in Japan. The caldoso rice, spotlighting local Yi-O rice and Spanish prawns, is an ode to a family dish. A 2009 Shao Xing wine accompanies the dish, part of a beverage program featuring custom-crafted sparkling teas paired thoughtfully with specific courses.
“This is my grandmother’s recipe,” Balbi shares, as the aromatic dish arrives, “but reimagined through everything I’ve learned.”
Between the king crab with Kristal caviar and the chocolate-cognac finale, what emerges isn’t just a meal—it’s an unorthodox autobiography told through taste, where Spanish, Italian, and Argentinian traditions meet Japanese precision. Each dish defies easy categorization, much like Balbi’s own culinary journey.
“During the years, he has found his voice by creating dishes with a foundation of Japanese finesse and a touch of bold Argentinian flair,” says Priscilla Young, documentary producer and host, Shanghai, China.
(1F, Somptueux Central, 52 Wellington St., Central, Hong Kong [email protected])
Neighborhood
Down a dimly lit alley, Neighborhood feels more like a private dining room than a restaurant. Chef David Lai, who trained as a stagiaire at Le Louis XV and under Ducasse’s early protégé Sylvain Portay in San Francisco, runs his kitchen with quiet confidence and zero pretense.
No printed menus were given—just dishes that came one after another that depended on his morning visits to Hong Kong’s markets: delicate squid, beef marrow with caviar, crispy sardines, and legendary salt-baked chicken rice studded with morels.
The food is rich and is to be enjoyed with bottles of wine. When someone attempts to ask the chef for a few words, Lai simply nods as he says, “No speech,” and sends out more food. Here, the food speaks for itself. The intimate lighting and steady stream of dishes create the kind of evening where time slows down, and no one wants to leave. In this alley, Lai has made more than a restaurant; it’s a place where French technique meets Hong Kong’s soul.
“A humble but flavorfully intense restaurant, filled with a genuine love for food, without an obsession over formal elements,” wrote Julia Lee, fine-dining editor, Korea.
(61 Hollywood Rd, Central, Hong Kong facebook.com/neighborhoodhk +852 2617 0891)
The Chairman
At The Chairman, time is the secret ingredient. Chef Danny Yip, once an Internet entrepreneur-turned-culinary guardian, measures it not in minutes but in years—emons aged for three decades, five days for a single goose, and tea research that began, as he humbly puts it, “a year ago, though we’ve been drinking tea all our lives.”
Some have hailed him as the godfather of Hong Kong’s dining scene, but Yip greets everyone with a warmth that belies his restaurant’s prestigious status. His infectious smile and warm welcome make regulars feel like family—you almost feel like you may accidentally call him “Uncle Danny.”
It’s a testament to the food that diners come alone without hesitation, ordering their steamed flowery crab with aged Shaoxing wine or the camphor wood-smoked black foot goose that takes five days to prepare. Each dish, from the thick-cut Chairman-style char siu to the clay pot rice with crispy aged eel, demonstrates what one diner called “technical perfection” while maintaining the soul of Chinese cooking.
Getting a table might test your patience, but The Chairman is worth the wait for a taste of Chinese cuisine that can hold its own against any grand cuisine in the world.
“A custodian of the art of Hong Kong cuisine,” comments Kevindra Prianto Soemantri, restauranteur and food writer, Jakarta, Indonesia.
(3/F, The Wellington, 198 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong www.thechairmangroup.com @thechairmanrestauranthk)
Estro
Hidden on the second floor of a building in Central, Estro commands attention the moment you enter. The door opens to reveal staff in tailored outfits moving through a space that feels so elegant, from the furniture to the lighting, that it forces you to sit up better. Chef Antimo Maria Merone’s Neapolitan cooking is equally considered.
The menu builds thoughtfully: mortadella and robiola toast, linguine brightened with bell peppers and tuna, and bottoni pasta filled with buffalo robiola. Each plate shows restraint and skill—a touch of lemon here, buffalo butter there, nothing overdone.
“Memory forges the cuisine, the cuisine revives the memory” is Merone’s philosophy, and you can taste it in his careful selection of ingredients —from Pugliese olive oil to the bright acidity that makes each bite memorable.
“A symphony of flavors, textures and delights,” comments Jed Doble, writer, Jakarta, Indonesia
(2/F, 1 Duddell St., Central, Hong Kongestro.hk, @estro.hk)
Mono
At Mono, chef Ricardo Chaneton’s vinyl collection—inherited from his father—provides the soundtrack to a menu that reads like a Latin-American travelogue. The 30-seat space in Central serves surprises in every course.
“What I love about Hong Kong’s dining scene is you can get any ingredient and cuisine here,” Chaneton says, a philosophy that shines in dishes like his tortillas infused with X.O. sauce—a homage to Hong Kong’s iconic condiment.
His menu spans places, from Peruvian crudo brightened with tiger’s milk to Venezuelan arepas paired with tender pigeon leg and wasakaka sauce. Desserts also bridge cultures—a Venezuelan bollito reminiscent of our local pastillas, made with peanuts and soursop sauce. As he recently visited Manila for a collaboration with Toyo Eatery, he quipped, “You call it guyabano, right?”
“At times, some have never seen some of these ingredients in their home country. They will first taste it here,” shares assistant manager Abbi Grace. This sense of discovery is captured in the restaurant’s “Mono-pedia,” where each rare ingredient’s story finds its way to paper, just as their flavors find their way to Hong Kong.
“Chef Ricardo cooks with so much emotion and memory. It’s not just a meal but a love letter to South America,” says Anirban Blah, founder, Bangalore, India.
(5/F, 18 On Lan Street, Central, Hong Kong mono.hk, @monorestaurant)
To feel sentimental about the past is unusual for Hong Kong. Hong Kong is always changing, it’s always embraced change,” Anthony Bourdain once observed. Yet in these sacred kitchens, less than a three-hour flight from Manila, memory becomes the secret ingredient that sets them apart.
Each chef—whether crafting “boundaryless” Chinese cuisine, Venezuelan arepas, or Neapolitan pasta—transforms personal history into something new. From 30-year-old lemons to inherited vinyl collections, from grandmother’s recipes to dreams for the next generation, these restaurants prove that in a place that never stops moving, the finest innovation begins with remembering. The past isn’t just preserved in Hong Kong’s kitchens—it’s reinvented.