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One of Hong Kong's busiest areas, Central is particularly crazy at lunchtime, when office workers crowd the streets and eateries. Most restaurants have set lunches—generally good values—with speedy service, so everyone gets in and out within an hour. At night the norm is either a formal dinner or a quick bite followed by many drinks, especially in Central's nightlife center, a warren of cobbled backstreets called Lan Kwai Fong. Mostly known as a drinking hole with mediocre dining options, LKF has stepped up its game in the last few years with some serious restaurants, most of which are tucked away in commercial buildings, away from the hustle and bustle of the street-level bars.
For a wider array of choices, head up to SoHo, but be wary of where you go: a lot of these places are average in terms of food and service quality. NoHo is a bit more bohemian, with some excellent hidden, independent culinary gems, especially along Gough Street.
Admiralty, wedged between Central and Wan Chai, is home to large shopping malls, and much of the food is aimed at meeting the lunch needs of workers and shoppers. It's also home to several large hotels and their respective high-end restaurants.
Once a mainstay of the Hong Kong streets, there are now only a little more than 20 licensed dai pai dongs—that is, open-air food stalls specializing in various types of local dishes. These outdoor eateries are popular for their dirt-cheap prices, minimal service, and—of course—their awesome food. There's usually no English menu, so be prepared to point to the dishes at neighboring tables.
Known as the "Demon Chef," Alvin Leung ripped up the rule book to create Bo Innovation, which wowed diners in Wan Chai for half a decade before moving to Central in 2022. Dishes tend to be clever reworkings of Cantonese classics using molecular techniques, and the nightly set menus are themed to help create a unique and thought-provoking dining experience unlike any other.
Celebrated chef Gray Kunz’s restaurant offers expertly prepared modern European fare in a casual and relaxed 49th-floor locale with stunning urban vistas. A fan of fresh, seasonal ingredients, Kunz incorporates local produce into the ever-evolving menu whenever possible, often adding Asian flavors to excellent effect.
This place is good—really, really good. Tucked away in a nondescript building in a hidden alley off Lan Kwai Fong, this reservations-only private kitchen plates up inventive, French-inspired Shanghainese dishes that are prepped in a polished open kitchen.
A Hong Kong legend, this Four Seasons stalwart was the first Chinese restaurant in the world to be awarded 3 Michelin stars back in 2009, an accolade it retained for 14 years. The elevated Cantonese cuisine on offer emphasizes seasonality and showcases masterful techniques.
This stylish restaurant and bar serves the delicious flavors of the Mediterranean. Start with a round of warm pita bread and savory dips, such as the addictive taramasalata (smoked fish roe blended with lemon and garlic). Other must-try items include the succulent octopus, grilled halloumi cheese, and tender lamb ribs. Of course, you should also try the namesake souvla, which is a Greek-style spit-roasted meat.
This gorgeous restaurant is truly the full package. For starters, the space is gorgeous—cool, classy, and intimate at the same time. More important, though, is that Vasco serves truly inspired Spanish cuisine with global influences. The red Palamos prawns and sea urchin is a standout, as is the incredibly tender roast pigeon, which is balanced by tart apple cream. For dessert, a combination of rice and cardamom rounds off the meal perfectly. Our recommendation is to go for the chef 's tasting menu, which offers the crème de la crème that the restaurant has to offer. If you’re looking for something less formal, head to Vasco’s sister restaurant, Isono, one floor below.
Enjoy a fun dining experience at this buzzing tapas bar run by Madrid native Antonio Oviedo, who has worked in some of Spain's most well-known Michelin-starred kitchens. Expect a creative and contemporary menu with to-share dishes like black octopus paella and sea urchin toast, served in a funky space that includes an outdoor terrace. Guests without reservations can take a spot at the bodega table and pick from a drink menu that includes sangrias, Spanish wines, and classic Spanish street-style tipples.
Spearheaded by Umberto Bombana (the former executive chef of the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong), this glitzy haunt is for many the best Italian fine-dining restaurant in Asia. The service is crisp, the wine list is extensive, and the interior is nothing less than glamorous.
Chef Jason Atherton worked at some of the best kitchens in the world before opening the highly successful London restaurant Pollen Street Social in 2011. His culinary empire has since expanded to more than a dozen outlets around the world, with Aberdeen Street Social being one of the more recent additions. This bi-level space is located at the former Police Married Quarters and encompasses a restaurant, café, and bar. Head upstairs to enjoy meticulously plated modern British fare, such as the signature CLT (crab, lettuce, and tomato) and braised ox cheek with roasted bone marrow. You can also grab a table downstairs and try the casual, all-day menu and house special drinks.
This contemporary French fine-dining stalwart in the Landmark Mandarin Oriental has put a greater focus on sustainability in recent years, earning a Michelin green star for its efforts. Interiors are light and refreshed, while Netherlands-born head chef Richard Ekkebus has introduced an entirely dairy-free menu in an effort to emulate the comparative lightness of Asian cooking that does without cream, butter, and heavily reduced sauces. Dress to impress.
Though a bit out of the way, few places in Hong Kong have the kind of stunning garden views that you’ll find at AMMO. Housed in a former ammunition compound (hence the name) that was converted into the Asia Society Hong Kong Center, the restaurant's interiors and menus blend the old with the new resulting in an impressive and dynamic dining experience.
Despite its unassuming location in an alley, this dai pai dong (outdoor food stall) remains immensely popular due to its delicious stir-fried dishes. The wok-cooked noodle dishes are especially good—thin noodles are cooked until crispy and topped with strips of pork and bean sprouts.
Touting itself as Hong Kong's "first authentic Italian steak house," Bistecca has become one of the best places to go for delectable beef. The space is charmingly rustic, decorated with butcher knives, hanging bunches of herbs, and a giant display case that shows off the restaurant’s premium cuts imported from the best suppliers around the globe. The steaks are all aged to tenderness and flavored with flecks of sea salt and peppercorns, then grilled and drizzled with a little Tuscan olive oil and lemon.
Set in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui, this convenient, family-friendly restaurant promises views of Victoria Harbour, an outdoor terrace, and a stylish cocktail bar. Though the menu is eclectic enough to keep everyone happy, most people come for the views.
Only prix-fixe menus are served at this ultra-luxe French restaurant in the Four Seasons, a Hong Kong fine-dining institution which has retained either two or three Michelin stars every year since opening in 2008. The dining room, with its floor-to-ceiling windows framing harbor views, is as spectacular as the food, masterminded with passion and precision by executive chef Guillaume Galliot.
Tapas-style sharing plates of Vietnamese-inspired cuisine pair with inventive cocktails at this sleek, industrial-styled restaurant in SoHo. The vibe is tailor-made for a casual date or dinner with friends, and the dishes, like rice-paper rolls bursting with soft-shell crab, or sticky, tender tamarind pork ribs, are unfailingly likable, if on the small side.
This Cantonese restaurant in IFC Mall impresses with a premium offering of dim sum alongside upscale banquet dishes made with pricy ingredients like bird's nest, king prawns, and wagyu beef.
This ultracool wine bar and restaurant serves small plates for casual snacking and mixed platters ideal for sharing. Not surprisingly, it’s popular with the drinks-after-work crowd. But don’t underestimate the food: the tuna tartare with avocado, for starters, is delicious. You can also enjoy cheese and charcuterie for snacking purposes or create your own tapas platter. Gorgonzola and black-truffle penne or lobster linguine with fresh tomatoes are among the best mains. DiVino also stays open for revelry late into the evening.
This modish SoHo spot packs out nightly with devoted foodies chasing a taste of chef-owner Salvatore Fiata’s famous Neapolitan-style pizzas, revered for their beautifully charred crusts and quality toppings like mozzarella di bufala, truffle pesto, and spicy sausage from Fiata’s home city of Caserta in southern Italy. The tables fill up fast, so book well in advance online.
As its name suggests, this restaurant goes back to the basics by focusing on a few key ingredients. Everything that passes through the kitchen is top grade, whether it’s the fresh homemade tagliatelle with chicken and truffle emulsion, or the whole roasted Italian sea bass with fennel. Dishes are categorized into small or large plates, but everything is designed to share. Fish & Meat offers decent cocktails, but if you’re serious about your drinks, check out its sister bar, Stockton, which is located below the restaurant.
The Hong Kong outpost of Shanghai’s popular restaurant is showy, with a snow-white interior decked out with designer chairs and fiberglass animal figurines. On the food side of things, authentic tapas share menu space with creatively contemporary Spanish dishes. Ibérico ham served with tomato bread, sautéed prawns with garlic, and chilled tomato gazpacho represent the classics, and they’re certainly well executed, but the modern dishes offer much more excitement. Scallop ceviche, for instance, is laid on a bed of creamy avocados and topped with crispy shallots, while braised beef cheek is served with bananas and passion fruit. The paellas are also worth trying, whether steeped in the flavors of Boston lobster or bathed in jet-black squid ink.
The menu here is inspired by the multicultural flavors chef Harlan Goldstein grew up with while living in New York. Italian preparations take precedence, but you’ll also find things like salmon crudo with a citrus dressing and crispy falafel served with tahini. The handcrafted pastas are easy favorites, but if you’re in the mood to feast, go for the 38-ounce fiorentina (steak Florentine style, designed for two) with a side of black-truffle mash. Gold also has a great wine selection, and you can always enjoy a glass on the restaurant’s open-air terrace.
Located within the International Finance Center, Isola’s floor-to-ceiling windows and harborside terrace afford spectacular views of Hong Kong’s famous skyline. The restaurant serves regional Italian fare, with selections like hand-twisted pasta with Parma ham, black truffle, fava beans, and Norcia cheese, or sea bass baked in sea-salt crust. Don't pass up the simple and well-executed stone-baked pizzas. Isola is also as much of a nighttime destination as anything else, and it’s worth coming just to sample cocktails in the equally trendy Isobar upstairs.
Named after Barcelona's most bustling boulevard, the Catalan-inspired recipes are the brainchild of Netflix celebrity chef Rafa Gil. Highlights from the tapas menu include the bombas (deep-fried smoked potato and meat balls covered in bread crumbs and spicy sauce) and the famous ham, cheese, and truffle “bikini” sandwiches. Another must-try is the Segovian-style roasted suckling pig, which is large enough to feed four. The elegant velvet-and-rattan main dining room is beautiful, but the place to be is on the outdoor terrace, which boasts spectacular views of Victoria Harbour. This is, without a doubt, one of the finest Spanish restaurants in the city.
In homage to the iconic Relais de Venise restaurant in Paris, this intimate neighborhood brasserie offers only one entrée: steak frites. A meal here includes a green salad, a perfectly grilled entrecôte steak, and unlimited refills of crispy, stick-thin fries. You can also pick up something from the dessert trolley, which features traditional confections such as éclairs and mille-feuilles.
Visit this retro outdoor stall for authentic Chinese desserts. Sweet soups made with red bean or ground black sesame are served in both hot and chilled versions. Warmed, chewy, glutinous rice balls heaped with sugar, crushed peanuts, and desiccated coconut are messy but delicious.
