Hong Kong’s 7 best restaurants for modern Cantonese cuisine: from chef Saito Chow’s imaginative offerings at Chinesology to Vicky Lau’s soy spotlights at Mora and old favourite The Chairman

In Hong Kong, the greatest challenge in seeking out exceptional Chinese cuisine may be in the sheer volume of excellent choices, rather than finding them in a dearth of quality as it might be elsewhere in the world. Having said that, traditional Cantonese flavours are often overlooked in favour of marketable members of the “eight great Chinese cuisines”. Or they were, anyway – but today a new generation of young chefs and hip eateries are reimagining classic regional dishes with modern flair. So from restaurants rewriting the rulebook to best-in-class traditional faves, these spots represent the best of modern Cantonese cuisine today. Inside Hong Kong’s new, modern wave of Chinese fine dining restaurants 1. Chinesology For those looking to get to grips with Chinese cuisine at its essence and heights, Chinesology, which inherits its address from French Window, is the place to do so with a view. Chef Saito Chow spotlights textures and flavours foundational to traditional Chinese cuisine with top notch ingredients such as the A5 Kagoshima Wagyu amuse-bouche with treasure and pine nuts and double-boiled fish maw soup with Japanese melon, chuanbei and almond. Shop 3101, 3/F, IFC Mall, Central, 6809 2299 2. Auntie Āyi The Chinese-tinged neo-deco surrounds of Auntie Āyi set a nostalgic scene evoking dark lounges of the 60s and 70s, spotlighting the highly referential-yet-novel Chinese cuisine on offer. Wow factor abounds with starts such as the 8 Immortals Drunk platter which is served ethereally using dry ice and comprises cold appetisers like duck tongue, bitter gourd, jellyfish, steamed chicken and abalone, variously marinated in baijiu and yellow wines. Also not to be missed is the sesame candy chicken where nostalgic sweet meets spectacular savouriness, as well as the egg custard with huadiao infused lobster for maximum taste, texture and fragrance. Shop 002, LG1, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, 2803 7881 White truffles in Asia: chefs putting a regional spin on the pricey delicacy 3. Ho Lee Fook If you have ties to North America and have become nostalgic for Chinatowns across the pond, Black Sheep’s Ho Lee Fook is your golden ticket for a few hours home as they serve up banquet-style cuisine in playfully kitschy interpretations of western Chinese restaurant decor, down to the red velvet chairs and carpets, and the yellow jackets on the staff. Head chef Archan Chan, herself trained in the Chinatowns of Australia, whips up global favourites such as crispy garlic salt-and-pepper tofu, honey-glazed and charcoal-grilled kurobuta pork char siu and classic steamed razor clams with glass noodles. 3-5 Elgin Street, Central, 2810 0860 4. Woo Cheong Tea House Woo Cheong Tea House inherits the name of erstwhile tenant Woo Cheong Pawn Shop as it sits in The Pawn, one of Hong Kong’s most iconic restored “tong lau” old buildings. On the menu are a serviceable mix of well-executed local favourites in food and beverages such as dim sum tasters including goldfish-shaped fish dumplings, sweet and sour pork with pineapple, tea smoked chicken, Bailey’s egg tarts and premium barbecued pork. Tea cocktails are also in vogue here, perhaps one of only a handful of places to do so well in a city that runs on tea. 1-2/F, 62 Johnston Rd, Wan Chai, 2866 3444 What is mapo tofu and where did it get its ugly name? 5. The Chairman Staying at the top at No 5 this year on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants after taking the top spot in 2021, The Chairman is one of the premier places in the city to take in modernised Cantonese fare. It’s not gimmicky, overly done, or adapted specifically for non-local audiences, but is just an excellently executed culinary experience. Crispy Sichuan chilli fermented tofu, slow-cooked pork belly in preserved Chinese vegetables, king prawns cooked in fish and rice broth and many others are solid takes on dishes the city feels most at home with. If anybody asks how Hong Kong likes to eat, this is the place to take them. 18 Kau U Fong, Central, 2555 2202 6. Mora Mora turned the spotlight to soy products (tofu, tofu skin, soy milk etc) when it opened this year during the Covid-19 pandemic’s fifth wave under the deft touch of founder and chef proprietor Vicky Lau (two Michelin-starred Tate Dining Room). The menu presents soy products in five textures – Silken, Crisp, Jade, Dew and Ice – via dishes such as a shima-aji tartare with “thousand” tofu sheet (Silken), crispy threadfin with tofu skin fish fumet and deep-fried tofu cube with Iberico ham (both Crisp). The climax of what at first appears to be a delicate menu is the tour de force of the mapo tofu with lobster and rice, balancing tasteful kick with decadent flavour. 40 Upper Lascar Row, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, 9583 8590 Greener gastronomy: how Hong Kong fine dining finally embraced sustainability 7. Wing Hong Kong became very excited indeed when chef Vicky Cheng opened the heavily Chinese-focused Wing last year, just below Michelin-starred VEA. Compared to its upstairs neighbour, Wing is a house of excellent execution of traditional Chinese flavours as it is inspired by the “eight great Chinese cuisines”. Dishes here range from the abalone with Yunnan chilli and bull kelp and mala lamb belly with celtuce, to steamed silver pomfret with wok-tossed salted pork and preserved vegetables and drunken wild sea snail heavy with the aroma of Chinese yellow wine. 29/F, The Wellington, 198 Wellington Street, Central, 2711 0063 Want more stories like this? 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