Pearls of the Orient: The best restaurants in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of the most diverse cities on Earth, with upscale restaurants to match every nationality that calls this tiny territory in the South China Sea home.

Here are five of the city's best restaurants serving five different types of cuisine.

Cantonese

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The world’s first three-Michelin-star Cantonese restaurant is found in the Hong Kong Four Seasons. Lung King Heen is a chic dining room serving luxury versions of local dishes, all with the iconic Victoria Harbour backdrop. The Daily Telegraph notes the intricacy of the menu with the “12 different Bird’s Nest dishes”, praising the “delicate and accessible” flavours of the seafood. “This is a fantastic place to experience two of the region’s great glories: barbecue and dim sum,” says Forbes Travel Guide, which rated it a rare five stars.

French

The first and last word in upscale French food in Hong Kong is Amber at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental hotel, which jumped to number 20 in this year’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Head chef Richard Ekkebus’s menu includes Korean abalone, “paired intriguingly with black pepper and vinegar-seasoned tomato compote” with “braised and then crisped cubes of oxtail”, reports Hong Kong Tatler. If you can’t make it for dinner, says Fodor’s, “check out the fantastic wine-paired lunch available every weekend”. The elegant caramel decor, with a vast bronze chandelier as its centerpiece, is every bit as landmark as the food.

British

British chef Nate Green is behind Rhoda, which is being named by many as this year’s hottest new restaurant in Hong Kong. In the hipster district of Sai Ying Pun, Rhoda is named after Green’s grandmother and puts modern British cuisine at the heart of its menu. WOM Guide says the food is as emotional as the concept: “The flavours take us right back to those happy evenings spent sharing good food and conversation in the back garden”, evoking “emotions rarely experienced in restaurants”. Highlights of the menu include Mangalica pork chop – sourced from Hungary – and vanilla cheesecake with fresh rhubarb.

Japanese

“Come to Zuma hungry,” says Hong Kong Tatler. Zuma’s high-ceilinged cosmopolitan restaurant, on the sixth floor of Hong Kong’s elegant Landmark building, is renowned for its sushi and Japanese robata. (Try the “miso-marinated black cod” and the extensive range of sakes, says the mag.) While Zuma is popular for dinner and cocktails, it’s the weekend champagne brunch that it’s famous for – impress your friends by pairing sushi platters with bottomless Veuve Cliquot champagne.

European

With one Michelin star to its name and a location inside one of Hong Kong’s most iconic hotels, the Mandarin Grill is a “perennial winner” on the city’s dining scene, says 10Best. The Mandarin Grill dining room, an elegant, upscale space designed by Terence Conran, putting seafood and grilled meats centre stage – but with fun twists. “The actual dishes appear like works of art, with plenty of playful flourishes,” says Fodor’s.