For veterans of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards, 2019 offered only one real surprise – Singapore-based French fine-dinery Odette ousting four-time winner Gaggan to take the top spot. Closer to home, however, there were far fewer upsets, with nine of Hong Kong’s most celebrated cuisinaries honoured at this prestigious event, sponsored – as ever – by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna.
Tucked at the foot of the table (at #50 no less) was Ta Vie, with the French-Japanese restaurant having taken a tumble from last year’s 16th slot. Despite this, its fusion of European and Asian culinary traditions – under the skillful supervision of chef Hideaki Sato – makes this particular posh noshery well worth keeping tabs on for the future.
Meanwhile, making its debut as this year’s #44 was that most-beloved Canto cuisinary, Seventh Son. Helmed by Chui Wai-kwan, the seventh son of the legendary Fook Lam Moon founder Chui Fuk-chuen, the restaurant has long been a fixture in Michelin guides, making it a bit of a mystery as to why it has been previously ignored here.
Close behind was another Chinese fine dinery – Four Season’s Lung King Heen. Though falling 14 places to #38 this time, chef Chan Yan-tak’s legendary kitchen has continued to be sought out by Cantonese connoisseurs over the years, with such classic favourites as abalone and barbecued suckling pig said to be particularly worth seeking out.
Restaurateur David Lai’s basement establishment Neighborhood, meanwhile, proved to be a shoo-in at #37. Widely praised for its fine French-Italian fare, its minimalist interior and down-to-earth ambience have also won it many admirers – including the judges.
Debuting on the list in the highly-commendable #34 slot is VEA, with its winning combination of French-Canto fare clearly meeting with adjudicatory approval. Rightly renowned for its pared-down eight-course tasting menu, which focuses on seasonal ingredients, it’s an apt recognition for one-Michelin-starred chef Vicky Cheung.
For visionary chef Richard Ekkebus, meanwhile, it was a testimony to his legacy that Amber – The Landmark, Mandarin Oriental’s French restaurant that comes under his purview – ranked #21 this year, despite being shut for renovations. With the chef promising that “its best days are still ahead”, gourmands are already counting the days until the restaurant opens its doors next month.
Clearly another one to watch is Belon, which – under the tutelage of chef Daniel Calvert – soared 25 places to become #16, making itself 2019’s Highest Climber in the process. Though its self-penned description as “a dynamic neo-Parisian bistro with an eye on the classics” may seem pompous to some, thankfully this failed to dissuade the judges from giving it a metaphorical thumbs-up.
The ‘best’ is quite the standard in the case of award-winning chef Umberto Bombana, who’s widely hailed as ‘the King of Truffles’. So it wasn’t really a surprise when 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana, his critically-acclaimed three-Michelin-starred establishment, came 12th this year, up one place from last year.
It was another fine-dining restaurant, however, The Chairman, that took Hong Kong closest to the top 10 this year. Finishing at #11, it is perhaps fitting that chef Kwok Keung-tung’s low-profile cuisinary took the city’s top slot – after all, given its locally-sourced ingredients and organic farm, it’s about as authentic a taste of Hong Kong as you can get.
Text: Suchetana Mukhopadhyay
Photos: Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019, sponsored by S. Pellegrino & Acqua Panna