HK's Best of the Best Restaurants

While every restaurant in Hong Kong and Macau's Best Restaurants 2011 deserves to be included – perhaps for their incredible Peking Duck, or offerings of a spectacular view – not all restaurants in the guide offer an equally well-rounded experience.

With this in mind, this year, we have decided to award only nine restaurants (seven in Hong Kong, two in Macau) with our Best of the Best Award, meaning that they are truly the best in offering a total dining experience; offering equally excellent service, food, wine selection and setting.

Out of the two-hundred-plus restaurants we listed in Hong Kong and Macau's Best Restaurants 2011, here are the nine winners of our Best of the Best Award.

Amber

We love Amber in the Landmark Mandarin for its cosy dining room, individualised and impeccable service, and most of all, chef Richard Ekkebus' flawless execution of modern French cuisine complete with whimsical, playful presentation. Jeannie Cho Lee, Master of Wine and our guide's wine expert, loves Amber for selling their wines by the carafe and its embrace of less-known regions such as the Rhone valley in France.

Café Gray Deluxe

Gray Kunz's flagship restaurant at Upper House ticks all our boxes: gorgeous setting with to-die-for views; fresh, local ingredients transformed into delectable dishes that change frequently; and friendly waiters with a well-developed sense of humour. Lee loves its wine list for its unusual grape varietals and recommends it as a great place to try wines that are out of your comfort zone.

Caprice

Located on the sixth floor of the Four Seasons, the interior design of Caprice will wow most first-timers. The kitchen, headed by chef de cuisine Vincent Thierry, follows through with innovative and contemporary French cuisine. It's also a complete dining experience thanks to the knowledgeable and friendly sommelier, plus it has one of the very best cheese selections in town.

Kaika

Teppanyaki restaurant Kaika only opened in 2010 but it rapidly climbed the ranks to become one of Asia Tatler Dining's Best of the Best Award winners thanks to its mouth-watering teppan dishes and jet-fresh sushi. The view from its perch on the top of The One shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui is jaw-dropping and there is no better way to enjoy your meal here than with a sake tour provided by the helpful staff.

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon

Joël Robuchon is one of the best living French chefs, so it's no surprise that his restaurants in both Macau and Hong Kong make our list. L'Atelier, in the Landmark, is the more casual location of the two, but that doesn't mean that the modern French cuisine here is anything less than top-notch. With its sexy surroundings and hip clientele, a meal here is both a feast for the palate and the eyes. Our wine expert, Lee also points out that L'Atelier has one of the very best wine lists in Hong Kong, with an astounding variety of choice at every style and price point.

Man Wah

Whether you go for a casual dim sum lunch or a more extravagant dinner, the luxurious setting, panoramic view from the Mandarin, impeccable service and 400-plus bottle wine list, makes Man Wah always a wonderful experience. It also is a great place to take newcomers to town, as the degustation dinner menus provide a delicious and elegant introduction to Cantonese cuisine.

Ming Court

Another real star in Cantonese cuisine is Ming Court at Langham Place in Mong Kok. Whether it's the museum-worthy antiques on display or its award-winning contemporary Cantonese dishes, Ming Court is all hits and no misses. We also like its carefully selected wine list with its unusual wines by the glass and the professional wait staff will make you feel like a modern day emperor on any given day.

Aurora

Located at the Altira hotel on Taipa, Aurora is hands-down the best Italian restaurant in Macau. The spacious dining room is visually stunning and its attractive open kitchen will have you salivating to its dishes. Southern Italian cuisine is the focus here and Aurora uses the freshest of seafood and other local ingredients to create authentic and mouth-watering dishes. The wine list also matches the food perfectly, with Italian favourites such as Gaja, Sassicaia, Masseto and Ornellaia on offer.

Robuchon a Galera

Chef Joël Robuchon's second entry on our list is the old-school Robuchon a Galera at the in the Hotel Lisboa. Everything about this restaurant screams fine-dining: the formal and ornate décor, the silver trolleys offering bread, desserts and cheese, and of course, the most impressive wine cellar in all of Asia. But all that is just a prelude to the real reason for coming: the food. The quality of the French cuisine at Robuchon a Galera is consistently high and you can't beat it for value when it comes to its daily executive lunch sets.

To read more about these award-winning restaurants with Jeanie Cho Lee's full wine assessments, pick up a copy of the Hong Kong and Macau's Best Restaurants 2011 or click here to win a free copy.