To dine at Mono is to be enlightened by Latin America’s rich and diverse food culture, and there is no better ambassador for this than Venezuela native and chef Ricardo Chaneton who has forged ahead with his team since December 2019, educating and opening minds with a truly unique take on this complex cuisine.

Mono’s ever-evolving tasting menu, which presents inventive dishes such as an Andean vegetable salad, Brittanic blue lobster taco with 21-ingredient molé and Racan pigeon cooked on the bone, is created with the mastery of French technique—all the while embodying the roots and traditions of Chaneton’s ancestors—for dishes that are vibrant and full of flavour.

Paired with impeccable service that ensures diners feel taken care of, knowledgeable yet captivating storytelling, and the ambition to keep breaking boundaries, Mono has inspired and continues to inspire others to embrace Latin American and other heritage cuisines in Hong Kong.

Amber continues to innovate as one of Hong Kong’s foremost advocates in sustainable dining, thanks to the tireless efforts of chef Richard Ekkebus in adhering to a manifesto that covers everything from employee wellbeing and community service, to sustainable sourcing and waste prevention and recycling. The cuisine, safe to say, remains world-class; and the vegetarian tasting menu is one of the most competitive in town.

Chef-founder Agustin Balbi’s story-led approach at Andō is as much his signature as his marrying of Japanese and Spanish culinary techniques. His influence extends well beyond the dining room, thanks to a packed schedule of collaborations with the likes of Gaggan Anand, speaking at international chef conferences, and ambassadorships with the likes of Krug. Despite this, Andō’s kitchen continues running in tip-top shape, turning out dish after awe-inspiring dish.

Chef Shane Osborn’s Netflix days might be behind him (for now), and while he could easily be considered the star of the show at his eight-year-old restaurant, the Australian instead prefers to uplift others, from mentoring talents under his hospitality group The Arcane Collective such as Arcane's current chef de cuisine Sebastian Lorenzi, to shining a spotlight on the local farmers and producers who make Arcane’s highly seasonal menus possible.

Now entering its 18th year in operation, Caprice has managed to defy the odds in Hong Kong, becoming ever more important as it matures. Under the guidance of chef Guillaume Galliot, the menu evolves while maintaining a through line of premium French produce uplifted with Asian culinary influences, with personal touches like time-limited tomato dishes using produce from the garden of Galliot’s mother in France. Restaurant director Victor Petiot navigates the colossal wine list with aplomb, while maintaining exacting standards of service throughout.

Rosewood Hong Kong’s resident Indian restaurant has enjoyed many months as one of the city’s most in-demand tables, and we suspect chef Manav Tuli’s brilliance with curries and the tandoori, combined with his affable, happy-go-lucky demeanour might be the reason behind. Tuli has done anything but rest on his laurels, this year accomplishing a highly ambitious four-hands collaboration with Forum’s chef Adam Wong—where the only shared language was an unhindered love for good food.

Having flown the flag for Cantonese cuisine for over a decade, The Chairman is both founder Danny Yip’s and Hong Kong’s pride and joy. Culinary hype aside, there are few and far between that deliver fine Chinese cuisine quite like this—honouring the culture and its origins while focusing on local produce to create something fresh and nostalgic all at once. The result of which has elevated Hong Kong’s unique food culture to the world stage, inspiring others to do the same.

Precision, flair, and mastery of flavour are all in perfect balance at this kintsugi-heavy dining room high above Central. Blending French and Japanese technique and produce, chef Maxime Gilbert manages to create something more than the sum of its parts. There are the attention-grabbing signatures like the caviar and uni tart, but it’s the subtler dishes like akamutsu in seaweed and verbena that demonstrate the skills of the kitchen.

This isn’t your average Italian restaurant. Chef Antimo Maria Merone’s interpretation of his Neapolitan roots is visually minimalist within a maximalist André Fu-designed dining room, but the dishes burst with condensed flavour, texture, and meaning. Several touchpoints throughout each meal have become fast signatures: the bread basket with an olive oil flight, the bottoni pasta that changes from season to season, and the unctuous pistachio gelato that caps off each meal. This is Italian cooking that can’t be found anywhere else.

Founded by master chef Yeung Koon-Yat in 1977, Forum has done anything but rest on its laurels under executive chef Adam Wong. The menu is chock full of luxurious takes on Cantonese classics, though the one dish that Wong and his team have perfected to an art is the Ah Yat Abalone, named after Forum’s founder. Sourced from Japanese waters in both fresh and dried options, it’s a technical show of excellence bar none. But Forum is far from a one-trick pony, with Wong collaborating with restaurants like Chaat that lie far outside the realm of Chinese cuisine, challenging himself to innovate in fresh ways.

Under the guidance of chef-founder Mingoo Kang, head chef Steve Lee continues to channel the changing seasons and intricate food culture of Korea into considered tasting menus that are as much an education as they are a joy to eat. There are the signatures that nod in the direction of much-loved pillars of Korean cuisine, like a starter of mandu (dumplings) and the main of marinated and grilled Hanwoo striploin, but it’s the seasonal dishes that spark curiosity as the produce changes. The list of Korean soju and rice wines is also not to be missed.

With the departure of head chef Jowett Yu, this longstanding restaurant was given and extensive facelift under the direction of designer Sean Dix, with bright red wallpapers and a mirrored ceiling recasting the interior as a modernised banquet hall. ArChan Chan has also taken over the mantle of the culinary programme, reverting to familiar Cantonese flavours inspired by dai pai dong-style stir-fries and fresh-off-the-boat steamed seafood. As a result of this about-turn, Ho Lee Fook has gained an appreciative new audience while offering a glimpse of the future of Cantonese cuisine in the process.

Classic Cantonese cuisine in an elegant setting is not uncommon in a hotel setting but Man Ho has consistently delivered this with tremendous verve. Swift yet warm service is coupled with a dependable menu created by chef Jayson Tang, a rising talent who chooses to honour culinary traditions—with notable seasonal and nostalgic specials that shine a light on forgotten classics—while leaving room for creativity that appeals to all generations.

Not only does the restaurant do Punjabi cuisine proud, but the uplifting atmosphere at New Punjab Club has been the joy-filled antidote for many in Hong Kong during these times of turbulence. More than just a meal, chef Palash Mitra has delivered comfort on a tandoori platter with rich flavours that continue to live in our minds and memories.

A sanctuary for sustainability, Roganic is undeniably deserving of the greenest accolades and buzzwords used to describe it. Much like British chef Simon Rogan’s other establishments in the UK, this farm-to-fork concept is not only committed to the provenance and traceability of its ingredients, but has managed to execute dishes of the utmost quality, time and again.

More than a decade in the making, Tate has celebrated Chinese culinary traditions with French finesse gloriously, and as single-ingredient or themed menus go, there are none quite like those featured at Tate. Lau’s expertly engineered dishes are visions of triumph and ineffable delight, which has also led to the welcome revival of tofu and soy-based dishes in the city.

Chef Vicky Cheng continues to impress at VEA with his innovative cuisine in which Chinese ingredients and flavours are amplified by French technique. This, along with the team’s impeccable service and storytelling ability, makes for a truly novel dining experience that the panel relish for its relevance and importance to modern cuisine as it opens up possibilities for Chinese cuisine, in particular, and those that cook it.

Barry Quek is a man of few words but his interpretation of modern European cuisine, which is influenced by his roots in Singapore, speaks for itself at Whey. Dishes are clever but never feel forced, making sense where it matters most: flavour. Marching to the beat of its own drum, Whey’s cuisine is consistently executed with eruptions of lesser-known Southeast Asian flavours that have impressed as much as it may have surprised.

Diving deeper into his heritage with his second restaurant, chef Vicky Cheng’s cuisine at Wing is an elegant and detailed approach to modern Cantonese gastronomy. Cheng stays true to Chinese traditions, and its wisdom, while reinterpeting classic recipes to revamp dishes for something that feels new and tastes fresh. His use of contemporary techniques and equipment such as a dry-ager is something that Chinese cuisine has benefited greatly from.