Header image: Lung King Heen
The answer is four.
Hong Kong has two repeat winners on the list and two new entries – quite respectable given that the highest number of entries on the back list goes to the USA with seven overall. Japan and Spain come next with six each. The Hong Kong restaurants that have made the back list are:
88 – Lung King Heen
This renowned fine-dining Cantonese has to be pleased with its double happiness number here. The restaurant located at the Four Seasons has three Michelin stars, owing largely to Chef de Cuisine Chan Yan Tak, who the hotel convinced to put away the golf shoes and don the chef clogs, pulling him out of early retirement back in 2002 to take the restaurant to its lofty and delicious heights.
96 – BELON (new entry)
Our Foodie Forks 2019 Readers’ Choice Best Restaurant is continuing its hot streak, serving neo-Parisian fare in a chic setting helmed by young upstart chef Daniel Calvert. With a Michelin star under its belt and receiving the Highest Climber award at Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019, BELON just keeps on ascending.
102 – Amber
Recently renovated two-Michelin-starred Amber has reopened with a chic new look and the same great acclaim for the renowned cuisine by Chef Richard Ekkebus (read our review). The Mandarin Oriental’s fine-dining restaurant serving Asian-inspired contemporary French cuisine is consistently noted as one of Hong Kong’s best.
113 – VEA (new entry)
Chef Vicky Cheng’s been making a splash since his early days at Liberty Private Works years ago (which won our award for Best Private Kitchen back in 2012). VEA has made strides for the showstopping cooking style for which Chef Cheng is famed and the creative seasonal French tasting menus that are always tinged with Hong Kong flavours.
Taiyouran egg with truffle, Parmesan and caviar at VEA
Our nearest neighbour, Macau, also made the list with three-Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant Jade Dragon as a new entry – book it online here.
READ MORE: The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019: The Winners
The new rules for a 50/50 split between men and women on the voting panel (500 female experts, chefs, food writers and restaurateurs and 500 male) sees an increase in the number of female-led restaurants making it onto the back list. The World’s 50 Best folk have also extended the list from 51–100 to 51–120 to allow for more winners and a wider geographic spread (and this also means that VEA made the list, so we’re all for it.).
Here’s the full back list:
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019 awards ceremony takes place in Singapore on Tuesday, 25 June. Stay tuned for the results!
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