Looking for the best restaurants in Hong Kong in 2026? From rooftop dining rooms and cult neighbourhood bistros to the city’s hardest-to-book new openings, Hong Kong’s restaurant scene feels more exciting than it has in years. Whether you’re planning a special dinner, searching for the best new restaurants in Hong Kong, or simply wondering where the city’s cool crowd is actually eating right now, these are the tables we’re recommending without hesitation.
Terrace Boulud by Mandarin Oriental
Terrace Boulud by Mandarin Oriental has swiftly established itself as one of Hong Kong’s most sought-after new dining rooms, drawing a well-heeled Central crowd from breakfast meetings through to late-night cocktails on the terrace. Set atop LANDMARK PRINCE’S, in the much-loved space where Sevva once defined the city’s after-dark dining scene, the rooftop brasserie marks celebrated French chef Daniel Boulud’s first restaurant in Hong Kong and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group’s first dining venture beyond its flagship hotel. Led by Executive Chef Aurélie Altemaire, the kitchen brings a polished yet approachable energy to the menu, balancing classic French technique with a lighter, contemporary touch. Designed by Malherbe Paris, the interiors move from a sculptural green onyx bar through elegant dining spaces and onto one of Central’s most iconic rooftop terraces, where yellow striped fabrics, sweeping skyline views and a softly glamorous atmosphere give the space an unmistakably Riviera-like mood. The menu captures the easy confidence of a great French brasserie, shaped around Boulud’s four culinary muses — La Tradition, La Saison, Le Potager and Le Voyage — while weaving in subtle Hong Kong influences through the DB x MO dim sum selection, which references cities that have shaped Boulud’s culinary journey, from Hong Kong shrimp har gow to Lyon-inspired truffle xiaolongbao and New York pastrami steamed bao. Truthfully, they had us from the moment the bread basket landed on the table.
Must-order: DB x MO dim sum selection, classic brasserie staples such as the Pâté en Croûte and Beef Tenderloin, finishing with the pistachio soft-serve ice cream.
Terrace Boulud by Mandarin Oriental, 25/F, LANDMARK PRINCE’S, Central
JIJA by Vicky Lau
Named after a local term for cheerful chatter, JIJA by Vicky Lau quickly became one of the city’s hardest tables to secure at the end of 2025. After several fully booked attempts, we finally managed to bag a table just before year’s end, and the appeal was immediate. Set within the newly opened and much-raved-about Kimpton Hong Kong, Chef Lau steps away from fine-dining formality to explore the bold, generous flavours of Yunnan and southwest China, shaped by French technique and a distinctly modern sensibility. The result is food that feels rustic yet precise, deeply comforting yet quietly refined. Lunch is particularly approachable, with a three-course menu from HK$380 offering an introduction to the kitchen’s sour, spicy and deeply aromatic flavour palette, while dinner unfolds into a more expressive, share-led experience. A dedicated tea station adds another thoughtful layer to the experience, with teas personally selected by Chef Lau and presented with the same care and reverence usually reserved for fine wine, brewed tableside and explained in detail by the team.
Must order: Dai Sou Beef Soup Noodle, Yunnan Pork Fat Fried Rice and Chicken Liver Parfait, best washed down with Yunnan roasted coffee or one of the restaurant’s cold brew teas.
JIJA by Vicky Lau, 15/F, Kimpton Hotel, 11 Middle Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui
Jean Pierre
Jean Pierre, which opened last year on Bridges Street, has quickly established itself as one of Hong Kong’s most sought-after neighbourhood bistros, embraced by the city’s French community and non-French diners alike. Created by Marc Hofmann of Black Sheep Restaurants as a personal homage to Parisian bistro culture, it captures the easy exuberance of classic French dining: generous plates, unforced hospitality and a dining room that hums from the first aperitif to the last digestif. White-aproned servers weave between tightly packed tables, chanson and French pop drift through the room and the atmosphere feels knowingly chaotic in the best possible way. Steak frites, onion soup and tableside theatre are all present; one piece of advice: do not skip the oeufs mimosa. Order lots of them. They are reason enough to return.
Must-order dishes: Start with a Cornichon Martini and plenty of oeufs mimosa, followed by the beef tartare and richly braised Boeuf Bourguignon, before finishing with the Crêpes Suzette.
Jean Pierre, 9 Bridges Street, Central
Bar Leone
Crowned The World’s Best Bar in 2025, Bar Leone is instantly recognisable by the queue that begins forming along Bridges Street well before doors open at 5pm. Increasingly, it is spoken about as much for its food as for its drinks. The smoked olives have developed a cult following of their own, while the mortadella focaccia, layered with ricotta-mascarpone cream and pickled green chillies, has become one of Hong Kong’s most talked-about bar snacks. And then, of course, there are the negronis. Created by Roman-born bartender Lorenzo Antinori, the bar’s philosophy of cocktail popolari extends naturally to the kitchen: unfussy plates, exceptional ingredients and bold, deeply satisfying flavours. Despite the global acclaim, Bar Leone still feels rooted in everyday pleasures, the kind of place where you come for one drink and somehow stay all night.
Must-order: Order the smoked olives and a perfectly balanced negroni, followed by the mortadella focaccia layered with ricotta-mascarpone cream and pickled green chillies.
Bar Leone, 11-15 Bridges St, Central
Swim Club
Swim Club is the newly opened rooftop bar crowning Kimpton Hong Kong, bringing a distinctly West Coast energy to the Hong Kong skyline. Perched on the 50th floor with sweeping harbour views, the space channels the mood of Beverly Hills pool culture through striped umbrellas, retro-leaning interiors, low-slung loungers and a cocktail list inspired by the language of diving. The food follows suit: playful, bold and unapologetically crowd-pleasing, drawing from Southern Californian, Latin and Asian influences. A Gold Medal hot dog arrives on a house-made bun with Dijon and mignonette, the smash burger is suitably indulgent with caramelised onion and American cheese, while barbacoa duck nachos and raw wagyu tacos are designed for passing around over sunset drinks. This is the kind of rooftop that quickly becomes part of people’s regular rotation.
Must-order: Start with the barbacoa duck nachos and raw wagyu tacos for sharing, followed by the indulgent smash burger, best paired with the “Inward” mezcal negroni twist.
Swim Club, 50F, 11 Middle Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Ho Lee Fook
Tucked along Elgin Street in the heart of SoHo, Black Sheep’s Ho Lee Fook has become something of a Hong Kong institution, evolving over the years into one of the city’s most distinctive modern Cantonese dining rooms. Under the direction of Hong Kong-born Executive Chef ArChan Chan, the menu draws deeply from Cantonese tradition while embracing premium seasonal produce and contemporary technique, resulting in dishes that feel both deeply familiar and refreshingly current. Signature favourites include the roast goose with plum sauce, deeply flavourful wagyu beef char siu and the restaurant’s cult prawn toast x okonomiyaki hybrid, which has become one of Ho Lee Fook’s most recognisable dishes. Interiors lean into the restaurant’s signature late-night glamour, with rich red banquettes, moody lighting and an opulent energy that nods to old Hong Kong nights out. Bold, sophisticated and unmistakably local, Ho Lee Fook remains one of the city’s enduring places to gather over exceptional food, cocktails and conversation.
Must-order: The cult prawn toast x okonomiyaki, richly glazed wagyu beef char siu and signature roast goose served with plum sauce.
Ho Lee Fook, 3-5 Elgin Street, SoHo
In a year when the world’s culinary spotlight turns firmly towards the city, these are the tables that capture where Hong Kong dining is heading next. Bookmark for the next time an out-of-towner asks where to eat, or when you simply want to remind yourself why this remains one of the most compelling food cities in the world.
