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Designed by Philippe Starck, the comfortable space is in synch with its locale, writes Sophy Roberts
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1. T'ang Court
Admittedly, it may be a relatively boring, largely windowless, hotel restaurant (all neutral shades and air-conditioning), but the food astonishes. Peerless creativity and an insistence on wok chi (wok cooking at the highest achievable temperature) are the keys to T'ang Court's greatness.
- 1/F, Great Eagle Hotel, 8 Peking Road, Kowloon
- 2375 1133
- $$$$ (HK$450 - 600)*
2. The Verandah
From its epic Sunday brunches, through to the speechless aplomb of its candlelit dinners, this sleek patrician of the Southside has a stately lead over the competition. The details are sheer class (when did you last have caesar salad made, as it should be, at your tableside?) and the ambience utterly surfeited with the "wow" factor.
- 109 Repulse Bay Rd, Repulse Bay
- 2812 2722
- $$$$ (HK$450 - 600)*
3. Gaddi's
Royalty, Hollywood stars and heads of state have dined here by the worshipful score, for in terms of French cuisine east of Suez, Gaddi's is unquestionably the holy grail. Expect the big-budget works: from the aristocratic menu to stratospheric service levels. If you like it haute, you've found your heaven.
- 1/F The Peninsula
- 2315 3171
- $$$$$ (over HK$600)*
4. Nicholini's
You might not foresee yourself travelling to Hong Kong in order to eat Italian, but you might for Nicholini's. Awarded the Insegna del Romano for being the best Italian restaurant outside of Italy, Nicholini's sits comfortably at the apex of Northern Italian cooking, each dish an essay in freshness and charm.
- 8/F, Conrad International, Pacific Place, Admiralty
- 2521 3838
- $$$$ (HK$450 - 600)*
5. Alibi
If there has been one Hong Kong restaurateur consistently and laudably pushing the style envelope over the last decade, it has been Nichole Garnaut. But with Alibi, her latest venture, she succeeds with understatement, and the creative take on French cuisine has both depth and confidence. The crowd is beautiful, the food more so.
- 73 Wyndham St, SoHo
- 2167 8989
- $$$ (HK$250 - 450)*
6. M at the Fringe
The totality of M's undeniable quirks - the mismatching cutlery, eccentric menu, the arty location (above the galleries of the Fringe Club) - come together in a riotously groovy whole. The food is Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influenced, although simply stating this does no justice to its free form improvisation of flavours. Superior stuff.
- Level 1, 2 Lower Albert Rd
- 2877 4000
- $$$$ (HK$450 - 600)*
7. One Harbour Road
Cantonese cuisine is the most artful of Chinese provincial varieties, and One Harbour Road is among the most artful of Cantonese restaurants. Be prepared then for a dining experience of unusual refinement, set off by the Grand Hyatt's art deco fantasies. The restaurant endlessly wins deserved praise.
- 8/F, Grand Hyatt, 1 Harbour Road, Wan Chai
- 2588 1234
- $$$$ (HK$450 - 600)*
8. The Mandarin Grill
So moneyed, clubbish and upholstered, you could be sitting in St James's in London. Except for the food: no London grill room could ever approximate the exemplary filets and sirloins turned out here. We are talking consummate mastery of skillet and skewer. No wonder the suits linger for hours over brandy and cigars.
- Mandarin Oriental, 5 Connaught Rd
- 2522 0111
- $$$$ (HK$450 - 600)*
9. Kung Tak Lam
Vegetarians unable to face another helping of the slop and swill that passes for much animal-free cuisine will praise the creator for Kung Tak Lam. This light and airy Shanghainese does things with mere vegetables that could not be done, could not even be imagined, by most vegetarian restaurants elsewhere.
- 31 Yee Wo St, Causeway Bay
- 2890 3127
- $$(HK$100 - 250)*
10. Jimmy's Kitchen
If you have longed for the day when you would stumble on a restaurant locked in a parallel 1970s universe - where the menu offers, without irony, such wide-collared classics as chicken Kiev and baked Alaska - then rejoice. For this is that day; Jimmy's is that restaurant. Don't pass up on a chance like this.
- 1 - 3 Wyndham St
- 2526 5293
- $$$ (HK$250 - 450)*
