Among them is three-Michelin-starred Forum in Causeway Bay, opened in 1977 and presided over by award-winning chef Yeung Koon-yat, the “King of Abalone”. His signature braised Ah Yat abalone with mushroom and vegetables, as well as seafood dishes such as pan-fried minced shrimp cake with caviar, feature on his specially tailored eight-course menu.

T’Ang Court at The Langham, Hong Kong has earned its coveted three-Michelin-star status for the sixth consecutive year, thanks to master chef Kwong Wai-keung, who has been at the restaurant since its opening in 1988, and executive chef Wong Chi-fai, who has worked there for two decades. Specialising in dishes from the Tang dynasty, the golden age of Chinese cuisine, T’Ang Court offers a six-course pairing menu with signatures including baked stuffed crab shell with crab meat and onion, as well as stewed Imperial bird’s nest with shredded fish maw, chicken and conpoy.

One of Hong Kong’s 100 Top Tables, Shikigiku Japanese Restaurant has branches at The Royal Garden in Tsim Sha Tsui East and IFC in Central, the latter with spectacular views of the harbour. Following the kaiseki Japanese culinary style, the cuisine is artistically presented using fresh seasonal ingredients. Famous for tempura, its nine-course special menu features tempura lobster rolled with sea urchin, sea eel, maitake mushroom, pumpkin and green pepper.

Another of Hong Kong’s 100 Top Tables and Michelin-star awardee is Aaharn, presided over by internationally renowned restaurateur and chef David Thompson, known for his fine Thai cuisine. His London restaurant Nahm was the first Thai restaurant to be awarded a Michelin star, in 2001. There are several choices for each part of his three-course wine-pairing feast created especially for this festival, with highlights including coconut and turmeric curry of snow crab, and crispy perch with tamarind chillies.

Sustainable Eats 

This category features dishes (often vegetarian or vegan) with ingredients that are sustainably sourced, from 20 top restaurants in the city. Two-Michelin-starred Amber at The Landmark, Mandarin Oriental is well known for its sustainable practices and menus overseen by executive chef Richard Ekkebus. He offers Amber Discovery, a four-course refined vegetarian menu using the freshest seasonal ingredients. This comes with two glasses of wine, one of which is champagne.

Simon Rogan, one of Britain’s top chefs, opened Aulis Hong Kong several years ago. His cuisine is unique and cannot simply be labelled as modern British – it is a strong expression of his own style, which includes growing his own ingredients when possible as well as sourcing locally. The 10-seater counter-top eatery is one of Hong Kong’s 100 Top Tables, and the menu changes frequently, depending on seasonal availability.

Popular Indian restaurant Bombay Dreams has been a fixture in Hong Kong for more than 20 years and has enjoyed Michelin recognition for 12 of them. Now in a bigger, contemporary space, the recipes are devised by master chef Irshad Ahmed Qureshi, seventh generation of the royal khansama chefs of Lucknow who once served Mogul monarchs. The special here is a five-course vegetarian menu. Highlights include homemade cottage cheese marinated in yoghurt; whole spices and Kashmiri red chilli; Himalayan morels slow cooked with green peas, onions, tomatoes and garlic; and black lentils slow cooked with traditional spices, butter and cream.

Innov-plates

This category features innovative plates from 20 restaurants where chefs have created innovative dishes for a special festival menu. The chefs are known for their contemporary take on traditional flavours and dishes. Restaurants include two-Michelin-starred Nordic-Japanese Arbor, and its sister restaurant, the newly opened Ami. Innov-plates also features newly opened Margo, and long-time favourites Café Malacca, Olé and Spiga, the latter by two-Michelin-starred consulting chef Enrico Bartolini. Spiga offers a five-course menu featuring the best of Italian ingredients such as Piedmontese beef tenderloin tartare, Parmigiano fondue, black truffle and Venere rice chips. For dessert there’s also 72 per cent dark chocolate panna cotta, pistachio sponge, almond praline cream and yoghurt sorbet. Café Malacca is arguably the best Malaysian restaurant in the city and offers a special five-course crab menu for this festival, which includes a pie tee with crabmeat starter, pork and crabmeat soup, and a choice of five crab dishes including white-pepper crab, chilli crab and crab bee hoon. 

For a cheeky daytime snack, long-time fixture Fuel Espresso coffee house is offering a special espresso gateau. It is made with decadent dark chocolate and freshly made espresso and served with ice cream.

Top Rising Stars

This category recognises young people making waves across the local food and beverage sector, whether they are chefs, pastry chefs, restaurateurs, mixologists or baristas. They all have their own stories to tell and have each made a significant contribution to the business.