This year's guide features 90 restaurants in Hong Kong and Macau, with plenty of newcomers as well as some notable omissions
The 12th edition of the Michelin Guide for Hong Kong and Macau was unveiled at City of Dreams today (December 17, 2019), with two new three-star restaurants, three new two-star restaurants, and 10 new one-star restaurants.
Among the newly crowned one-stars were David Thompson's Aaharn, which opened in Tai Kwun late last year. St Regis Hong Kong was also among the big winners of the day, with both restaurants—Rùn and L'Envol among this year's set of newcomers. Shanghainese restaurant Liu Yuan Pavilion earned one star, while French and Japanese restaurants continued to clean up well, with Julien Royer's Louise, The Peninsula's Gaddi's, Ryota Kappou Modern and Zest by Konishi all gaining one star status for 2020. Petrus regained its one star status, even with a mid-year transition that saw previous executive chef Ricardo Chaneton depart to open his own restaurant, Mono, and Uwe Opocensky coming in to officially take over in the autumn.
Roganic, the triple T.Dining Best Restaurants award winner for 2020, was awarded an easy one star with British chef Simon Rogan in attendance to support his Hong Kong team. Yan Toh Heen, previously awarded two stars, was surprisingly downgraded to one star from 2019. Historic Wan Chai restaurant Fook Lam Moon, which was just this week in the news over a legal matter concerning its alleged insolvency, received a spot of good news with the reinstatement of its one star status.
Going straight to two stars this year is André Chiang's Sichuan Moon, which also debuted on our Top 20 Best Restaurants list for 2020—Chiang himself joined his head chef Zor Tan on stage to accept the accolade. Among the two star club, we were pleased to see Eric Räty's Arbor—a long time favourite—and Wing Lei at Wynn Macau graduate from one star to two stars. In a surprising turn, chef Tam Kwok-fung's Wing Lei Palace was passed over by the Michelin guide for 2020; once more, we're puzzled by the omission of Yi, Morpheus' fine dining Chinese restaurant, for a second year in a row. Meanwhile Bo Innovation, which has held three star status since 2014, was taken down a notch in this year's edition.
Finally, the three star list for 2020 was mostly unchanged—with titans Caprice, Jade Dragon, L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Lung King Heen, 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana, Robuchon Au Dome, T'ang Court and The Eight retaining their top titles. Forum restaurant, a two-star last year, gained its third star this year—known for its classic Cantonese dishes (especially abalone), it's a stalwart on the scene that certainly seems to have impressed the Michelin inspectors. The final announcement of the day was Sushi Shikon, which gained three stars in the 2019 edition already but was oddly announced as a "new addition", purely down to the fact that it moved locations earlier this year.