Amber is a 2 Michelin star restaurant in Hong Kong, ranked No. 24 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and No. 3 on The Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants List. Chef Richard Ekkebus is the star behind Amber, my culinary highlight in Hong Kong (hands down!).
Amber is located inside of Mandarin Oriental Hotel at the Landmark shopping centre. I visited during my trip to Hong Kong back in June for lunch. If you’re coming out of central station, don’t make the same mistake I did and make sure you take exit G to the mall.
After being lost for a while I was put in a good mood again we when I walked in. The interior is ultra elegant.
I had the 4 course degustation menu (1,288 HKD) which kicked off with some amuse bouche to awaken the taste buds. We worked our way through 5 delicious salty, sweet, bitter, sour and unami snacks.
1 – The first starter was the langoustine of sea urchin topped with caviar, in a poached jicama, kabu and Granny Smith fricassee. The combination of sea urchin and salty caviar went so incredibly well together. It was a melt-in-your-mouth flavour bomb.
2 – Next came the most beautifully presented dish of them all; green asparagus with virgin Sicilian pistachio oil, amanatsu orange segment, zest, gel and sauce Maltese. It’s amazing how one simple asparagus can be complimented so well by it’s surrounding ingredients, making a fantastic vegetarian dish.
3 – The main course was the Miyazaki Wagyu beef, prepared medium rare. Since I visited Japan I was serious about boycotting meat for a while, because I’d just be disappointed given my new ridiculously high beef standards. When this dish arrived I was really (REALLY) hoping that it would be as tender as I had remembered, and it was! It was a true hallelujah moment for my taste buds! The beef was served with red cabbage slaw, horseradish and pepper berry emulsion.
4 – The last course was the caramelised milk chocolate caramelatte and cacao sorbet. It was served with praline dust, caramelised almonds, salted caramel and kalamansi. I’m normally critical of desserts because I feel like a lot of restaurants don’t seem to nail the last part, again Amber did. Being a huge chocolate and praline fan, the flavours were really noticeable and it tasted delicious.
After the desserts came the pretty stand of petits fours. I’d say the petits fours had some really tough footsteps to follow and didn’t have the same wow factor as the rest. Having said that they were still very nice and a lovely way to finish off a flawless meal.
AMBER REVIEW SUMMARY
It is rare that I walk out of a restaurant with no complaints whatsoever, amazed at the food. My experience at Amber was simply flawless and definitely ranks high amongst the best restaurants I’ve ever visited. Amber really goes above and beyond in all aspects. Every single element of this meal was perfection. Along with the 4 courses, you’re also getting the amuse bouche, petite fours, excellent ambiance, amazing food and great service.
At 1,288 HKD, yes it is pricey but it is simply amazing. They do also offer a set lunch menu for 598 HKD. Amber Hong Kong menu can be found here. So if you want to invest in a special occasion meal you really can’t go wrong. It will be memorable.
Amber at Mandarin Oriental, Landmark
15 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong
+852 2132 0066
This looks delicious. I definitely need to go to this place for their delicacies.
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