Restaurant in Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Michelin-starred French; à la carte flexibility included.
Ami holds a Michelin star (2024) and an OAD Asia ranking for French contemporary cooking in Central, running tasting menus alongside all-day à la carte and bar snacks in a forest-themed room at 18 Chater Road. At $$$ per head, it delivers classical French precision without the full ceremony of Hong Kong's most formal rooms. Book at least three weeks out — availability is tight since the star arrived.
If you have been to Ami once and found it solid but predictable, the second visit is where it earns its Michelin star. The kitchen's consistency is the point: the same hand-chopped Wagyu beef tartare, the same yellow chicken cooked with classical French precision, the same seafood vol au vent that reads like a direct line to Escoffier. At $$$ per head, Ami sits in a price tier that asks you to commit without asking you to remortgage — and for a Michelin one-star in Central, that remains a genuine proposition in 2025.
The room signals its own argument the moment you arrive on the third floor of 18 Chater Road. The forest-themed interior — warm wood tones, botanical textures, low ambient light , is the kind of setting that makes a business lunch feel considered and a dinner date feel intentional. It reads as casual fine dining done deliberately, not as an apology for the formality of the price. Compared to the harder-edged dining rooms at some of Central's bigger-ticket addresses, Ami's environment is an active reason to book, not just a backdrop.
For anyone already familiar with the format, the more interesting question is what Ami does differently from its neighbours. The answer is structural: unlike tasting-menu-only venues where you are locked into a single progression, Ami runs tasting menus alongside all-day à la carte, Gallic bar snacks, and sharing dishes simultaneously. That flexibility is rare at this quality level in Central. It means a solo diner at the bar, a two-leading wanting the full tasting menu, and a group ordering à la carte can all be in the room at once , and all eating at a standard the Opinionated About Dining Asia list ranked at #426 in 2025. The kitchen is managing multiple formats without diluting any of them.
The veteran executive chef's approach is defined by sourcing and technique rather than reinvention. Traditional French sauces anchor the menu, and the produce selection is where the kitchen spends its credibility. This is not a restaurant chasing novelty. If you came for boundary-pushing fusion, look elsewhere , Feuille plays in more experimental territory at the same price tier. If you want classical French cooking executed with genuine care in a room that is easier to sit in than most, Ami is the better answer in Central right now.
The location inside Chater House places Ami squarely in Central's financial district core, which shapes who fills the room. Weekday lunches skew professional , this is a working neighbourhood, and Ami functions as a serious lunch destination in a way that many fine dining rooms do not. The all-day hours (noon to midnight, Monday through Friday; 11:30 AM Saturday start) give it utility that a dinner-only venue cannot match. If you are in Central for a half-day and want to eat well without engineering a dinner reservation around a schedule, Ami's format works in your favour. For the neighbourhood it occupies, that is not a minor point: Central has plenty of options at every price tier, but reliable French fine dining with a flexible menu structure and sensible hours is a shorter list.
Booking is hard. Demand at this standard in Central is consistent, and the Michelin star that arrived in 2024 tightened availability further. Plan at least three weeks ahead for dinner; lunch on a weekday may have slightly more flexibility, but do not assume walk-in availability. Sunday closures are confirmed , factor that into your planning if you are working around a weekend schedule in Hong Kong.
For context across the region, Ami sits in a competitive tier of Michelin-starred French contemporary rooms. Diners familiar with Odette in Singapore or Saint Pierre will find Ami operating at a comparable level of classical ambition, if in a more compact format. Closer to home, Amber and L'Envol operate at higher price points with more elaborate service architecture. Ami's value is in delivering Michelin-standard French cooking at $$$ without the full ceremony of Hong Kong's most formal rooms , a position that has real utility depending on what you are optimising for.
Also worth knowing: Plaisance by Mauro Colagreco and Té Bo are both in circulation for French-leaning fine dining in Hong Kong right now, and are worth stacking against Ami depending on your occasion. For a broader read on what Central and the wider city offer, see our full Hong Kong restaurants guide. If you are planning a full trip and need recommendations beyond dining, our Hong Kong hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide cover the rest.
One reference point for the format Ami is working in: Le Salon de Thé de Joël Robuchon Hong Kong at ifc mall is five minutes away and occupies a different register entirely , lighter, more accessible , but it illustrates how Central's French dining spectrum runs wider than most cities its size. Ami sits deliberately in the serious middle of that range.
Quick reference: Michelin 1 Star (2024) · OAD Asia #426 (2025) · $$$ · Central, Hong Kong · Mon–Sat noon–midnight (Sat from 11:30 AM) · Closed Sunday · Book 3+ weeks ahead.
Yes, with the right expectations. The forest-themed room is atmospheric enough to signal occasion without being oppressive, and a Michelin one-star with classical French signatures and a structured tasting menu option gives the evening the weight a celebration needs. It works better for a two-leading dinner than a large group, given the format. If you want more ceremony and budget is less of a concern, Amber or L'Envol offer a fuller production. But for a special dinner at $$$ that does not feel like a performance, Ami is a sound call.
If tasting menu format suits your group, yes. The kitchen's strength is in sequential precision , classical French technique, well-sourced produce, traditional sauces , and that reads better across a tasting menu than in a single dish. The à la carte option gives you flexibility, but the tasting menu is where the chef's craftsmanship is most coherent. At the $$$ tier for a Michelin-starred room in Central, the value holds. If you want a more experimental tasting menu at the same price tier, Feuille pushes further creatively.
At $$$ for Michelin one-star French contemporary in Central, yes , particularly relative to comparable rooms in Hong Kong. You are getting serious classical French cooking, a well-considered room, and menu flexibility that most venues at this level do not offer. For $$$$, Amber delivers more elaborate service and a grander room. For $$, Neighborhood offers excellent European cooking with far less formality. Ami's $$$ position is where it earns its place: the gap between casual and full ceremony, filled competently.
Smart casual is the practical standard. The room is designed as casual fine dining , the forest aesthetic is warm rather than austere , so a jacket is not required, but arriving in athleisure will feel out of register. Business attire works for lunch. For dinner, the same level of dress you would apply to any Central restaurant at this price point is appropriate. No confirmed dress code is listed, but the Michelin one-star context and $$$ pricing set the expectation clearly enough.
The venue's format , which includes bar snacks and à la carte options alongside the tasting menu , suggests bar seating is available and viable, particularly for solo diners or those who want a lighter meal. The all-day hours (noon to midnight on weekdays) make a bar visit during off-peak hours more achievable than at dinner-only venues. That said, specific bar seating capacity is not confirmed in available data, so check at the time of booking whether counter or bar seats are bookable separately.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ami | $$$ | Hard | — |
| Ta Vie | $$$$ | Unknown | — |
| 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana (Hong Kong) | $$$$ | Unknown | — |
| Feuille | $$$ | Unknown | — |
| The Chairman | $$ | Unknown | — |
| Neighborhood | $$ | Unknown | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
Yes, with calibrated expectations. The Michelin one-star credential and forest-themed room provide enough occasion weight without the stiff formality of Hong Kong's more austere fine dining rooms. The all-day format and à la carte availability also mean you are not locked into a long tasting menu if your group prefers flexibility. For a formal celebration dinner where ceremony matters as much as food, 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana makes a stronger visual statement; Ami works better when the meal itself is the focus.
If sequential French technique is what you are after, yes. The kitchen's signatures — hand-chopped Wagyu beef tartare, yellow chicken, seafood vol au vent — reflect classical French craft applied to well-sourced produce, which is exactly what a tasting menu format should showcase. That said, Ami's à la carte offer is broader than most Michelin one-star venues, so if your group is split on format, ordering freely is a credible alternative rather than a fallback.
At $$$ for a Michelin one-star in Central, yes. Hong Kong's French fine dining tier runs expensive, and Ami sits at a price point that buys serious classical technique, OAD Asia top-500 ranking, and an all-day à la carte menu alongside the tasting option. Feuille and The Chairman offer distinct cuisine propositions at comparable spend, but for French contemporary specifically, Ami is the stronger case in this price bracket.
The room is deliberately casual fine dining — the forest aesthetic is warm rather than austere — so a jacket is not required, but turning up in activewear would be out of place. Smart casual reads correctly here: clean, put-together, without the pressure of a formal dress code. The venue's own positioning as a casual fine dining space, confirmed by its Michelin one-star, sets that expectation clearly.
Ami's format explicitly includes bar snacks and à la carte options alongside the tasting menu, which makes a bar-focused visit a viable choice rather than a compromise. This is more flexibility than most Michelin one-star French rooms in Hong Kong offer. If you want to try the kitchen without committing to a full tasting menu, bar snacks and à la carte is a practical entry point, and the venue is open until midnight Monday through Saturday.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
