Art & Taste

A 4.1-rated Taiwanese kitchen in Central that earned its second act

At a $$ price point on Wyndham Street in Central, it is one of the more accessible serious eating options in a neighbourhood dominated by expense-account restaurants. If you are visiting for the first time and want honest Taiwanese cooking without committing to a long tasting menu or a heavy bill, this is a practical and well-considered choice.

What happened here, why it matters

The venue's recent history is directly relevant to what you will find on the plate. When What to Eat closed in 2024, one of its owners opened Art & Taste in the same space, retaining the same kitchen team. That continuity matters. You are not eating at a newly assembled operation finding its feet; you are eating food produced by a crew that has been working together and refining the same dishes for longer than the current signage suggests. Chef Lukas Jakobi leads the kitchen, the institutional knowledge carried over from the previous restaurant is evident in the execution of the classics on the menu.

For a first-timer, this context is reassuring rather than merely historical. The transition from What to Eat to Art & Taste was not a reinvention, it was a continuation. The food has a settled, confident quality that newer openings rarely achieve this quickly.

What to order

The braised beef noodle soup is the dish to anchor your visit around. You can choose your cut, ribs, tendon, shank, or a combination of tendon and shank, which means the dish rewards repeat visits as much as it satisfies on the first. The broth delivers deep, savoury flavour that carries through to the noodles, which hold their texture properly. This is the kind of dish that separates a kitchen that understands the format from one that is merely replicating it.

The cheese and egg crêpe is the other dish worth prioritising. It reads as a small bite but functions as a reliable indicator of the kitchen's attention to detail beyond the headline bowl. At this price tier, getting both the signature soup and a secondary dish right is what justifies a recommendation rather than just a visit.

On the wine program: the $$ price positioning and the Taiwanese-casual format mean this is not the venue to seek out for serious wine pairing depth. The food here, braised meats, crêpes, small bites, is built around flavour-forward, savoury profiles that pair naturally with light-to-medium reds, cold beer, or Taiwanese-style beverages. If wine list depth is a deciding factor for your booking, venues like Amber or Caprice operate in a different register entirely. Art & Taste is not competing on that axis, it does not need to, the food is the reason to come.

First-timer guidance

Walk in knowing what you want to order. The braised beef noodle soup and the cheese and egg crêpe are the two dishes with the clearest evidence behind them. The menu covers Taiwanese classics and small bites broadly, so there is range to explore, but anchoring on those two items ensures the visit delivers on its core promise.

The address, Shop A, G/F, 75–77 Wyndham Street, puts you in the middle of Central's restaurant corridor, walkable from the MTR and well within reach of the main hotel zone. Booking is rated easy, which at this price point and in this format suggests walk-ins are viable, though confirming ahead for groups is sensible given the space's likely footprint as a former mid-size casual restaurant.

For context on what Taiwanese cooking looks like at a higher price tier or in its home market, consider Fujin Tree Taiwanese Cuisine & Champagne in Taipei, or the more formal Mountain and Sea House. For other well-regarded Taiwanese options in Taipei, Golden Formosa, Mipon, Shin Yeh Taiwanese Signature, Ming Fu, and YUENJI in Taichung all offer comparison points. In Hong Kong itself, Tai Tsai (Tsuen Wan) and Yuan is Here (Western District) are worth knowing about if you are building out a broader Hong Kong eating itinerary.

For more eating, drinking, staying options across the city, see our full Hong Kong restaurants guide, our full Hong Kong hotels guide, our full Hong Kong bars guide, our full Hong Kong wineries guide, and our full Hong Kong experiences guide. For a considered lunch option in the same Central neighbourhood, Le Salon de Thé de Joël Robuchon Hong Kong (ifc mall) is a different price tier and format but worth knowing about if the occasion calls for it.

The verdict

Book Art & Taste if you want well-executed Taiwanese classics at a fair price in a convenient Central location, delivered by a kitchen with genuine continuity behind it. It is not a special-occasion restaurant, the format and price point do not position it that way, but it is a reliable, considered option for solo diners, casual groups, anyone curious about what good braised beef noodle soup looks like in Hong Kong. At $$ with easy booking and a settled kitchen team, the risk is low and the upside is real.