Gong

Should you book Gong for a serious meal in Milan?

Yes, if you want something that sits outside Milan's well-worn Italian fine dining circuit. Gong is one of the few restaurants in the city making a credible case for Chinese-influenced cuisine at the €€€€ price point, it has held a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025 to back that up. If you are looking for a change of register from the modern Italian tasting menus that dominate the city's leading end, Gong earns the booking.

The case for Gong

Gong occupies a considered position in the Porta Venezia district, on Corso Concordia, one of the quieter residential streets that fans out from the Giardini Pubblici. This is not the flashy Brera or Navigli belt where tourists cluster. The neighbourhood is prosperous and low-key, home to long-established apartments and a clientele that tends to be Milanese rather than visiting. That local foothold matters: Gong is not a concept restaurant pitched at curious tourists. It is where well-travelled Milanese go when they want something sophisticated and different from the city's Italian-first default.

The dining room is built around the gongs that give the restaurant its name. They are large, imposing, decorative rather than theatrical, anchoring a space described consistently as modern and elegant. The architecture is taken seriously here: presentation and setting are treated as part of the meal rather than as backdrop. For a first-time visitor, the room signals immediately that this is a kitchen with a point of view.

If you have been to Gong once and ordered from the à la carte, the clearest next step is the Peking duck tasting menu. The restaurant treats Peking duck as its signature dish, there is a dedicated menu built around it. That level of focus is unusual in this category and suggests the kitchen has thought carefully about what it does leading. The menu structure also includes other tasting formats and a broad à la carte, so the choice of format depends on how much time you have and how committed you are to the full experience. For a return visit, the tasting menu is the more instructive option.

The wine programme is described as deep, with a genuine focus on fine European wines alongside the food. Chinese cuisine at this level pairs better with certain European styles than many diners expect, the staff are noted specifically for their willingness to explain both the dishes and the pairings. That attentiveness is worth flagging: it is the difference between a meal that educates and one that simply delivers food. First-time visitors to this style of cuisine will find the service approach helpful rather than overwhelming.

In a city that has earned serious Michelin recognition across a number of Italian restaurants, including multi-starred addresses like Enrico Bartolini and Cracco in Galleria, Gong's Michelin Plate positions it a step below the starred tier but still within the city's recognised dining establishment. That is not a knock.

For context on where Gong sits in Milan's Chinese dining options, the city has a handful of alternatives worth knowing. Ba Restaurant, Bon Wei, and Le Nove Scodelle each take different approaches to Chinese cuisine in Milan. Gong is the most architecturally ambitious and the most explicitly fine-dining in its orientation. If the quality of the room and the service depth matter to you alongside the food, Gong is the right call over the alternatives in this category.

Internationally, Chinese restaurants working at this kind of fine-dining register are a small group. Restaurant Tim Raue in Berlin and Mister Jiu's in San Francisco occupy comparable territory in their respective cities. Gong's approach, mixing Chinese tradition with European technique and ingredient sensibility, is the Milan entry point into that conversation.

The Porta Venezia location also makes Gong easy to combine with other parts of a Milan visit. The neighbourhood connects naturally to the central hotel zone, the address at Corso Concordia 8 is accessible without requiring a taxi to the city's periphery. If you are staying centrally and want a dinner that does not require crossing the city, the logistics work. For broader planning, see our full Milan restaurants guide, hotels guide, and bars guide for context on how Gong fits into a longer stay.

Italy's reference points for serious dining are concentrated in cities like Modena, where Osteria Francescana operates at the very leading, Florence, home to Enoteca Pinchiorri. Within Milan itself, the starred Italian addresses set a high bar. Gong does not compete directly with those restaurants on cuisine type. It competes on experience quality, service depth, the ability to deliver a memorable meal at the top end of the city's dining market. On those terms, it performs well.

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