Belon
Mina Güçlüer served her foie gras at Belon in 2025 with caramelized plum slices stuffed with hand-chopped pistachios and shaped like tiny baklavas.
Why go
Black Sheep Restaurants opened Belon at 41 Elgin Street in 2016. In 2017 the chef May Chow, that year's Asia's Best Female Chef, called it the place to go for refined yet modern French bistro-inspired cooking.
11 The group moved Belon to a first-floor room at 1-5 Elgin Street in 2021.1 The South China Morning Post first named Belon among its 100 Top Tables in 2017 and named it again in 2026.15 It held its MICHELIN star in 2026.8
Mina Güçlüer has been head chef since June 2025. She grew up in Istanbul, moved to Germany at 18 and started as a commis at Christian Bau's three-star Victor's Fine Dining before cooking at Horváth in Berlin. She came to Hong Kong in 2019 for the reopening of Amber, met Matthew Kirkley there and moved to the old Belon later that year as a chef de partie.12 Kirkley ran the kitchen when Belon reopened at its new address in 2021.10 She rose through the ranks under him.1 She told Gavin Yeung of the Post in 2025 what she wants from the room: I don't want people to be scared to laugh or worried that they're talking too loudly.
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Her first menu brought her Turkish roots into French plates. The duck was the dish she worried about: Duck is a very Hong Kong ingredient, so it was a bit scary to take that on in a city where there are so many great roast ducks and geese.
1 She ages it for 14 days.2 Aude Camus of the city magazine Hong Kong Madame ate that menu at a dinner Belon hosted for the media in August 2025. She had the duck with apricots poached in Gewürztraminer and bulgur simmered in chicken stock and thyme, and wrote: It's comforting yet bold, and it lingers with you long after the last bite.
She found the saffron in the rouget a quiet nod to Mina's Turkish heritage.
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Güçlüer's brioche beef tartare with caviar is her twist on the cervelas en brioche (sausage in brioche) that was kind of the signature dish for many years.
1 Tatler's 2026 listing found that the tartare offers a moment of indulgence, echoing Belon's earlier signatures while moving them somewhere slightly new.
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Book a seat at the chef's counter, as Tatler advises in 2026. The Post's 100 Top Tables agreed that year: The chef's counter, while not unique, is also a thoroughly worthwhile experience.
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Order this / avoid
- Order: the brioche beef tartare with caviar, HK$448 à la carte or HK$298 extra on the tasting menu in September 2026 (Tatler, 2026).41413
- Order: the 14-day aged duck. The garnish changes: Camus had apricot and bulgur at the hosted dinner in 2025, Tatler named it with sour cherry in 2026, and the September 2026 menu serves it with smoked eggplant at HK$728.414
- Order: the foie gras with plum and Eiswein (German ice wine). Tatler in 2026: it
leans into richness while keeping sweetness and acidity in check.
43 - Order: the aged and cured fluke with bergamot and black lime. Tatler in 2026: it
arrives bright and finely balanced.
4 - Order: the rouget (red mullet), with saffron and pastis when Camus ate it at the hosted dinner in 2025:
flawlessly executed
. The September 2026 menu pairs it with fennel and pastis.314
What locals & experts say
- South China Morning Post, 100 Top Tables (2026):
The 'pearl of SoHo' shines brighter than ever after major changes in 2025.
5 - Rubin Verebes, Foodie (2026): put Belon first of 17 Western fine-dining rooms in the city, where the
neo-French concept turns ever so slightly Turkish with aromatic sauces and flavours
. He sends readers to the kinmedai (golden-eye snapper) with orange and rosemary and the saddle of lamb with couscous.6 - Aude Camus, Hong Kong Madame (2025, a dinner hosted by Belon): on the scallops,
sliced like a poultry breast rather than the usual neat coins
.3 - Award: MICHELIN one star, 2026. Tatler Best 20 Restaurants Hong Kong, 2026.84
Good to know
- Price: the seven-course Sélection du Chef was HK$1,888 a guest on the August 2026 menu, up from HK$1,688 in April 2026. A six-glass wine pairing adds HK$888. À la carte mains ran HK$398 to 748 in September 2026.13614
- Timing: dinner every night (Time Out, 2025).7
- Booking: online at belonsoho.com, or call +852 2152 2872.124
- Pre-order: the whole roasted chicken takes 48 hours' notice and was HK$1,388 in September 2026.14
- Corkage: HK$500 (SCMP, 2026). The kitchen is vegetarian friendly.5
- Where: up a staircase at 1/F, 1-5 Elgin Street, SoHo. Time Out in 2025:
The signage is discreet; just remember to look up as it's positioned above Ho Lee Fook.
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Verdict
should-visit — Book Belon for Mina Güçlüer's French cooking with her Turkish roots in it, and order the brioche beef tartare with caviar. The seven-course menu was HK$1,888 in August 2026. One of the 2025 reviews came from a dinner the restaurant hosted for the press.