Duddell's

Duddell's air-dries its Longjiang chickens and pours hot oil over each one more than 300 times to crisp the skin.

Why go

Duddell's works as a restaurant, bar and gallery on the third and fourth floors of Shanghai Tang Mansion on Duddell Street, with screenings, talks and exhibitions beside the Cantonese cooking.5 7 In summer 2025, after twelve years, the designer André Fu refitted it, drawing on the 1920s watchtowers of Guangdong.1 5 It reopened in September 2025 on two floors: the third-floor dining room for Cantonese classics, and the Upper Room above it for dim sum all day, cocktails and a terrace.2 SCMP's 2026 guide puts the cooking first: the decor doesn't eclipse the food, which has garnered consistently high praise from the outset.5

The crispy fried chicken, Duddell's signature, came back on the menu after the refit.7 2 Fontaine Cheng of Tatler ate it at a preview the restaurant held before the reopening, fried while hanging until the skin crackles like glass, and wrote: The cooking under chef Chan Yau-leung is at its most poised now.1

The refit brought new dishes as well. Janice Leung Hayes, who writes Eater's Hong Kong map, sends readers to one of them: Don't miss the new creations like the roast goose pie, with its irresistibly buttery crust.4

Order this / avoid

Order: the crispy fried chicken, HK$368 for a half or HK$698 whole in September 2025. Tatler's Fontaine Cheng ate it at the 2025 preview.2 1
Order: the sweet and sour pork, made with the first cut of the pork. Cheng at the 2025 preview: Crisp, juicy and clear-flavoured.1
Order: the roast goose pie with plum sauce. Hong Kong Madame, at a tasting the house hosted in 2025: rich, flaky, and wonderfully inventive.3
Order: the soft scrambled egg with prawn. Hong Kong Madame at the same 2025 tasting: a silky, comforting dish that perfectly captured Cantonese simplicity at its best.3
Order: the deboned chicken wing stuffed with glutinous rice. Chomp Magazine, in a 2026 feature on the brunch, found it fried until exceptionally light and crisp.6

What locals & experts say

SCMP 100 Top Tables (2026): The dim sum remains excellent, and The steamed flower crab with Chencun rice noodles and plum sauce balances gentle tartness with silky flat noodles and fresh crab.5
The Infatuation (2016, before the refit): Duddell's is most definitely a scene - it's on top of the Shanghai Tang flagship store, has a couple of different spaces, and is highly Instagrammable - but it also has some pretty excellent food.8
Jennifer Che, Tiny Urban Kitchen (2018, under an earlier chef): The food is great, albeit quite pricy.9
MICHELIN Guide: one star in 2026.10

Good to know

Price: SCMP's 2026 guide puts a meal at HK$500 to HK$1,000 a head.5 The evening set menu was HK$358 a head plus 10 percent in 2025, for two or more.3 Chan's sautéed prawns with chicken essence, made by slow-steaming whole chickens into a broth, cost HK$498 a person in September 2025.2
The Upper Room: dim sum until late, small plates and cocktails built on the Ba Gua, the feng shui map, at HK$138 each. The weekend brunch is free-flow, from HK$638 with juices and soft drinks to HK$2,688 with Krug (September 2025).2 1
Timing: lunch and dinner every day, from noon.7 10
Booking: call 2525 9191. Three private rooms.7 5
Where: 3/F and 4/F, Shanghai Tang Mansion, 1 Duddell Street, Central.10

Verdict

should-visit — Go for Chan Yau-leung's crispy fried chicken in the art-filled dining room, or climb a floor for dim sum and cocktails on the terrace. Critics rate the cooking after the 2025 refit, though the first meals written up after it were ones the house hosted. Expect HK$500 to HK$1,000 a head.

Duddell's.