Estro

Antimo Maria Merone chose a higher-gluten flour for the bottoni at Estro so the button-shaped pasta could hold a filling that is almost liquid.

Why go

Merone was born in Naples and came to Hong Kong in 2012 to cook at L'Altro. He ran 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Macau as executive chef before he opened Estro with JIA Group in 2021.1 He explains the name on his own site: Estro means inspiration in Italian; the inspiration comes from my experience, background and roots.12 Estro won its first MICHELIN star in 2023 and held it in 2026, the year it placed 32nd on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants.2 10 1 Janice Leung Hayes, who keeps Eater's Hong Kong map, sets expectations: If you're looking for nonna-style Italian, Antimo Merone's Estro is definitely not it.8

Come for the bottoni, a round pasta named for its likeness to a button and stuffed like ravioli. Merone gives it a new filling and a new sauce every season. He compares a bite to a xiao long bao, or a chocolate shell with a molten centre. By August 2023 he was on the eighth version. His regulars ask about it: Many customers visit four to five times a year, and the bottoni becomes our common topic.2 DL, a travel blogger who booked and paid in 2022, had it with honey peas and mint: A burst of sweetness and umami in each and every bite.5

The red prawn panna cotta stays for the same reason. Merone told the MICHELIN Guide in 2023: I tried taking it off the menu, but some customers told me that's the dish they came for, so it's hard not to serve it.2 Lisa Cam of the South China Morning Post ate it at a hosted dinner in December 2021, when Estro was new. It came in a ramekin-sized bowl, with red prawn panna cotta at the bottom, red prawn tartare in Amalfi lemon above and a thick layer of caviar on top. The result is an umami delight.6

DL paid for the long menu in 2022 and came away mixed. He found the room so dimly lit, thought three pasta courses in a row was too many and wrote: I thought this meal tailed off after the bottoni.5 Leung Hayes's map in 2025 sends you for a filet of sea bass so perfectly cooked that it shimmers like a pearl and melts like butter.8

Order this / avoid

Order: the bottoni, whatever the season holds. Tatler had it with morels, matsutake and mushroom jus in 2026.3
Order: the red prawn with coral panna cotta, lemon and caviar. Tatler in 2026: precise and deeply expressive.3
Order: the mafalde Genovese, ribbon pasta in the Neapolitan sauce of onions and slow-cooked meat, here Montoro onions and short rib. Gambero Rosso International called it superb in 2021. DL disagreed in 2022: to my decidedly non-Italian palate I would characterize it as much closer to being undercooked.7 5
Order: the seafood plate of mussels, octopus, squid and tomato. Tatler in 2026: clean and confidently restrained.3

What locals & experts say

Jennifer Che, Tiny Urban Kitchen (2024), after meals in the first months: The food really is very, very good.9
Josh Ong, Asia's 50 Best Restaurants (2026): It's all about flowing lines and serene autumnal tones inside the André Fu-designed space.1
Lisa Cam, South China Morning Post (2021, a hosted dinner): We're still dreaming about the comforting sweet onion flavours of Mafalde pasta Genovese.6
DL, Quantitative Travel (2022, a paid meal): on that year's lamb with a cacio e ova (egg and cheese) sabayon, the sabayon was not up to the task.5
Award: MICHELIN one star, 2023 to 2026. Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, No. 32, 2026. Tatler Best 20 Restaurants Hong Kong, 2026. Gambero Rosso International New Opening of the Year, 2021.10 1 3 7

Good to know

Price: the South China Morning Post gives lunch at HK$580 to 1,180 a head and dinner at HK$1,680 to 2,280 (2026), for menus of three to eight courses.4
How to order: Tatler's 2026 tip is the à la carte at dinner, though stopping at one pasta rarely feels like enough.3
Timing: lunch and dinner. Shut Sunday and Monday.12
Booking: online at estro.hk, 30 days ahead, with each new day released at 10am Hong Kong time and a card held to guarantee the table. For five or more, message +852 9380 0161 on WhatsApp or write to reservations@estro.hk.12
Dress: smart casual. Men can't wear shorts, sleeveless tops or sandals.12
Corkage: HK$700 a bottle, one bottle for every two guests, with the first waived when you also buy from the list.12
Where: 2/F, 1 Duddell Street, Central, a floor below Duddell's.3 5

Verdict

should-visit — Go to Estro for Antimo Maria Merone's bottoni, the button-shaped pasta he fills differently every season, and for the red prawn panna cotta his customers would not let him drop. Dinner ran HK$1,680 to 2,280 a head in 2026. A diner who paid in 2022 found the long menu weaker once the bottoni had gone by.

Estro.