The Chairman
The Chairman's kitchen glazes its char siu with sugar scented with tuwei, an old breed of rose from Zhongshan, in place of the more common maltose.
Why go
Danny Yip opened The Chairman on Kau U Fong in 2009, with Kwok Keung Tung as his head chef, the job Tung still holds.3 Yip told Kee Foong in 2021 what a new dish needs before it goes on the menu: It needs to be distinctive, and for people to go 'wow'.
3 The kitchen buys chickens and pigs raised in the New Territories and grows vegetables on its own farm in Sheung Shui.128 Fine Dining Explorer, an anonymous Hong Kong blogger, tasted the difference in the chicken at Kau U Fong in 2021, slaughtered in the morning, not chilled or frozen,
with an extra bouncy and meaty texture.
8 Asia's 50 Best named it the best restaurant in Asia in 2021 and again in March 2026.2
Come for the steamed flower crab, the dish Charmaine Mok of Tatler called the room's most iconic in 2021.4 The cooks steam the whole crab with aged Shaoxing wine and chicken oil and serve it over flat rice noodles.1 Alex Julie Woods ate it at Kau U Fong in March 2020: The sauce was velvety and rich with a strong kick from the aged wine.
7 The chef Daniel Calvert ate at Kau U Fong once a month while he ran Belon. In 2022 he told Tatler from Tokyo that the crab and the congee would be the first things he'd eat on coming back.11
When Yip moved to the third floor of The Wellington on Wellington Street in September 2022, he gave up a fifth of the dining room for a bigger kitchen to focus our efforts on preparing good dishes.
5 Jennifer Che, who writes the Tiny Urban Kitchen blog from Hong Kong, ate at the new room in August 2023. She called the steamed grouper head with fermented chilli and salted lard a revelation
and wrote: The salted lard and fermented chili add so many complex layers of flavors to the sauce.
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The cooking is subtle enough that Fine Dining Explorer warned in 2021: Yes, there may be visitors who walk out from The Chairman questioning why this is considered the best restaurant in Asia.
8 Go anyway, with a group big enough to share the grouper head and the claypot rice, the two dishes Che still thinks back to.6 Ingrid Paredes wrote the 50 Best profile in 2026: Don't be fooled by the smartly suited waiters, this is one of the most welcoming spots in Hong Kong.
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Order this / avoid
- Order: the steamed flower crab. Woods, at Kau U Fong, March 2020:
We became completely engrossed in the task of eating the crab and found great pleasure in tearing into the claws and legs.
7 - Order: the char siu (Cantonese barbecued pork). The chef May Chow, 2023:
In the one bite of char siu that each guest is served, you can taste the distinct flavour of the marinade and you get the perfect meat-to-fat ratio and amount of char.
10 - Order: the slipper lobster in rice broth. Jennifer Che, August 2023:
delicate, elegant, and just perfect.
6 - Order: the pork belly and preserved mustard greens claypot rice. Che, August 2023:
The pork belly was beautifully seared, and the rice was perfect.
6 - Order: the crispy taro puff with smoked duck. Che, August 2023:
light, crispy, and not at all oily.
6 - Avoid: the Sichuan spicy New Zealand lamb belly. Lisa Cam in the South China Morning Post, at Kau U Fong, June 2022:
crispy with a good kick, but this dish lacked The Chairman flair.
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What locals & experts say
- Shim Jungtaek, chef (2023):
My favourite char siu is from The Chairman. It's smoky, fatty and fragrant.
10 - Charmaine Mok, Tatler Asia (2021, Kau U Fong), on the congee:
The silkiest top layer is skimmed off for the final dish, which is as elegant as any French velouté.
4 - Danny Yip, the owner (2021):
Food, apart from tasting good, should have an emotional connection, and I wanted to make food with that connection.
3 - Andy Hayler, critic (July 2016, Kau U Fong), 14/20, on the chicken:
the sauce was excellent, full of green Sichuan peppercorns with their distinctive, slightly numbing, spicy kick.
12 - Award: No. 1, Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, 2021 and 2026. MICHELIN one star.213
Good to know
- Booking: book online on the days the house opens its tables, then choose one of the set menus it emails you a few days ahead.13 Che called a table
pretty impossible
in 2025.6 - Price: around HK$1,000 a head at the old room in June 2022, with small plates up to HK$220 and seafood at market price.9
- Timing: lunch and dinner, every day.14
- Where: 3/F, The Wellington, 198 Wellington Street, Central. Phone 2555 2202.1
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Fresh flower crab, modern canyonese, multiple mentions local tongue. No tourist, Michelin. Visit!"
Verdict
must-visit — Go for the steamed flower crab and the claypot rice, and book the day the window opens. Danny Yip adds a dish only when it is distinctive. Asia's 50 Best put the room at No. 1 in March 2026. The crab's praise comes from the old room, where a meal ran around HK$1,000 a head in 2022, three months before the move to Wellington Street.