Michelin comes looking and finds what it wants.

Text by Thomas Jones

You just can’t go to Hong Kong without eating well. Not only would it be a sacrilege, it would be nigh impossible. Everywhere you go you are confronted with the sweet lingering scent of a thousand pots of jasmine tea and the enticing sight of a thousand succulent dripping roast ducks and slabs of barbeque pork strategically hanging in street-front restaurant windows to tempt the passer by. The desire to eat from nearly every place that you pass is hard to resist in a city that simply bulges at the sides with eating establishments, large and small.

A chance to dine at the Four Season’s Lung King Heen therefore is an absolute necessity if you wish to expand your consciousness and take your appreciation of Chinese cuisine to the next level of existence. Recently awarded three Michelin Stars, indeed the first Chinese restaurant in the world to garner such recognition, the prize owes much debt, not only to the food, but to the talents of Chef Chan Yak Tak, the master behind the intricately crafted menu.

Chef Chan started his kitchen career at the tender age of 13 and slowly worked his way through many of the city’s best restaurants ,honing his craft before becoming Executive Chef at Lai Ching Heen restaurant, which was subsequently voted runner up in the International Herald Tribune’s 10 Best Restaurants around the world as the highest ranked Chinese restaurant. After a long and tasty career he finally retired but was lured back to the stove by the Four Seasons Hong Kong: a good thing he did for he has spearheaded the drive to the coveted Three Stars.

According to the Michelin guide, at Lung King Heen the “Ingredients are of the highest quality – particularly the seafood which is impeccably fresh; all dishes are expertly crafted, nicely balanced and enticingly presented.” Succulent dishes bursting with full aromas and flavours include Braised Goose Liver in Abalone Sauce and Fish Maw; Wok Fried Prawns with Dried Chili and Shallots, Sharks Fin Soup, (when in Rome), and the specialty Roast Chicken, the taste of which will drive you half insane.

The restaurant’s decor is as dramatic as its name – View of the Dragon. It is a beautifully designed restaurant dominated by silver and glass features that replicate the glitter of the dramatic Hong Kong skyline. It is matched by warm timber floors, sleek dark wood paneling and a chic Italian silver leaf ceiling, softened by beautiful Chinese antiques. A dramatic central feature piece is the hand embroidered seven foot high silk and glass screen depicting a traditional Chinese mountain landscape named “Fusion of Time”. It was designed by Hong Kong artist Helen Poon specifically for the restaurant.

The serving team is highly professional, and describe dishes with great care and obvious pride. Indeed, these black-clad servers of food have the poise and grace of a squad of highly trained martial artists as they whiz around the floor, experts at their craft.

Dining on roasted duck and pork over a pot of Chinese tea in a Kowloon back street is poetry enough and worth the price of a ticket to Hong Kong in its own right, but a visit to Lung King Heen is pure heaven and will change the way you think about Chinese cuisine forever.

Lung King Heen
Four Seasons Hong Kong
b Finance Street Central
+85 2 3196 8888
www.fourseasons.com/hongkong

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