Duddell’s

It was my first time visiting this part of Hong Kong. I mean, the interconnected malls and luxury retail, which my friends at lunch said was as good, if not better, in Hong Kong as any other global city. But feeling slightly generic in a high-​end luxury kind of way.
Duddells, on the other hand, reminds you that you’re in one of the best cities for eating out in the world. Our table of six opted for the executive lunch, which included more than enough food. We opted for wine from their reasonably priced list, and also ordered the salt-​roasted chicken (whole), which meant we rolled out of the restaurant, our appetites for delicious Cantonese food sated. Service is efficient, if at times too attentive. Our only disappointment was missing out on their Peking duck, which must be ordered in advance.
Worth both of its Michelin stars!

Duddell’s Chinese Restaurant is located in Central Hong Kong in the Financial District near high end shopping where you can find all of the designer brands including Gucchi, Hermes, Sonia Rykel, Louie Vuitton and others. The restaurant is upscale, elegant and modern with white linen table clothes. The patrons are elegantly dressed in business suits and hip fashionable clothing. We paired a bottle of Prager with the Crispy Chicken, BBQ Iberico Pork, Broccoli with Garlic and a few Dim Sum items including Roasted Duck, BBQ Pork, and Spring Rolls. The staff were attentive and warm and the food was served hot and was delicious. For us, it had the perfect balance of delicate flavours and richness. The addition of modern music softly playing in the background created an inviting and uplifting atmosphere.
Having lunch at Duddell’s is a great way to introduce yourself to Hong Kong. However, be mindful that it is an upscale expensive restaurant.

Inattentive wait staff and mediocre food. The only 2-​Michelin star quality is its price.

I’ve always thought this place was pretty okay until today. It’s an expensive place for Chinese food, but food is not bad and it’s got a nice ambiance. However I’m so disappointed of what happened today — a group of us wanted to go for the all you can eat/​free flow champagne deal, and made the booking weeks ago. We got here and were seated downstairs, we asked about the brunch deal and they said they only offer it to people upstairs. A waiter said it was our fault for not asking for it over the call and said their staff must’ve clarified when confirming the booking. Really, if they asked, why would we be having this problem? Ridiculous attitude. Not only did they not try to accommodate our request (why can’t we have the brunch downstairs?!), they didn’t feel slightly apologetic about the miscommunication. We asked for the manager and he did absolutely nothing. The 8 of us got pretty upset and decided to leave, they gave us the bill for 1 juice, 1 tea and 1 bottle of water for 240 bucks. Again, weren’t sorry about losing us, way to treat your customers!

Found a restaurant where the staff and its attitude is worst than Sevva’s. Manager is useless and reservation for brunch is not honored that’s booked weeks ago. Staff’s attitude is so bad, we left. I don’t believe in a restaurant who doesn’t serve tap water. How do you cook your food then? With branded still and sparkling water? Morons.

I dined here for a Power Lunch with a client. Nice atmosphere, elegant yet understated. Everyone is well dressed, gents in suits, ladies well heeled and tasteful. Menu is wonderful. I had the Dim Sum and enjoyed all of it– particularly the Mushroom truffle dumplings. Also the rolled chicks with asparagus spears and bamboo pith was great. For desert I had the egg custard which was truly excellent.
Service is top notch. Pricey but worth it if you like to feel good, enjoy life, or impress a client.

I think this place was good, but there’s some hit or miss dishes.
We ordered pretty much most of the dim sum dishes since the portion is very little.
Their bbq pork bun was off and their beef steam rice roll’s meat was very chewy (not eatable)
Aside from that I felt the rest of the dishes are really good and unique. It definitely had a twist to it compared to the traditional Cantonese dim sum place. I was surprised they this place was granted with 2 Michelin stars. It was good but it’s not a 5 star restaurant in my book. It’s not even about the cost per dish either — I thought price was fair for good food. But I didn’t get the wow factor.

I’ve been going to Duddell’s since it first opened last year for a variety of things — cocktails on the terrace, lunches, dinners… you name it. Recently I even brought a friend in to check out a new Chinese exhibition that is on upstairs called Aftermath: Post Sense Sensibility. My favourite piece is an installation made of tiles that has actually been taken from a penguin enclosure in China. They change the exhibitions four times a year and they are definitely worth a peek.
Today I tried some of the brand new dim sum items on the lunch menu including the Shrimp Dumpling with Water Chestnut, Lobster Dumpling with Scallop and Capsicum, Egg White Dumpling with Shrimp and Caviar and the Pumpkin Dumpling with Morel Mushroom. It was all AMAZING but my top choice was the Shrimp which was speckled with what I think was coriander. So good! I couldn’t miss out on my usual favourite, the Fried Rice Roll with XO Chili Sauce… and of course added lashings of the XO sauce (the best in town) to everything.
I have had dinner snacks and drinks upstairs in The Salon before but never lunch which I usually take in the bright and airy dining room. I have to say I quite liked having lunch upstairs — it felt more casual and as it was a sunny day, it was nice looking out over the terrace.
Speaking of the terrace, it’s one of the best al fresco spots in the city. Off the back of my lunch I booked in for after work drinks next week with two girlfriends. My favourite cocktail is the Straits Sling which looks deceptively like iced tea but is actually a really light, fruity cocktail. I also can’t get enough of Duddell’s signature bar snack — the crispy fish skin which sounds gross, but is delicious. Peanuts are sooooo 2013.
Duddell’s has a Michelin star so it’s not cheap but it’s worth every penny in my opinion. The service is impeccable and you can tailor your experience according to your personal tastes. Eat downstairs for a more formal a la carte occasion or kick back with friends on the upper level.
Next I’ll be checking out their free flow champagne brunch — dim sum and bubbles sounds pretty perfect to me.