Chef Terry Ho’s top dining spots in Hong Kong

It’s a challenge working in the kitchen of Amber , a modern French fine-dining restaurant that has been awarded two stars as well as a Green star by the prestigious Michelin Guide.

Striving for sustainability and pushing the limits of modern cooking, the restaurant avoids refined sugar, salt and butter; its fish must be line-caught, and scallops hand-dived – to name a few of the exacting requirements. But these demands make it a dream workplace for Terry Ho, chef de cuisine at Amber and this year’s Asia’s top young chef in the Cathay Members’ Choice Awards 2024. 

“Working as a fine-dining chef has challenged me to grow as a person. When faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge, I feel elated at the chance to learn and overcome it,” says Ho. “That’s my attitude in life now, thanks to cooking.”

Ho has been fascinated by cooking since he was a teenager, when he observed his neighbour, a culinary student, practising after school. He decided to follow suit and enrolled at a cooking school at 17. “It isn’t an easy career. Out of a class of 30 students, only four of us graduated as chefs. The rest switched paths,” Ho recalls. 

After graduation, he worked shucking oysters in a hotel. “I was pretty good at it – I almost accepted an invitation to move to an oyster farm in Ireland and become a professional oyster shucker,” says Ho. 

But a meal at – you guessed it – Amber ignited his desire to become a fine-dining chef.

“It was a mind-blowing lunch. The innovative flavour combinations – from the foie gras lollipop to the langoustine with uni – shocked me. I instinctively sat taller in respect for the dishes and the atmosphere,” says Ho. Needless to say, he didn’t think twice when an opportunity arose at Amber shortly after in 2017. 

Ho worked at Amber as a demi chef for two years. He then spent two years at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Taipei and Arbor in Hong Kong before returning to Amber as chef de cuisine in 2021. 

Vegan soy butter and house-fermented miso are some of the unique creations Ho has introduced to the menu since then. “Fermentation helps reduce food wastage – one of our sustainability goals,” says Ho, then adds with a laugh: “But I had failed so many times I almost gave up.”

The unique humidity and temperature requirements for fermentation meant that Ho couldn’t rely on foreign cookbooks; he needed to formulate his own recipe.

When he isn’t transforming Amber’s kitchen into a fermentation lab, he finds inspiration and comfort at these six restaurants around the city.

Kwan Kee Clay Pot Rice

Partly owing to the friendly service, and partly to the crunchy scorched crust on their clay pot rice, Kwan Kee in Sai Ying Pun is my favourite neighbourhood eatery. The restaurant’s Chinese bullfrog clay pot rice, seasoned with a secret soy sauce, is worth the perpetual queue. Don’t forget to try a few of the stir-fried dishes, too.

Shop 1, G/F, Wo Yick Mansion, 263 Queen's Road West, Sai Ying Pun

Roganic 

Having crafted a culinary identity that is instantly recognisable, Roganic is one of the most inspiring fine-dining restaurants in Hong Kong. The British restaurant masterfully dishes out a plethora of flavours using deceptively simple elements. As a fellow Michelin Green Star recipient, I admire Roganic’s use of local products; their locally sourced crispy duck is always executed to perfection. 

Shop 402-403, 4/F, Lee Garden One, Causeway Bay, 2817 8383

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon Hong Kong

No matter which location you visit, Joel Robuchon offers a consistently flawless French dining experience. The three-Michelin-starred L’Atelier demonstrates a high level of precision in cooking. You’re guaranteed a luscious meal at Robuchon, especially if you try the restaurant’s seasonal white truffle menu.

Shop 401, Landmark Atrium, 15 Queen's Road Central, Central, 2166 9000

Censu 

Censu serves contemporary Japanese dishes that are both casual and refined. Chef Shun Sato showcases his techniques and ideas using minimal components and tasteful seasoning. I’ve admired chef Sato’s cooking since he was the head chef of Fukuro, which produced delicious crowd-pleasers.

28-30 Gough Street, Central, 2997 7009

Arbor

At this two-Michelin-starred restaurant , I’m inspired not only by the food, but by the attitude of chef Eric Raty, whom I trained under for a while. He is a perfectionist when it comes to ingredients; for instance, when working on a fish dish, he’d visit sushi restaurants across Hong Kong, humbly seeking advice in order to perfect his own knowledge. 

25/F, H Queen's, 80 Queen's Road Central, Central, 3185 8388

Mott 32

This moodily lit restaurant consistently delivers quality Chinese classics. Its char siu (honey-glazed barbecued pork) has textbook-perfect texture, seasoning and a well-balanced fatty-to-lean meat ratio, while the Peking duck impresses with its crispy skin and tender meat. 

Standard Chartered Bank Building, 4-4A Des Voeux Rd Central, Central, 2885 8688