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Hong Kong restaurant reviews
LifestyleFood & Drink

Favourite Hong Kong and Amsterdam restaurants of Richard Ekkebus, chef behind Michelin-star Amber

  • From Din Tai Fung to Hotal Colombo, find out where Amber’s executive chef goes to eat in his adopted hometown
  • The Dutch chef also opens up about his favourite places to dine in Amsterdam

Reading Time:3 minutes
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Chef Richard Ekkebus at Amber in the Landmark Mandarin Oriental. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Zoe Low

Dutch chef Richard Ekkebus is the culinary director at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong and the executive chef of Amber, the hotel’s two-Michelin-star European fine-dining restaurant.

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The way I identify restaurants I like is the same as everyone else – when people go to restaurants they want to feel special, they want to be recognised and they want service that is attentive and pleasant.

I always say people go to a restaurant for the food, but they will come back for the hospitality. For me, food is like music, every day you feel different and you need a different type of music, and food is very much the same way – it nourishes me in a very different way.

We just discovered a new Sri Lankan restaurant, Hotal Colombo (31 Elgin Street, SoHo, tel: 2488 8863). I lived in Mauritius, where the food is predominantly Indian cuisine, for nine years, and my son was born there, so for my family, this is a very homey place. The chicken curry and relish made out of coconuts was delicious.
Steamed buns with lotus paste by Fook Lam Moon. Photo: May Tse
Steamed buns with lotus paste by Fook Lam Moon. Photo: May Tse
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Xin Rong Ji (China Overseas Building, 138 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, tel: 3462 3516) is a restaurant I’ve been to a couple of times and I really enjoy their cooking. They have great produce and even though it’s not a Peking duck restaurant they do a really good Peking duck. It’s phenomenal; I had one of the best Chinese dinners there.

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