It’s easy to see why this restaurant remains so popular after opening its doors 30-plus years ago. Comfort and luxury are factors, thanks to the plush fabrics, beautifully dressed tables and Chinese art. But the ability and experience of the head chef and his kitchen play an even bigger part. Their soups made with top notch ingredients win the hearts of countless connoisseurs. Other specialities include Peking duck, and baked stuffed crab shell.

Synonymous with top-quality Cantonese cooking, Sun Tung Lok spares no effort in ensuring every item on the menu is as good as it could be. The experienced team is famous for shrewd preparation of gourmet dried seafood, such as abalone and fish maw. The menu is huge and certain items come with tableside service. Must-tries include beef ribs in house gravy, stuffed crab shell, and roast suckling pig. The lone diner may order set menus for one.

It may not boast fancy displays of seafood like its promenade rivals, but this restaurant still stands out because of its cooking. Wonderfully fresh seafood is prepared using traditional home recipes that let the quality of the ingredients speak for themselves. Must-try dishes include pumpkin soup with minced fish, mantis shrimp with chilli and garlic, and steamed fish with sea salt. Ask about the seafood that needs pre-ordering when booking a table.

An owner-chef with over 20 years of experience in French cooking opened this 20-seater specialising in just 12 noodle soup items, each with a specific soup base and topping. The signature flat noodles in beef soup with Sichuanese beef cheek and French-style braised oxtail takes two days to make, involving eclectic techniques. The dessert menu is equally impressive – try the all-natural sorbets made in-house with fresh fruits.

This bright, fresh and long-standing Cantonese restaurant serves dim sum and ‘Walled Village’ cuisine, alongside assorted Cantonese classics. Walled village-style five-flavour chicken boasts flavoursome, velvety meat. Other specialities include roast duck with bean paste and coriander; claypot rice with lard, premium soy sauce, steamed mullet with salted lemon; and, above all, the steamed sponge cake. Also check out the seasonal menu.

The décor of the small dining room may feel a bit dated, but it’s the authentic, tasty middle-Javanese cooking that has kept regulars coming back for over 30 years. The signature chargrilled satay exudes an addictive smoky aroma – and it comes in lamb, beef, pork and chicken varieties. Other Indonesian specialities such as Nasi Kuning and Bandeng Goreng are also highly recommended.

Chef Akio Makimura prizes tradition over showiness. His emphasis is on bringing out intrinsic flavours and he spares no effort in extending hospitality to his guests. The soup is the centrepiece of the menu and includes ingredients such as hairy crab, prawn and scallop shinjo – all of which the delicate broth goes well with. From time to time, he will come up with rare combinations such as beef and truffles to create new tastes based on his original ideas.

The elegant dining room, pleasant service, highly skilled sommeliers and other features make this one of Japan’s world-class restaurants. The founder of the restaurant said, “Everything must be rich”.Olivier Chaignon visits the production areas himself to select the best ingredients and puts them together in beautiful modern dishes. His philosophy is to catch up with and overtake France in his dishes. We can’t wait to see his next idea.

L’Effervescence

• 2-26-4 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-0031, Japan
• ¥¥¥¥ · French

In line with its guiding concept of ‘Japanese spirit drawing on Chinese learning’, chef Tomoya Kawada bases his cuisine on Chinese cooking while paying homage to both Chinese and Japanese cuisines. He holds that true flavour is found in the lightness of taste that comes from combining dishes cooked in water and over a flame; the ‘Kippin Kanpo’ made with Sanriku awabi is a speciality that embodies this. The Chinese dishes here are sublime, imbued with a Japanese je ne sais quoi.

Fumio Kondo sets a modern example for Edomae tempura. He was one of the first to put the focus on vegetables, elevating their status from that of a side dish. Two examples are the shredded carrots fried in a pot and arranged like fireworks, and the cylindrical sweet potatoes made to resemble those baked on hot pebbles. He has had great success going where none has gone before.