Amber
“The dairy free bet that won a third star in 2025: Ekkebus at full power above Central. Book it to close the deal.”
About Amber
Richard Ekkebus did the bravest thing a two star chef can do in 2019: he closed a successful restaurant and relaunched it without dairy, gluten heavy crutches or the butter that underwrites French cooking. In 2025 the Michelin Guide Hong Kong and Macau gave its answer, promoting Amber to three stars alongside its Green Star. The Dutch born chef had spent two decades at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental building toward exactly this.
The menus, six courses at HK$2,058 or eight at HK$2,888 with full vegetarian mirrors at the same prices, replace cream with nut milks, fermentations and reductions that push produce forward: aka uni set against nori and dashi, blue lobster with its own coral, Ping Yuen chicken cooked with a precision that shames butter basting. The Amber Enigma, a secret extra course with a glass of Ruinart at HK$458, is the house’s wink.
Two decades of Central power lunches have given the room its own gravity: this is where Hong Kong finance celebrates, negotiates and marks its anniversaries, seven floors above Queen’s Road.
The Room
The 2019 redesign swapped the famous bronze rod chandelier for a softer amber glow: leather, pale oak and a room that holds conversation at a murmur even when full. Tables are spaced for privacy, the banquettes face the room, and dress is smart; jackets are the norm at dinner in Central. About 60 covers plus a chef’s table facing the kitchen.
Why book it, occasion by occasion
What follows is the honest map: the evenings Amber was built for, and what to ask for on each.
For the Central deal dinner
Seven floors above Queen’s Road, Amber is walking distance from every bank tower that matters, and the room was engineered for discreet conversation: wide spacing, soft acoustics, service that appears between sentences rather than during them. The six course menu keeps the evening inside two and a half hours; the chef’s table gives a negotiation privacy with theatre.
For the client who knows Hong Kong food
Your guest has eaten the city’s Cantonese temples; Amber shows them the other summit. A dairy free French three star is a story no other city tells, and the Enigma course at HK$458 with its Ruinart glass is the flourish that ends the dinner on your terms. The lunch menus make the same impression at half the commitment.
For marking years above the city
Hotels do anniversaries well and this one does them best in Hong Kong: mention the year when booking and the kitchen folds a marker into the dessert suite rather than wheeling out a cake. The vegetarian mirror menu at identical prices means mixed tables celebrate without compromise.
What to order
Choose the menu length, then protect the signatures inside it.
- The aka uni course
Sea urchin against nori and dashi, the dish that defines post dairy Amber. If the season carries it, it opens your meal.
- Eight courses over six
The HK$2,888 menu is where the kitchen’s arc completes; the six course version is excellent but ends one argument early.
- The Amber Enigma
The secret supplement at HK$458 with a glass of Ruinart. Take it; the reveal is worth the flyer.
- The vegetarian mirror menu
Not a fallback: the same prices, the same ambition, and the strongest proof of what this kitchen can do without animal fat.
Practical
- Address
- 7th Floor, Landmark Mandarin Oriental, 15 Queen’s Road Central
- Reservations
- Hotel dining reservations or SevenRooms, about a month out
- Menus
- HK$2,058 six courses · HK$2,888 eight
- Vegetarian
- Full mirror menus at the same prices
- Supplement
- Amber Enigma HK$458 with Ruinart
- Dress
- Smart; jackets standard at dinner
- Open
- Lunch and dinner
- Seats
- About 60 plus chef’s table
Questions diners ask
Is Amber worth it?
Yes. The 2025 third star settled the argument the 2019 dairy free relaunch started: this is one of the great French kitchens of Asia. Menus at HK$2,058 and HK$2,888 price it at the top of Hong Kong, and the Value score of eight reflects how much kitchen you get for it.
How hard is it to book Amber?
Straightforward by three star standards. Tables release about a month out through the hotel and SevenRooms; weekday lunch is nearly always available a week ahead, and prime Friday and Saturday dinners need the full window. The chef’s table books further out.
What is the dress code at Amber?
Smart, with jackets standard at dinner in Central. Lunch relaxes to business attire. The room reads polished; sportswear and shorts will be redirected to the hotel’s casual outlets.
Is the food at Amber really dairy free?
Yes. Since the 2019 relaunch the kitchen cooks without dairy, replacing cream and butter with nut milks, reductions and fermentations, and it limits refined sugar and gluten. The vegetarian mirror menus extend the philosophy further at the same prices.