The Verdict
ESTRO is Chef Antimo Maria Merone's first restaurant, and it arrives with the confidence of a chef who has nothing to prove and everything to express. The space — designed by André Fu Studio — is an homage to the Neapolitan salotto: flowing lines, autumnal tones, eccentric patterned wallpapers, and murals that reference the colours and textures of Naples' old town. The chef's table is reached by walking through the kitchen, making guests feel less like observers and more like participants in what is being prepared for them.
The tasting menu changes seasonally and reads as a portrait of Merone's Neapolitan childhood filtered through decades of fine dining experience across Europe and Asia. Paccheri pasta arrives with a braise that takes two days. Seafood from Japanese waters and Hong Kong's outlying islands appears in preparations that reference the cooking of Campania without mimicking it. The wine list is built around southern Italy — Campania, Sicily, Calabria — with selections that most Hong Kong wine programmes have not thought to include.
The 2026 Michelin star confirmed what Hong Kong's dining community had understood since Estro opened: that Merone's cooking operates at a level that the city's Italian dining landscape had not previously reached. The Asia's 50 Best ranking at number 32 reflects the restaurant's international standing. In a city accustomed to hotel dining rooms with borrowed prestige, Estro is a chef-owned space where every decision — the room, the menu, the wine — is a personal expression.
Why It Works for Impressing Clients
Estro delivers a combination that very few Hong Kong restaurants can replicate: genuine critical prestige (Michelin star, Asia's 50 Best top 35), a memorable and singular room, and food that generates genuine conversation. Any client with awareness of the international dining world will recognise the significance of a table here. The menu's Neapolitan premise gives the evening a cultural dimension — the food tells a story about a chef's origin — that transforms a business dinner into an experience.
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