The Chairman
“Voted Asia's best restaurant 2026 for a steamed crab, not a spectacle. Book the moment reservations open to impress serious clients.”
About The Chairman
No counter theatre, no tweezers, no foam: Danny Yip's dining room above Wellington Street was voted No 1 on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2026 in March, reclaiming the title it first took in 2021, while the Michelin guide keeps it at one star. The distance between those two verdicts is the most interesting argument in Hong Kong dining, and the restaurant settles it nightly with claypots and steam.
The steamed flower crab with aged Shaoxing wine and fragrant chicken oil over flat rice noodles is the dish the ranking was effectively voted on: silky, heady, and imitated across Asia without being matched. Around it, the kitchen cures its own meats, ferments its own sauces, buys from small boats and local farms, and writes set menus rather than a la carte. Menus run HK$1,380 to HK$1,680 a person plus ten percent, the price moving with how much seafood replaces meat.
Booking is the sport. Reservations open online on designated days, the menus are emailed ahead of your visit, and the book has been known to fill months deep the morning it opens. Set a reminder, submit for a weeknight, and accept the slot you get; the room itself, on the third floor of The Wellington at 198 Wellington Street, stays plain on purpose. The food is the entire show, which is precisely the flex.
The Room
A plain, warmly lit room on the third floor of an office building: white cloths, rounded tables, Cantonese chatter and zero design statement. The modesty is deliberate and half the charm. Groups of four to six get the best of the set menu format, service is brisk and knowing rather than choreographed, and jackets are unnecessary. The crab is the decor.
Why book it, occasion by occasion
Book the right occasion and The Chairman repays the effort twice over. These are the right ones.
For the client who ranks restaurants for sport
There is no stronger card in Asia this year than a table at its voted No 1, and the fact that it cannot be bought with money alone, only with planning, is the impression. Book the moment the window opens, tell your guest nothing beyond the address, and let the flower crab land mid meal. The set menu format keeps the table shared and social, and the bill, under HK$1,700 a head, reads as taste rather than display.
For deals that close better over claypots than cutlery
Cantonese tables do business the way boardrooms cannot: shared dishes force generosity, round tables keep both sides facing each other, and a two hour set menu builds exactly enough goodwill without an ambush of courses. The room's plainness signals substance over show, which sets the tone you want. Ask for a table for four to six, order wine simply, and let the smoked pigeon and the crab do the persuading.
For the birthday of someone who cooks
Cooks and serious eaters are the hardest people to host, and this is the room that humbles them happily: house cured meats, ferments made upstairs, a crab dish they have read about for years. The set menu removes ordering anxiety, the kitchen will fold a longevity noodle course in if you mention the birthday at booking, and the whole table shares every dish, which is what a birthday dinner is supposed to feel like.
What to order
The menu is set and emailed ahead, so your leverage is in the choices the format offers. Use it on these.
- The flower crab, always
Steamed with aged Shaoxing and fragrant chicken oil over flat rice noodles. If your emailed menu offers a version without it, reply and ask; this is the dish the votes were cast for.
- The three seafood tier at HK$1,680
The set price rises as seafood replaces meat. Take the top tier; the boats this kitchen buys from are the point of the premium.
- Smoked and cured starters
The house charcuterie in Cantonese form shows the fermentation and curing programme upstairs. Do not trade them away when the email offers swaps.
- A weeknight table for four to six
The format is built for sharing. Two diners see half the menu's breadth; four to six see the argument whole.
Practical
- Address
- 3/F The Wellington, 198 Wellington Street, Central
- Reservations
- Online only, on designated opening days
- Menus
- Set menus emailed ahead of the visit
- Price
- HK$1,380 to HK$1,680 plus 10 percent
- Signature
- Steamed flower crab with aged Shaoxing
- Best format
- Tables of four to six
- Dress
- Smart casual; the room is plain on purpose
- Plan
- Set a reminder for the booking window
Questions diners ask
Why is The Chairman ranked above three star restaurants?
Because Asia's 50 Best votes on cooking and conviction rather than service infrastructure. The Chairman took No 1 in 2026, its second title after 2021, on sourcing, ferments and the flower crab, while Michelin weighs the whole apparatus and lists one star. Eat there and both verdicts make sense simultaneously.
How do I get a reservation at The Chairman?
Online, on designated booking days announced by the restaurant, and fast: the book can fill months ahead the morning it opens. Set a reminder, aim for weeknights, and take whatever slot appears. Menus arrive by email before your visit, which is when to raise dietary needs and confirm the crab.
How much does The Chairman cost?
Set menus run HK$1,380, HK$1,530 or HK$1,680 a person plus ten percent, the price rising as seafood mains replace meat. With modest wine, a table of four lands around HK$8,000 total. Against the city's tasting counters at twice that, it is the best arithmetic in top tier Hong Kong dining.
What is the must order dish at The Chairman?
The steamed flower crab with aged Shaoxing wine and fragrant chicken oil over flat rice noodles, the most famous single dish in Hong Kong. It appears on most set menus; if your emailed menu lacks it, reply and request it. The smoked pigeon and house cured meats are the essential supporting cast.