Amigo Restaurant

Don’t let the name fools you, it is one of the oldest and finest French restaurant in Hong Kong, staffs are very polite and friendly, the food is always good. Great places for parties, business luncheon or a date night with your love one. It is frequently visited by many celebrities and movers and shakers.

Hmm not sure why this is one of the best French restaurants in Hong Kong. Had the lunch set, food was good, every dish was right on point, BUT they are too ordinary, I was not impressed at all, especially for the price. I would rather pay more to have something that would wow me.
Some waiters were friendly, some made me feel uncomfortable. Not sure if it’s because I had lunch by myself or because I didn’t speak Cantonese. I definitely won’t come here for lunch by myself again. Haha

During the almost several months that I was working in Hong Kong in 1980 and 1982, Amigo (then called Café d’Amigo I recall) was by far the best, most elegant restaurant I dined at in Hong Kong. Reading the reviews, it looks like the only thing that has changed is the name!

This is one of the best restaurants I have been to, hands down. The magic begins when you arrive at the front door. Immediately once you step inside, you are blown away by the antiques and wooden interior. A gentleman at the side would check to see if you have made a reservation, and then lead you upstairs to be seated. In front of the seats are specially made name tags. It seemed as if each table has its own waiter. The service was fabulous. I have not had such amazing and attentive waiters anywhere else in Hong Kong, not even in the 5 star hotels. There is something that sets the waiters at Amigo apart from those at hotel restaurants. You can really sense that Amigo waiters are passionate about what they do. They are energetic, and bring across a warm feeling. They provide suggestions and have a personable touch.
I ordered a three-​course dinner for my guest and me. We both ordered the calm chowder. MY guest ordered sea bass and I ordered the beef and snail. The food was prepared to the most minute detail. I wondered why Amigo is not listed in the Michelin guide. The food was served at the perfect timing. The temperature of the food was perfect. A picky eater, I really can’t think of anything to criticize. The waiters were kind and flexible enough to replace the dessert with a Napoleon cake. My guest recently won a huge competition and I asked to have «Congratulations» written on the cake. My request was met instantly, with the letters elegantly written. As the cake was served, a 3-​men band came upstairs and performed live music. A polaroid camera was there to capture the special moment. My guest was very surprised and had a great time! The cake was fabulous.
Glasses were refilled instantly with water. Waiters did their best to meet all requests. The atmosphere was perfect. The temperature was neither too hot or cold. There are people by the washroom door to hand over napkins. The musicians could perform any songs named to them, from animation songs to classic hits. I was amazed. It was truly a magical and wonderful experience.
I will definitely recommend Amigo to my friends and will definitely be back. The food, service, atmosphere, music are all top-​notch!

Amigo is indeed one of my favorite restaurants in HK. It has been around since the late 60’s, and the Happy Valley décor houses a romantic ambience that is genuine and not manufactured. The French/​western cuisine is delicious, my favorites include clam chowder, escargots, and the la crabbe au gratin. I’ve heard the lamb chops are fantastic as well. The service is fantastic — Some of the wait staff have been around for a long time! For those into wines, Amigo has a photo album full of wine labels to choose from, some good vintages are in the cellar. Last but not least, on making your booking, you are asked whether there is a celebration or occasion. If so, you and your guests will receive a birthday/​anniversary/​celebratory cake, and the in house string trio will present this in song, plus offering to serenade you with any requests. It absolutely made my night on my recent visit — when the band could do Thinking Out Loud (by Ed Sheeran) with finesse!

Amigo… a Spanish name, in a Chinese territory cooking primarily French inspired food. I have been coming here for many many years and it’s like they say «oldie but goodie.» Their food is always inspired, delicate Western food. The décor is olden Spanish but you’ll find that the people eating there are primarily Chinese with a sprinkle of Caucasian customers throughout. For lunch they are famous for their set menu. The entire 4 meal course is about the price of a single dish if you order a la carte. I suggest you try the fixed price menu!
We started off this time with the shrimp toast that was excellently prepared. Crispy and fulfilling. Secondly we had the soup, the ox tail borsch soup. Slightly acidic with full flavor. Then we had a black pepper sauce over a ribeye steak that was tender, juicy and very well prepared. Lastly we ended the meal with ice cream stuffed inside a puff pastry with sprinkles of chocolate and white chocolate around.
Lastly, leave room for their signature chocolate covered chocolate ice cream. They give you more than you are able to eat so fill up because the chocolate is good. Parking is always a pain here in Hong Kong so maybe it’s best for you to just take a taxi! Book ahead of time or you’ll never get a seat here.

When I was younger, Amigo used to be my family’s go-​to restaurant whenever it was a special occasion — namely, one of our birthdays. Amigo is in Happy Valley, but it’s walking distance from Causeway Bay as well if you just walk along Wong Nai Chung Road. You’ll be able to recognize it by a big overhead sign with a golden, Greek god-​ish sun.
Amigo is a place that brings back a lot of memories to me. They have some really cool traditions — when you call to reserve a table, they make mini note pads with your name scripted in gold (the name you booked the table under), and these note pads are placed at each seat on the table, kind of to say ‘this table is reserved for you’. I remember when my mother would call to reserve a table, she would give them my name so that the notepads could be personalized for me. At the end of the meal, if it’s your birthday, they will present you with roses too, which is a really nice touch.
There’s also a live acoustic band that goes around and you can request for them to perform songs for you. As a child I would rattle off a ton of song names and the band would be by my table for ages! My parents would always tip them generously at the end and also kind of smile apologetically that I’ve been hogging them for so long.
And onto the actual food — most of the time, I’m here for dinner (I think the above traditions apply only to dinner times, if I’m not wrong — definitely no band in the afternoon). They have a dinner set with soup, starters, a main and dessert. It’s classic western and French food, so think dishes like foie gras as a starter, tenderloin for the main and tiramisu as a dessert. Of course, these are just one of the many choices they have for the times that I’ve been there! One really cool thing is that between meals, I think between your appetizer and your main, there’s a grapefruit sorbet supposedly for you to cleanse your palates. The sorbet is really good — very refreshing, and with slightly bitter-​ish sour undertones that aren’t too overwhelming. In general, the food here is very good and I have never been disappointed by anything here. However, I do find the portion sizes for the mains a little on the small side.
Given the high qualify food, the stellar service and the intimate environment, there’s no doubt that this is an expensive place. A dinner here will set you back quite a couple hundred dollars, but that’s just how it is!

To me, this is the very definition of fine dining; from the décor, the ambiance, the service… you name them, set a really high bar (at least to me) for a high end restaurant. Surely I am aware of its princeliness, but it is not like you have dinner there every now and then, for a special night a celebration, I personally think it totally worth it.
It was a birthday celebration dinner with my aunt and we booked a table of 6; we had a 4 course dinner that costs slightly more than 800 bucks per person, service charge excluded. Fair deal for a dinner set in a renowned restaurant.
To start off, foie gras was the starter; nothing really beats it when it comes to that. Pan seared with a slightly tart dressing, I forgot what exactly was the dressing, it could be balsamic vinegar or a port reduction. I especially enjoy the velvety texture of the liver, the tart dressing balanced the richness well; what seemed lacking is that the mouthful was not particularly flavorful, I think I was expecting a richer flavor from the bird itself but then the foie was handled well.
The 2^nd course was the soup and I went for a consommé; clear as it seemed the flavor sure was intense. An interesting touch was that a few slices of asparagus were added to the broth and gave freshness to the pallet.
What blew my mind was the gesture of serving sorbet in between the starter and the main course. I have only heard of this before from TV shows but by far it was the very first time I have had such an experience, speaking of extravagance. Although the purpose of the sorbet is to cleanse the pallet for the customers to enjoy the main course, but the sorbet itself was pretty refreshing and could definitely stand alone as a dessert.
I shall skip the main course for the time being and allow the readers to find out~
The highlight of the night was the Irish coffee. You heard me right, the coffee. Nothing short of a legend to me, Irish coffee is a warm alcoholic and coffee beverage that involves multiple steps and is prepared by the waiter in front of the customer; complex it is but Amigo fully delivered. The piece of sugar was burnt in Scottish Whiskey to allow it to melt, freshly brewed coffee was then added and finally topped with whipped cream. Soothing, decadent and satisfying, this went exceptionally well with the joyous atmosphere created by the live guitar ensemble that sings by the table if it’s someone’s birthday.
A memorable evening created not only by the food, but also the entire dining experience. For a business that runs for almost half a century and still remaining the old way, it totally deserves heartfelt appreciation