Where to find the best pasta in Hong Kong

This Causeway Bay Italian restaurant prides itself on serving up top-notch, authentic Piedmont cuisine using fresh ingredients sourced from the region. Expect a range of traditional Italian cuisine, including pasta with decidedly pronounced and rich flavours in the true Piedmont traditions. The signature carbonara is not to be missed. A twirl of homemade tagliolini is smothered in an Au Koque carbonara sauce made with gin-infused egg yolk and crowned with a piece of crispy Vigezzo Valley cured ham.

Italian restaurant Palco Ristorante recently relocated to Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui, which was supported by some of Hong Kong's best sea views, and indoor and outdoor seating. The menu here focuses a lot on combining Asian and local elements with high-end cuisine and results in impressive Italian dishes. One of which is the spaghetti with grilled scampi and scampi tartare. The contrast of texture and top quality seafood is already a hit with many in Hong Kong.

Discreetly tucked down a charming alleyway, this cosy neighbourhood Italian joint serves as both a bar and restaurant and is the brainchild of renowned chefs Alessandro Angelini and Luca De Berardinis. Some of the best pasta dishes here include the Bolognaise sauce-filled Cappelletti Di Bolognese Bianca, as well as the Chitarrino Al Tartufo Nero, which consists of spaghettini in Chitarra style, with black truffle, pecorino cheese Pienza and walnut bread crumbs.

Nestled within West Kowloon Art Park and with incredible cross-harbour views of Hong Kong's skyline, Pano is a French fine dining experience where diners can enjoy top-quality fare surrounded by the park lawns. They serve spaghetti here, but it is the linguini that is homemade and comes with a delicious serving of meaty Spanish red prawns. 

This stylish Italian restaurant in the Kowloon Shangri-La has long been lauded for its pasta creations, and the pasta is homemade every day with plenty of care and attention. Proudly presented by chef Andrea Burzio and his team are pasta dishes that include tortellini carbonara, served with aged guanciale ham, tagliatelle with black truffle and cheese sauce, spaghetti martelli with lobster, and the crowd-pleasing tarjin – which consists of a variation of tagliatelle made with just egg yolks as opposed to the whole egg, lamb ragout, Jerusalem artichoke, and Barolo wine reduction. Bon appetit!

Tucked away in Happy Valley, this unassuming, open kitchen-style Italian joint seats only up to 28 diners, making it cosy and intimate, and great for a hot date or a special occasion. The brainchild of Sicily-born Angelo Aglianó – who studied under Joel Robuchon – this restaurant takes its food very seriously, and this extends to the ravioli, which is made in-house every day. This simple dish comes packed with ricotta cheese and tomato, but the simplicity allows for each component to give a burst of flavour in the mouth when you bite into the fresh and soft ravioli. We recommend booking ahead here, as despite being inconspicuously on a side street, the place gets regularly packed.

Serving Northern Italian cuisine with the region’s finest culinary traditions of fresh produce and house-made pasta, understated and elegant pasta dishes are the order of the day at Nicholini's. Dive into their signature Little Nicholini’s – homemade ravioli with black truffle sauce; or the Cappellini con Astice – an angel hair pasta cooked with Boston lobster, tomato sauce and basil. Nicholini's manages the neat trick of elevated Italian cooking: of being both simple and classy at the same time. 

Specialising in a slightly more relaxed Italian cuisine, Associazione Chianti prides itself as a soulful Tuscan trattoria and is able to transport patrons to the centre of Florence with a bite of their no-frills, simple Italian dishes. Their steaks, thanks to an in-house butcher, are a top pick for carnivores but for fellow carb-fiends, make sure enjoy the soul-nourishing pasta including the Chianti beef ragu, and when the season's right, the heavenly tagliatelle with butter and white Alba truffle.

The much-loved casual Soho hangout does some appetising pasta offerings perfect for food lovers who want to enjoy a meal in laid-back surroundings. The pasta offerings include spaghetti and the humble yet oh-so soothing mac and cheese. Our favourite here though has got to be the homemade pappardelle nose to tail Bolognaise – a decadent dish that pasta lovers will surely devour, containing pork cheek, veal loin, and oxtail ragu. Order an Asahi beer to wash it all down, and you're in for an intensely pleasant pasta experience.

We would surely be remiss not to mention the self-proclaimed ‘world’s local pasta bar’ on this list. In all five branches across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories, Pici serves up pasta that is house-made every day, and this has become something of a trademark for the chain over the years. What we love about this spot is, whether in Central or Lai Chi Kok, you can swing by for a quality, good-value meal and enjoy some of your pasta favourites. Whatever time of day you decide to drop by, we particularly recommend Pici’s tagliatelle, which is fresh, bouncy, and comes with shrimps, zucchini, and lemon zest; or the ravioli, which comes with a variety of scrumptious fillings from clams to eggplant.