26 Best Italian restaurants in Hong Kong you have to try

8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana is the first and only three-Michelin-starred Italian restaurant outside of Italy since 2012, so there’s no denying that it is among the city’s best. Helmed by culinary master Umberto Bombana, the dishes are expertly made, curated, and beautifully plated. The vintage-style decor and ambient lighting create a seriously romantic vibe. Complementing the delectable dishes is an excellent selection of wine, available by the glass or bottle. Guests can choose from an extensive selection of wines, a large portion of which comes from Italian producers. The cocktail menu, chock-full of Italian aperitivo, is also worth trying.

Ama, the brainchild of former Gaia Ristorante chef Paolo Monti, or ‘The Amatricianist’ (a name that stems from traditional pancetta and tomato pasta sauce), is a 25th-floor venue that plates up Roman and Italian dishes in the heart of Wan Chai. The menu offers everything from small plates to share and salad to pasta, grilled meats and fish. Our favourites include the crunchy Southern Italian red shrimps fritti and raw marinated Mediterranean anchovies with chilli pepper & garlic for appetisers, home-made spaghetti with jumbo garlic, artichokes & chili sauce and a plate of Grigliata di pesce with chargrilled scallop, octopus, squid, scampi and fish.  

Aria Italian restaurant is Lan Kwai Fong Entertainment Group's latest venture on the 24th floor of California Tower. Expect a range of quality pizzas and delicious pasta options in pleasant surroundings. Guests can also enjoy cigars and cocktails as well as an expansive wine list featuring over 100 bottles from Italy and around the world that can be paired with fresh meat, seafood, and vegetable dishes from kitchen. 

Associazione Chianti is one Black Sheep Restaurants’ long oeuvre of dining experiences. Specializing in authentic Italian food – particularly the cuisine of Tuscany – Associazione Chianti can transport patrons to the centre of Florence with a bite of their no-frills, simple Italian dishes. Perhaps the most outstanding of them is the chef’s recommendation, the I Tagli Del Macelliao (Butcher’s Cut), which features premium cuts of Black Angus beef selected by an in-house butcher sourced from an Idaho farm. If you’re a carnivore or carb-fiend, drop by the restaurant for some perfect steak and soul-nourishing pasta.

Carbone brings the ‘bada bing’ of New York-style Italian food to the city. As an extension of Mario Carbone’s New York restaurant, the interior is decked like a retro dining room straight out of The Godfather’s set, with servers dressed in pressed tuxedos. Highlights include a perfectly tossed Caesar salad, the crowd-pleasing spicy rigatoni vodka, and the Italian-style desserts, which are huge and come out on a trolley for you to choose from. Go for ample-sized tiramisu or carrot cake, and you’re in for a great night filled with the vibes and nostalgia of Italiano Americana.

Causeway Bay's famed Piedmont restaurant has moved to a new two-storey space on Ice House Street in Central and introducing its new Asti-born executive chef Romeo Morelli. The restaurant prides itself on serving top-notch, authentic Piedmont cuisine using fresh ingredients sourced from the region. Expect a range of traditional Italian cuisine, including pasta, soups, fish and meat dishes. The menu features chef Morelli's signature Piedmontese twists on traditional and authentic regional dishes. The dinner set menu includes dishes like Girello di vitello invecchiato – dry-aged veal topped with Toma Piemontese cream cheese and chef's signature Gnocchi with duck thigh. Pair your meal with quality vino from Castellana's extensive wine selection showcasing over 400 labels, including bottles of Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera d'Asti, and Cortese di Gavi. 

Estro, which means inspiration in Italian, is focused on Neapolitan cuisine but eschews tradition and the rustic style usually associated with his birthplace for something more sophisticated in technique and presentation. The restaurant interior, designed by André Fu Studio, also takes inspiration from Naples, resulting in a luxurious aesthetic nuanced with old-world charm. Then the food, primed with the chef's clever interpretations, takes you on a sentimental journey full of robust flavours.

This fine dining Italian resto is named after the breadsticks that are also served at the tables. Grissini is an impressive restaurant, and after undergoing a big refurbishment in autumn 2019, the place looks grander and more inviting than ever. This is among the most pleasant Italian dining experiences in Hong Kong, with sophisticated décor and an amazing zillion-dollar view, as well as an impressive wine cellar. Chef de cuisine Marcello Scognamiglio presents an array of pastas, meats and seafood dishes, all to delicious effect.

Located in Happy Valley, this unpretentious Italian restaurant accommodates only 28 diners, creating a cosy and intimate atmosphere. Headed by executive chef Steve Chiu, the restaurant serves dishes made with the freshest ingredients sourced from the region and cooked using traditional Italian techniques. Guests can choose from their à la carte menu, which features signature dishes such as red prawn linguine and Wagyu OP Rib.

Sai Ying Pun’s neighbourhood Italian restaurant LucAle has reopened last year with not just a brand new look but also a fresh menu. Created collaboratively by chefs Alessandro Angelini and Luca De Berardinis, the new dishes revolve around exquisite seafood that spotlights the best of what the Italian Coast has to offer, featuring items such as thinly-sliced warm baby cuttlefish with pistachio cream, hand-cut tagliolini pasta with lobster, prawn, and a 24-hour slow cooked Wagyu beef cheek with celery root purée and caramelised kumquat.