Elevating Curry Fish Balls and Cantonese Soup: French-Japanese Restaurant Ankôma Relocates to Causeway Bay with Playful Takes on Hong Kong Flavors
The menu is hidden with secret codes that only Hong Kongers will truly understand!
Summary
- Ankôma has moved from Tsim Sha Tsui to the 16th floor of Cubus in Causeway Bay, expanding its seating capacity to 28 with a private dining room.
- The new 10-course tasting menu is priced at HK$ 1,580 per person, thoughtfully blending dry-aging, fermentation, and French-Japanese techniques.
- Dishes reinterpret a variety of local Hong Kong flavors, featuring garoupa curry fish balls infused with dai pai dong stir-fry king, lion's head meatballs with 15-year aged bergamot, and Sanhuang chicken prepared three ways.
- Former Moono founder Tina Lam has joined as dedicated pastry chef, introducing a refreshing dessert layering lychee, coconut, and hojicha.
Franco-Japanese restaurant Ankôma, which built a loyal following in Tsim Sha Tsui, recently moved to Cubus on Kai Ping Road in Causeway Bay. Much more spacious than its previous counter-only layout, the new venue has a soothing wabi-sabi vibe with warm wood tones, plus dedicated aging and fermentation equipment. Helmed by Chef Frankie Wong, winner of the MICHELIN Guide Young Chef Award last year, the restaurant debuts with an inventive 10-course tasting menu that reimagines the classic Hong Kong flavors locals grew up eating through a French-Japanese lens.
Street-style curry fish balls and lo hei raw fish salad go fine dining
Hidden local nods bring plenty of playful surprises to the 10-course menu. Chef Frankie incorporated insights from his time on the culinary competition show *Chef To Be* into these dishes, including a reimagined curry fish ball using garoupa. Garoupa trimmings and cuttlefish are worked into a springy filling, wrapped in fish filet, slow-cooked, and seared. Instead of standard curry, it is served with a dai pai dong-style stir-fry sauce and a French curry clam sauce, delivering a rich, familiar taste.
The lion’s head pork meatball looks classic on the outside, but cutting into it reveals a slow center of 15-year aged bergamot and winter melon puree. Dried squid, water chestnuts, and kaffir lime leaves are mixed into the pork, served alongside a clear broth simmered with dried seafood that tastes just like a comforting Cantonese slow-boiled soup. Even the saury sashimi appetizer draws inspiration from lo hei, the traditional Chinese New Year raw fish salad. Slices of saury are brushed with sesame oil and tossed with Japanese myoga, shiso, and crispy white kombu, then finished with a bright, appetizing shiso milk whey sauce infused with citrus.
Signature three-way three-yellow chicken and an unmissable chicken oil rice
For the main course, Frankie selects tender three-yellow chicken and prepares three distinct cuts. The slow-cooked chicken breast is served with a smooth leg mousse and French yellow wine jus. The chicken wing is deboned and stuffed with mushrooms and chicken liver, then air-dried and fried until crispy. The most satisfying bite is a bowl of Japanese rice cooked in chicken oil, topped with crispy chicken skin, Japanese scallions, and a cured egg yolk—mix it all together for a rich flavor that is hard to resist.
Welcoming a dedicated pastry chef: Lychee, hojicha, and house-fermented kombucha
Alongside the kitchen upgrade, Ankôma welcomes the restaurant’s first pastry chef, Tina Lam. The founder of vegan dessert shop Moono with experience at a three-MICHELIN-starred restaurant in Marseille, France, Tina designed a richly layered finish to the meal. A crisp meringue ring holds coconut panna cotta, hojicha jelly, and lychee sage sorbet—breaking into the meringue and eating it all together delivers a refreshing burst of sweetness. Paired with a house-brewed lychee kumquat kombucha that undergoes a double fermentation in-store, the light effervescence perfectly cleanses the palate.
Reservations are now open for the new location. Whether you are looking for a comfortable spot for a gathering or are curious about how French-Japanese cuisine interprets local street flavors, this restaurant is worth adding to your upcoming dining list.
Ankôma
Address: 16/F, Cubus, 16 Kai Ping Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Hours: Monday to Sunday 18:30 – 23:00
Price: 10-course tasting menu HK$ 1,580 per person; 5-glass wine pairing HK$ 880 / non-alcoholic pairing HK$ 650 (subject to a 10% service charge)
Phone: +852 2981 1688 / 5711 8881
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