Belon Hong Kong is a small, cute French bistro located on a small street in Hong Kong's quaint Soho neighborhood. The ambiance is warm and cozy, and the food is top notch.
The restaurant is a darling of Hong Kong food enthusiasts, and has quickly won countless awards. In 2019 it climbed 25 spots to number 15 on Asia's Top 50 Restaurants (the highest climber that year) and currently holds one Michelin star.
We came here on a weekend during lunch. The place was packed, but thankfully they had a few open seats at the bar, which is where we dined.
Gougere 
Executive Chef Daniel Calvert (originally from England) has trained at top restaurants such as 2-Michelin starred Pied de Terre in London, 3-Michelin Starred Per Se in New York, and 3-Michelin starred Epicure at Le Bristol in Paris. In 2015, Black Sheep Restaurants (a restaurant group we really like) tapped Chef Calvert to come to Hong Kong to help open Belon.
Excellent Ingredients
Belon focuses on top quality ingredients and everything is skillfully prepared at a very, very high level.
One of their signatures is the simple homemade naturally leavened bread with salted Channel Island butter. This bread takes four days to make, which might explain the reasonable HKD48 charge for the bread.
Starters
I really enjoyed Chef Calvert's creative take on the French classic "Salad Nicoise" (HKD228), elevated by replacing the typically cooked tuna fish with Japanese sashimi-like shima aji. Saucisson de Bigorre (HKD158), a type of cured meat made from black Bigorre pigs, was also very good.
The Famous Roast Chicken
We came to try another one of their signature dishes, the Whole Roasted Chicken with petits pois à la Française (HKD 758).
The chicken is impossibly impressive, most notably the layer of spinach underneath the perfectly roasted skin.
The "petit pois" (peas) came served over a beautiful and luxuriously creamy "pommes Puree” $88 (mashed potatoes) that reminded us of the famous butter-laden Joel Robuchon mashed potatoes.
Dessert
Desserts - madeleine and Piedmont hazelnut mille crepes - were lovely. The mille crepes stood out. It was light, crispy, and not too sweet at all (even for Hong Kong standards!).
General Thoughts - Belon Hong Kong
We had a fantastic meal and really, really enjoyed our lunch. The staff is really friendly and the service is excellent. Most importantly, the food is really good.
The restaurant makes several more signature dishes that I would love to come back and try, including a pigeon pithivier and the Piedmont hazelnut and Périgord truffle mille crêpe.
All in all, Belon has nailed the perfect combination of excellent food, warm and inviting dining space, and great service. It's no surprise why it's so darn impossible to book.
Can't wait to come back.
Belon Hong Kong
41 Elgin St
Central, Hong Kong
