The Peninsula Hong Kong, Gaddi’s: French since 1953, a Michelin star, lunch from HKD 710, the degustation and the dress code

Gaddi’s opened in 1953 and takes its name from Leo Gaddi, a former general manager of the hotel, as Wikipedia records. A press release of 2021 from The Peninsula says it was hailed on opening as «the best restaurant east of the Suez» and was the first place in Asia to serve fine European cooking; it tells of a legendary maître d’hôtel, Rolf Heiniger, and of The Keymen, the band behind the album «Live at Gaddi’s», who played here in the 1960s and 1970s. The MICHELIN Guide says the room was once the hotel’s grand ballroom. The restaurant’s page sets it beneath crystal chandeliers, among a collection of storied artworks.

The kitchen is Anne-Sophie Nicolas’s, the first woman to be chef de cuisine since the restaurant opened in 1953, the hotel’s chef’s page says. She took over from Albin Gobil, who became the hotel’s executive sous chef in 2023, with more than 15 years in the trade behind her. She learnt in Michelin-starred kitchens in Paris, Le Meurice, L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon Étoile, Restaurant Guy Savoy and the Ritz, and her last post was chef de cuisine at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Hong Kong, where, the page says, her leadership helped craft 3-Michelin-starred experiences. In her spare time she is an artist, she says on the restaurant’s page, and she wants her dishes to look as beautiful as a painting on the plate. The MICHELIN inspectors expect legacy recipes given creative twists, and name one dish to order: the pan-seared Norwegian langoustine.

That langoustine is a starter on the à la carte, at HKD 700, with Comté tortellini, borage and a bisque from its heads. Beside it sit a beef tartare with Oscietra caviar, nori and lime at HKD 630 and a seared Périgord foie gras with daikon, orange and coriander at HKD 510. Among the main courses are a Vosges quail with duck foie gras at HKD 770, a Brittany sea bass with a tomato stuffed with king crab, piperade and armoricaine sauce at HKD 870, and a Kagoshima A4 Wagyu sirloin with girolles and Choron sauce at HKD 980. The pressed Challans duck is cooked for 2 persons and printed at HKD 3,100, on a carte whose footer says its prices are per person: it must be ordered 48 hours ahead, takes 45 minutes and comes in 2 services, the pressed duck with vegetables and a sauce made to the minute, then the confit leg with romaine, girolles and soufflé potatoes.

The lunch menu costs HKD 710 for 3 courses and HKD 850 for 4, with a choice at each course: a crispy free-range egg with Boston lobster, leeks, samphire and capers, or a beef consommé done the pot-au-feu way, with tortellini and bone marrow; then a pan-seared fillet of maigre with carabineros and Noilly Prat sauce, or a risotto of sweetbreads and girolles; a poached Williams pear to finish, with coffee or Peninsula tea and petits fours. A few dishes carry a supplement: HKD 210 for the Hokkaido scallop tartare with Perseus Oscietra caviar, HKD 330 for the Burgaud duck breast with its confit legs and foie gras, HKD 110 for the chestnut and chocolate soufflé. The sommelier pours 3 glasses for HKD 700, 4 for HKD 900, or a prestige 4 for HKD 1,500.

The Menu Degustation is HKD 2,450 for 6 courses, or HKD 1,980 for 4 at lunch only, and the whole table takes it. It begins with Provençal heirloom tomatoes, king crab and Oscietra caviar in a sherry vinegar sauce, goes on to Boston lobster with Comté tortellini and a coral sauce, then red mullet with grilled vegetables and marinated anchovies, and offers Cantal pork tenderloin with peas cooked the French way, or the quail with foie gras for HKD 388 more. French cheeses add HKD 140; 2 desserts follow, a lime and coconut mousse with mango sorbet and a Madagascar chocolate ganache on hazelnut sponge. Wine is HKD 900 for 4 glasses, HKD 1,000 for 5 or HKD 1,900 for a prestige 5.

The Caviar Menu Connoisseur puts a different caviar from the houses of Perseus and Kaviari on every course, desserts included: Superior Oscietra on Norwegian langoustine with celtuce, Kristal on Hokkaido scallop ravioli in Champagne sauce, Beluga on the Brittany sea bass, Dauricus on the Kagoshima sirloin, then caviar on a cocoa cremeux and on a vanilla mousse with toffee and speculoos ice cream. It costs HKD 2,890 for 4 courses at lunch and HKD 3,890 for 6, for the whole table. Every wine the sommelier pours with it comes from Champagne: a Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque 2018 with the sea bass, a still red Coteaux Champenois with the Wagyu and a ratafia with dessert; 4 glasses are HKD 1,500 and 5 are HKD 1,900.

A diner who eats no meat orders from a vegetarian carte of its own: a white asparagus velouté with a confit egg yolk and Parisian gnocchi with courgette and basil, each HKD 420, and Comté tortellini with artichokes and a green pea risotto, each HKD 500. On the dessert menu a rum baba with pineapple, the chestnut soufflé and a green apple sphere with mint mousse and Calvados jelly cost HKD 240 each; crêpes Suzette and a caviar tart cost HKD 458. Château d’Yquem 2011 is poured at HKD 988 a glass, or HKD 8,000 for the bottle.

The hotel’s dining page credits Gaddi’s with pioneering Hong Kong’s first Chef’s Table; today’s is set in the kitchen itself. On SevenRooms the Chef’s Table dinner seats 2 to 6 and costs HKD 2,130 a person for 4 courses or HKD 2,790 for 6, plus 10%; the chef cooks modern French dishes for that table alone, and the guests watch her team at work. For a party, the hotel’s list of event venues seats 18 at a banquet in Gaddi’s Private Dining Room, which the restaurant’s page books by phone or email.

Google’s listing for Gaddi’s showed 4.5 out of 5 from 348 reviews on 17 October 2026, and OpenRice 4.3 from 266. 3 of the 2,000 Google reviews of The Peninsula gathered on 14 October 2026 mention the restaurant, and 2 of them say how the meal went. A guest who wrote in February 2025, after a stay that took in a countdown gala, called dinner at Gaddi’s exceptional French cooking, beautifully presented, and gave the hotel 5 stars. A Marriott member who gave 4 stars in November 2023 had mixed feelings about the service around the hotel and found the best of it in its 2 starred restaurants, Gaddi’s and Spring Moon.

Caprice at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, on the hotel’s 6th floor, holds 3 Michelin stars in the 2026 Guide; Guillaume Galliot, who grew up in the Loire Valley, cooks lunch and dinner from Tuesday to Sunday, with the last dinner order at 8.30pm, and children are welcome from the age of 8.

Amber at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental is Richard Ekkebus’s contemporary French restaurant, with 3 Michelin stars by its own account, a weekday lunch, a weekend lunch of 4 or 5 courses and a set menu for children.

Restaurant Petrus at Island Shangri-La, on Level 56 of Pacific Place, has held 1 Michelin star every year from 2020 to 2026; it serves lunch and dinner from Monday to Saturday and takes bookings on WhatsApp.