Page 79 - Hong_Kong_&_Macau's_Best_Restaurants_English_edition

SAMSEN BEST NEW
RESTAURANT
Despite a record number of excellent
new restaurants opening in Hong Kong 2018
during the eligibility period, there can
only be one winner—and Adam Cliff’s
modest, no-reservations Thai eatery
clearly came out on top as the panel’s
pick of the year, beating out fresher (and
often fancier) openings. Formerly the
head chef of Chachawan, Cliff struck
out on his own with his partner, Bella, in
late 2017 to launch Samsen—a noodle-
centric restaurant with signatures such
as wagyu beef boat noodles and stir-
fried “fat” noodles, the former a rather
esoteric dish that has since sprung into
the mainstream. The honest, fl avour-
forward cooking had us hooked from the
beginning—and judging by the snaking
queues that fl ank the building, most of
you are probably in the same boat.

Samsen, 68 Stone Nullah Lane,
Wan Chai, Hong Kong

RUNNER-UP
Frantzén’s
Kitchen is the
casual spin-
off of Björn
Frantzén’s two-
PHOTOGRAPHY: PIM YANAPRASART Stockholm;
Michelin-starred
restaurant in
it offers an
incredible dining
experience filled
with Nordic
ingredients, from
cloudberries
to fermented
lingonberries.