The best restaurant service in Hong Kong? Rosewood’s Chaat sets the standard with Indian fine dining, while contemporary Neapolitan outlet Estro picks up the 100 Top Tables 2022 award for Best Ambience

Mar 31 , 2022

Presentation is half the wow factor in fine dining, as made clear by Estro, winner of 100 Top Tables’ Best Ambience award. Photo: Estro

At Chaat, which won this year’s Best Service award, the full restaurant experience begins long before the guests are seated with a personalised service all the way

Best Ambience award winner Estro was done up by acclaimed interior designer Andre Fu to conjure the welcoming aura of a southern Italian lounge

“First impressions are key to enhancing a dining experience, and a good and trained service team is responsible for that.” Restaurant manager Ramon Gonzales understands this sentiment better than most.

Gonzales stands at the helm of Chaat – Rosewood Hong Kong’s Indian fine dining restaurant – and is the recent recipient of 100 Top Tables’ Best Service award, which recognises the precision and preparedness that goes into ensuring smooth service and a memorable experience for guests.

Our staff will not approach a table without knowing the host name

Ramon Gonzales of Chaat, winner of 100 Top Tables’ Best Service Award

Ramon Gonzales, restaurant manager at Chaat, winner of 100 Top Tables’ Best Service award. Photo: Handout

First and foremost, every encounter in personalised. Attention is paid to first-time visitors to tailor experiences accordingly, while returning regulars’ preferences are implemented on arrival. “In both circumstances, our goal is the same; to ensure every single guest leaves Chaat craving to come back. And with chef Manav [Tuli] having my back, this is much easier,” says Gonzales.

Chef Antimo Maria Merone, of contemporary Neapolitan fine dining restaurant Estro – winner of the Best Ambience award – shares Gonzales’ vision. Merone describes ambience as “the surroundings around the guest experience”.

“Together with the music, the service flow and the kitchen action, we aim to create a very defined and pleasant dining experience,” says Merone.

Inside Estro, winner of 100 Top Tables’ Best Ambience award. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Each area of Estro, designed by acclaimed interior designer Andre Fu, works in harmony to complement the overall intimacy of the experience. Merone describes the distinct spaces within the restaurant: “There is the lobby, separated from the dining room with a gate resembling the entrance of an Italian coastal villa – the Mediterranean earthy colour palette, the sinuosity of the dining room, the open kitchen, visible to all restaurant guests like a stage. These are all components of the harmonic and welcoming atmosphere we want to create.”

Through its meticulous approach to scene-setting and the creation of an intimate atmosphere, Merone and his team at Estro hope to achieve their goal: “To transmit our clients to a small southern Italian salotto (lounge), bringing the warmth and comfort of southern Italian hospitality.”