VEA – Hong Kong (May 2026)

Recently had dinner at VEA, a one star Michelin French restuarant in Hong Kong helmed by Vicky Cheng. I was trying to get a spot at Wing, Vicky Cheng’s more hyped and newer sister restaurant but I lost the clicking wars, so settled on VEA which is much easier to reserve. Both restaurants are housed in the same building, with VEA taking the upper floor.

The concept of VEA is French cooking that features the finest Chinese ingredients. Sounds rather gimmicky but I think VEA succeeds in its concept most of the time. Our 8-course dinner was enjoyable overall, with some notable hits and misses:

Hits

• Kristal Caviar sourced from Hangzhou, served on a bed of spring peas, lily bulb and fava beans, with a smoked coconut sauce: This was the second dish and was a knockout. Despite so many elements of the plate, the flavours really harmonized well. The briny caviar

  paired wonderfully

• with the slightly sweet coconut sauce and the peas/beans provided additional texture and balance. The smokiness from the sauce then tied it all together with that pseudo-"charred" aroma.

• Sea Cucumber stuffed with Tiger Prawn Paste in Seafood Sauce; Aged Shaoxing Wine: The signature dish. Server would spray the shaoxing wine from a vintage perfume dispenser

  before eating t

• he cook on the sea cucumber was really interesting. Typically served braised in Chinese cuisine, here the stuffed sea cucumber is baked before hot oil is poured over it, resulting it in the sea cucumber having a firmer texture

  and

• a charred crispy skin. Sea cucumber itself doesn't have much taste but it soaks up the paired rich umami sauce

  pretty well.

• A steamed bun was provided to finish up the remaining sauce. Unfortunately, I could not taste the shaoxing wine and I think they had to be more generous with the sprays for that flavour to come through.

• Deep-fried Morel Mushrooms from Yunnan with white asparagus and Dong Cai (preserved cabbage), served with a Champagne sauce and wild garlic infusion: Another knockout dish where all elements of the dish were well balanced. The mushroom was perfectly fried and had a deep earthy and umami flavour

  and matched

• with the rich garlickly sauce. The dong cai and asparagus

  further

• introduc

ed

• the saltiness and sweetness into the dish respectively. Thi

s dish

• was so good that it overshadowed th

e subsequent

• lamb dish

  for me.

Misses

• Aveyron Lamb with lamb jus and angelica root sauce, served with carrot puree and tart: Reminded me of roasted herbal duck that we can find in Singapore/Malaysia but was not a fan of this dish. While the lamb was perfectly cooked and tender, I found the sauce to be quite one-note and overpowering. The carrot puree and tart, which I think was meant to balance the bitter sauce, failed to provide the sweetness that was needed.
• Muskmelon with jasmine tea jelly and ice cream: Nice looking dish but the jasmine tea jelly and ice cream overpowers the melon, could barely taste it. Rest of the deserts were fantastic though.

Shortly after the first course, our server came around to show us the replacement supplements for the mains. This would be the two of VEA’s other signature dishes – the aged Fish Maw and the Abalone Pithivier. These were rather pricey so we skipped it, but seeing how disappointing the lamb was I somewhat regretted not getting the Pithivier in hindsight. The entire meal took about 3 hours and was paced quite evenly.

I also opted with the non-alcoholic cocktail pairing (menu pictured). I am no drink expert but I enjoyed it. Drinks were on the sweeter side but overall they paired well with the food. My favourites from the drink pairing were the Tabasco, Dried Plum and Tangerine.

Also, before the desserts, we were offered a choice of teas and filter coffees to accompany the dessert sequence at additional cost. I went with a fruity and floral Ethopian coffee and i got to see the mixologist/barista prepare the coffee in front of me.

Service was on point. Everyone was really friendly and dishes & drinks were explained thoroughly. We were celebrating my wife's birthday so an additional chocolate dessert was brought out for us, which was a nice touch.

In terms of ambience, VEA is a very bustling, crowded and lively space. This may work for you but for someone that leans towards a more serene and quieter vibe, this was not for me. There are a few table seats but most diners would be sitting on a counter with a view of the open kitchen. I think I counted nearly 20 diners at the counter which means alot of staff to tend to the counter diners and there were just way too many staff packed in the claustrophobic space behind the counter. Our server would be explaning the dish to us, but would constantly have to contort their lower body to make space for their colleagues to pass behind him. It was also hard to observe the cooking (which I think is one defining feature of an open kitchen) since there was so many staff obstructing our view.

Overall, VEA had great food and drinks with some misses. While I am not dying to go back, if I do revisit I would probably opt for a table rather than counter seating.

Reservation difficulty: Easy. Reservations open about one month ahead, book on VEA's website.

Pricing: 8-course: HKD 2,280 per person before taxes, Non-alcoholic pairing: HKD 580 per person before taxes. Supplementals were rather expensive to add on.