When the 2026 MICHELIN Guide unveiled a brand-new honour for Hong Kong and Macau, it did not hand it to a buzzy newcomer or a tasting-menu trailblazer. The inaugural MICHELIN Mentor Chef Award went to Chef Lau Ping Lui, known as Paul — the quietly authoritative master behind two-Michelin-star Tin Lung Heen (天龍軒), perched 102 floors above Kowloon.
What is the Mentor Chef Award?
The MICHELIN Mentor Chef Award celebrates chefs who teach, not just cook. It recognises those who share their knowledge and guide the next generation toward excellence — and in 2026 it was presented in Hong Kong and Macau for the very first time. That debut going to a Cantonese master says something about where the city places its culinary roots.
It is a fitting headline for a kitchen already decorated with two stars in the 2026 MICHELIN Guide Hong Kong. Where many awards chase novelty, this one rewards continuity — the patient handing-down of craft that keeps a cuisine alive.
Who is Chef Lau Ping Lui?
Chef Lau has spent close to half a century in Cantonese kitchens — and, remarkably, he is largely self-taught. He came to Hong Kong from Guangzhou at 14 and started at the very bottom, learning by watching: after the senior cooks clocked off, he would fire up the stove and practise on the day's leftovers. "No one taught me how to cook," he has recalled. "I learned it from my own observations." His career later ranged well beyond Hong Kong — with stints reported in Peru, Madagascar, the UK and mainland China — alongside senior roles at home such as Spring Moon at The Peninsula, before he took the helm of Tin Lung Heen in 2011. The mileage shows as confidence rather than flash: classic technique, top-grade ingredients, no shortcuts.
What sealed the award is his legacy. Cooks trained under him now run kitchens across the region — most visibly Jayson Tang, who accepted a demotion to join Lau's brigade when Tin Lung Heen opened in 2011, became one of Hong Kong's youngest five-star-hotel head chefs, and today leads one-Michelin-star Man Ho at the JW Marriott. That quiet, compounding influence is exactly what the Mentor Chef Award is built to spotlight. For the wider scene he helped shape, see our guide to the best Cantonese restaurants in Hong Kong.
Inside Tin Lung Heen
Tin Lung Heen is Cantonese fine dining with one of the highest views in the city. On the 102nd floor of The Ritz-Carlton, the dining room pairs polished service with a skyline that turns molten at dusk. The cooking is classical and precise, and the barbecue meats are a particular strength — the honey-glazed Iberico char siu is the dish regulars come back for.
Lunch is where the kitchen shows its everyday brilliance: a full trolley of dim sum, made to order and scaled to your table. It is also the most affordable way to experience two-star cooking here. If dumplings are your priority, our roundup of the best dim sum in Hong Kong puts it in context, and our Tin Lung Heen venue guide has directions and booking links.
How to visit: prices and booking
This is a special-occasion address, and it pays to plan. The Executive Set Lunch is around HK$658 per person and the six-course Michelin Degustation Menu around HK$1,888 (wine pairings extra). À la carte and dim sum sit between the two. Book ahead, request a window table, and aim for the golden hour before sunset.
Tin Lung Heen (天龍軒)
Details per the MICHELIN Guide and the Tin Lung Heen official site. Prices per the restaurant's 2026 menus and subject to change; confirm current hours and rates when you reserve.
An award for mentorship is, in the end, an award for everyone who eats here — because the standards Chef Lau set are now spreading across the city, one trained cook at a time. That is worth a toast at altitude.
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Eat your way through the stars
See where Tin Lung Heen sits among the city's elite in our guide to Hong Kong's best Michelin-starred restaurants.