Two flagship restaurants at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong dish up decadence and glamour.
Silverfox Studios | The Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant Man Wah, open since 1968, reinvented itself in 2021 with a new menu and new look—in the middle of the pandemic. Man Wah and its fellow 25th-storey restaurant concept, The Aubrey, were revealed to the public in 2020: in 2025, Man Wah was named by the Forbes Travel Guide as “one of Hong Kong’s most romantic restaurants”. Clearly, extraordinary times call for extraordinary ideas.
The Aubrey and Man Wah occupy twin spaces on the 25th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong. Man Wah, a long-term resident of the hotel, has a recognised expertise in Cantonese classics, while The Aubrey finds its inspiration in European Japonisme. The two restaurants are remarkably different, but they find common ground in their dreamy maximalism.
To date, The Aubrey is Silverfox Studios’ most-awarded project: it picked up the Kohler Bold Design Award in 2021 (Interior Design: Leisure, Bar & Restaurant), the Gold Key Award in 2021 (Interior Design: Best Restaurant, Fine Dining), the Asia Pacific Property Award in 2022-2023 (Interior Design: Best Hotel Bar Interior, Hong Kong), and made the finals at the Ahead Asia Awards 2022 (Bar, Club or Lounge). Man Wah, already highly revered in the culinary world, received an Asia Pacific Property Award in 2022-2023.
The Aubrey is named after Aubrey Beardsley, an English artist and illustrator of the late 19th century who was key to the later Art Nouveau movement. Beardsley was eccentric, flamboyant at times and withdrawn at others, and worked in extreme secrecy. Though he lived to just 25, he remains a prominent figure in the aesthetic movement of his day, alongside Oscar Wilde and Edgar Allan Poe.
Beardsley and his contemporaries were captivated by Japanese woodblock prints, which were seen in Europe following the opening of Japan to the world in the 19th century. Distinctive features of Japanese art, like the bold use of space and a deliberate lack of dimension, began to appear in European art. Beardsley’s illustrations, like Japanese ukiyo-e prints, use geometric forms to express hidden emotion.
A collaborative effort between restaurant group Maximal Concepts and Silverfox Studios, The Aubrey is a Japanese izakaya with an unusual theme. Built to resemble a Georgian manor house, the spectacle of the experience is balanced with Japanese-inspired cocktails and Edomae sushi. Diageo World Class Bartender of the Year 2024 (Hong Kong & Macau), Stefano Bussi, guides the drink program with a “less is more” approach.
The bar and restaurant is the home of an imagined Aubrey Beardsley, an English bon vivant obsessed with all things Japanese. Initial concepts were of a non-traditional izakaya, reminiscent of European-style lounges in hotels like the Old Imperial Bar in Tokyo, but Silverfox Studios soon found itself with a more esoteric vision. Sources of inspiration grew to include personal collections and curio shops: the 300-square meter restaurant is designed with lounges, private dining rooms and corridors filled with collected artworks.
A long, carpeted corridor, decorated on both sides with ukiyo-e prints and Impressionist art, leads guests into the venue. Passing an elegant reception counter behind shoji screens, guests then encounter the Main Bar, a highly polished statement piece. The counter is 11 meters long, with a green marble body, brass inlays, and a gleaming countertop: hanging stemware and ferns line the ceiling above it, a callback to the decadence of the early 20th century.
Across from the Main Bar, guests find the Whiskey Locker Room: two sets of dining tables with crushed velvet seats. This area is accented with geometric glass hanging lanterns, and lined with sixty walnut-panelled private liquor lockers on one side and art on the other.
The Curio Lounge is modelled after a conservatory, packed with collector’s items and antiques, with a dense sensory environment. This space has been given a lighter material palette of sage, rust and mustard, with expressive fabric patterns and elaborate curved furniture. On two feature walls, murals by Hong Kong-based artist Elsa Jean de Deau display Japanese cranes and gold leaf. Finally, a 36-seater private dining room in dark timber features a portrait of Aubrey Beardsley himself.
A living icon of Hong Kong’s culinary history, Man Wah opened in 1968, synonymous with the Mandarin Oriental’s impeccable standards of service (“Man Wah” is “Mandarin Oriental” in Cantonese). The restaurant brought its executive chef, Wong Wing-Keung, on board in 2018, and quickly went on a path of reinvention: in 2026, it features as one of La Liste’s Top 1000 World’s Best Restaurants.
The renovated Man Wah was revealed in 2021, along with a series of changes at the Mandarin Oriental: a refreshed Mandarin Club on the 23rd floor and the opening of The Aubrey. Tasked with creating the new look of an already iconic destination, Silverfox Studios has swapped pink walls for blue ones, kept the decorative lanterns, and created new expressions of the cosmopolitan-classic identity of the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong. The interior of the restaurant was created to match the Hong Kong skyline, visible from the 25th storey: the famous view has been key to the Man Wah experience since its opening.
A decorative carved wall, inlaid with gold leaf, greets guests at the door. The entrance is slightly elevated: as a guest enters Man Wah, the panels fold away in their line of vision to reveal an unblocked view.
The new primary colour of the restaurant is a deep lapis blue: like other motifs around the space, symbolic of prosperity, mastery and majesty. The main dining area is divided by panelled walls into niches, for a semi-private experience: each round table is accented with low armchairs on hand-tufted carpet. Table setting materials and restaurant equipment have been meticulously customised: even serving trolleys have been designed with wheels covered in gold-embroidered red silk. Widely spaced dining areas allow for tableside preparation displays.
The iconic hanging lanterns of the previous design have been reinvented: the new lanterns are clustered with varying heights, are more subdued, and are made using semi-transparent charcoal silk. Against a cluttered cityscape and the expanse of harbour, the light from these lanterns parts like a set of curtains.
The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, one of Silverfox Studios’ most frequent collaborators, have turned to the studio to create some of its most memorable locations. Man Wah, synonymous with the Mandarin Oriental itself, was momentous for Silverfox. Together, these restaurants amplify the romance of Kowloon and Victoria Harbour.
Project: The Aubrey, Man Wah at Mandarin Oriental
Location: Hong Kong
Design Studio: Silverfox Studios
Photo Credits: Edmon Leong
Website: silverfoxstudios.design
