The American Express Centurion Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport was the first Centurion Lounge in Asia, opened in October 2017 and briefly closed during the pandemic. Haneda opened Asia's second location in July 2025 — but for eight years, this was the only room in Asia where Centurion members could call their own.
It sits in Terminal 1, near Gate 60. This time I skipped the buffet area entirely: black card out, two invitation cards in hand, straight into the reserved section at the back.
The Centurion Section: One Glass Door Away
Centurion members get a dedicated seating area, fully separated from Platinum guests. The invitation cards are the key. Inside, dining is à la carte — you sit down, read a menu, and order at a table. That is the fundamental difference from the buffet outside: in here, the pace is a restaurant's pace, not a lounge's.
Space and View: The Apron Behind the Grilles
Dark metal grilles divide the section into semi-private booths — private enough, never closed in. Beyond the glass: the apron and the control tower, with evening light falling across the herringbone floor. It is the lounge at its best-looking hour. Across my recent visits, the space has been consistently impressive — the highest-scoring part of this lounge.
Dining: Caviar, on Repeat
The à la carte menu runs from 11:30 a.m. until late. This season's headline starter is the premium caviar, served as a full tin on ice with smoked salmon rillettes and seaweed rice crackers; the menu's own pairing suggestion is Champagne. Finish a tin? Order another. Caviar and Champagne are both unlimited here — the single most irresistible house rule of the Centurion section.
The mains are more serious than expected. The prawn laksa arrives bubbling in a clay pot, prawns large and broth rich. Wok-fried Australian wagyu with black pepper honey sauce still crackles in its stone bowl. The rigatoni seafood arrabbiata — scallop, octopus and tiger prawn — was the most assured plate of the evening.
The confit duck leg, with sweet potato mousseline and orange sauce, is crisp-skinned and carefully plated by airport-lounge standards. The menu rotates with the seasons — an earlier visit brought lobster congee — so no two visits taste quite the same.
Dessert was the homemade tiramisu with sponge fingers and dark chocolate. And if you want something from the buffet outside, you can walk out and get it — or simply ask the staff to bring it in. The door separates the crowds, not the choices.
Service: Efficient, but Short on Warmth
To be fair, service has improved a great deal since before the pandemic — courses arrive promptly, plates disappear on time. But efficiency is where it stops. The interactions are scripted, the distance deliberate; there is little of the warmth that makes you want to return. And the crowds are real: the section is no longer reliably quiet, and at times it gets genuinely noisy.
Verdict
The food and the space carry this lounge: Asia's original Centurion address, with unlimited caviar and Champagne, remains near the very top of the card-lounge league. The deductions are warmth and the growing crowds. Sharp Index 85 — worth arriving early for, but don't expect to be made to feel at home.