Even though Hong Kong’s wave of business closures seems to be continuing, we’re seeing a spark of delicious hope with Kam Kong Restaurant bucking the market trend to recently reopen in Mong Kok. Taking over a space of almost 8,000sq ft in Gala Place, Kam Kong focuses on handmade nostalgic dim sum as well as authentic ‘kung fu’ dishes – delicacies that take a good deal of time and effort to make.
All of Kam Kong’s dim sum varieties are handmade by their dim sum chefs, which is rather a rarity nowadays. The cherry on top is that the wooden steamers are piled into dim sum trolleys to be wheeled around the restaurant – again, an old-school touch that is sadly disappearing in the city. Dim sum dishes are sorted into five categories of small, medium, large, extra large, and top-tier, with prices ranging from $25 to $42. Apart from your standard har gow and siu mai, Kam Kong also serves up old-school dim sum varieties that are not readily available elsewhere, such as pig’s stomach siu mai, birds’ nest-shaped taro puffs, duck’s feet and pomelo peel, cured sausage rolls, and more.
Hongkongers of a certain age who remember these dishes will no doubt get a kick out of seeing them on the menu again. What’s more, the restaurant has also launched promotions, including waiving the 10-percent service charge for senior citizens dining in the mornings, and only charging $2 for tea and condiments.
Kam Kong has hired the previous chef of siu mei roasted meats at Duddell’s as well as a chef from Lin Heung Tea House to be in charge of the food, so diners can expect plenty of enticing flavours. We’d recommend going for the roast duck, the Pipa roast goose, the roast chicken liver and fatty char siu known as Golden Coin Chicken, steamed beef patty with dried mandarin peel, the braised pork belly and tendons, boneless chicken with Jinhua ham, braised pomelo peel with shrimp roe, and pigeon stuffed with shark’s fin.
The restaurant management has also revealed plans to collaborate with long-standing local food brands to feature sauces, cheung fun, tofu, and other Hong Kong-made products. To attract a younger crowd, Kam Kong will even host busking and Canto-pop events to diversify their offerings and inject a breath of fresh air into the traditional tea house setting.
Kam Kong Restaurant was founded in 1909 in Guangzhou, before setting up shop in Hong Kong at 117-119 Wellington Street. It is now being run by the Ngan family, who are the founders of another time-honoured establishment, the Lin Heung Tea House.
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