A landmark of Hong Kong’s dining scene, Yung Kee restaurant looks to the future by celebrating the past
- Known for its charcoal-roasted goose, created by founder Kam Shui-fai over 80 years ago, Yung Kee reopened in October following a US$6.4 million renovation
Most Hongkongers are familiar with Yung Kee, the three-storey restaurant on Wellington Street, in Central, where myth has always had it that the higher the floor, the more expensive the dining experience.
After the dispute ended with one brother buying out the other’s shares, the restaurant faded from the headlines, and when the anti-government protests erupted in 2019, third-generation owner Yvonne Kam Kiu-yan felt it was time for Yung Kee to hit pause, take stock, and from 2020, move on following two of the most tumultuous years in recent Hong Kong history with a reimagining of the space.
Architect William Lim Ooi-lee, of CL3, who had refurbished the ground floor in 2015, was hired to remodel the other two floors, and as Covid-19 hit and the city’s service industry suffered, Yung Kee’s redecoration inched forward, reaching a cost of HK$60 million (US$6.4 million) before its doors reopened last month.
Lim is no stranger to the place. He and his nine siblings would often enjoy family meals with their parents on the second floor. And later, as a father himself, Lim remembers his two sons running up and down the staircase and playing at the ground-floor fountain.
