London Restaurant Secrets: 74-Year-Old Owner Hopes Young Staff Will Inherit Hong Kong's Dim Sum Legacy
HK01 · 1 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago6 MIN
Summary
London Restaurant (倫敦大酒樓) in Mong Kok, one of Hong Kong's last remaining traditional dim sum establishments, is celebrating nearly five decades of operation while confronting the challenges facing classic Cantonese restaurants. The 74-year-old Deputy General Manager Su Man-shing (蘇萬誠) has revealed that despite economic headwinds and changing demographics reducing wedding banquets and corporate events by nearly half, the restaurant survives because it owns its premises outright. Unlike competitors forced to close due to rising rents or lease refusals, London Restaurant can weather storms like the COVID-19 pandemic. Su is now seeking young staff members to inherit the business and preserve disappearing traditional dim sum recipes.
Key Points
- London Restaurant opened in 1979, spans three floors with approximately 50,000 square feet, and retains traditional pushcart dim sum service and a grand dragon-phoenix ballroom
- Deputy General Manager Su Man-shing, 74, has worked at the restaurant since its opening day, taking over management as senior founders aged
- The restaurant's success stems from being self-owned property, avoiding landlord disputes that forced other traditional restaurants to close
- Compared to its peak era, banquet seating capacity has shrunk by nearly half, and Mother's Day tea business dropped 50% this year
- Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu (李家超) sampled "Shiqiao White Mai" (市橋白賣) at an old Guangzhou establishment during a 2023 Greater Bay Area inspection tour
- Dim Sum Department Supervisor Tse Po-shing (謝寶成), with 40 years of experience, notes that traditional dim sum requires over 10-hour shifts starting before dawn, deterring younger workers
- Glutinous rice dumplings require three hours of preparation, while olive seeds now cost approximately HK$1,000 per catty, causing some restaurants to omit traditional fillings
Why It Matters
The survival of London Restaurant offers a window into Hong Kong's vanishing culinary heritage, as traditional dim sum craftspeople age with no successors learning intricate techniques like cleaning pork caul fat or preparing Shiqiao White Mai fish paste. With Su Man-shing hoping young staff will inherit the establishment while maintaining authentic morning tea traditions, the restaurant's future will test whether Hong Kong's younger generation can revive appreciation for time-honored Cantonese cuisine or whether these disappearing dishes will fade into history .
The survival of London Restaurant offers a window into Hong Kong's vanishing culinary heritage, as traditional dim sum craftspeople age with no successors learning intricate techniques like cleaning pork caul fat or preparing Shiqiao White Mai fish paste. With Su Man-shing hoping young staff will inherit the establishment while maintaining authentic morning tea traditions, the restaurant's future will test whether Hong Kong's younger generation can revive appreciation for time-honored Cantonese cuisine or whether these disappearing dishes will fade into history .