Classic Hong Kong restaurants: Tsui Hang Village chain
The popular Tsui Hang Village chain is turning back the clock to mark 40 years in the game, writes Janice Leung Hayes
"The first Tsui Hang Village opened on July 3, 1974," says Jimmy Ho. He should know - he was manager of the opening team and is now special projects manager at Miramar Group, the company that manages the restaurant chain. He recounts stories from 40 years ago as if it were yesterday, remembering customers' names, what they liked to eat and their first meal at the restaurant.
Tsui Hang Village's beginnings were humble, like the traditional Cantonese teahouse it portrayed. At the start there were only 19 tables, tucked away in a corner of the Miramar Hotel (now The Mira). The original name of Tsui Hang Village included the words (tea house) at the end; it would have had a quaint ring to it, even back in the 1970s.
The restaurant was named after the village that Young Chi-wan, founder of the Miramar Group, came from. Ho says, "It was also the village that Sun Yat-sen was from, and Mr Young wished to honour the village".
Despite its traditional roots, the restaurant's culinary philosophy is dedicated to innovation. For the opening, they created dishes that were groundbreaking at the time: julienned roast goose served with fruits and nuts; and diced beef fillet served in a nest made of strings of deep-fried taro. Ho attributes these creations to the three Cantonese chefs in kitchen at the time. They had been working at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo and were hired for their overseas experience.
Tsui Hang Village was an instant hit, and in 1977, a branch in Central was opened. The original Tsui Hang Village merged with another outlet in the hotel and moved into the shopping mall opposite, but the Central branch still stands. Last year, a third branch was opened in Causeway Bay. For its 40th anniversary, it will offer some nostalgic dim sum dishes. "We want to offer classic and new dishes, because our customers span several generations," says head dim sum chef Lee Kam.