Patrons flock to old family friend for one last meal
Dining at London Restaurant in London Plaza, Jordan, has been part of Ms Yuen's life for nearly three decades. Yesterday the 86-year-old made her last visit with a heavy heart before it closed for good after 27 year of business.
'I come here almost every day. I held important banquets like birthdays or New Year celebrations here. I spent one third of my life with this restaurant,' said Ms Yuen, who took morning tea, noon tea and dinner with family members yesterday.
Nostalgic patrons like Ms Yuen have been flocking to the three-storey restaurant for the past two weeks after hearing it was to close. Many took photos of the place that had witnessed so many important moments of their life.
Loletta Tse - who held her wedding reception and banquets for her three babies at London Restaurant - took pictures yesterday against the double-happiness backdrop after an emotional lunch with two of her children.
'I remember I had 88 tables for my wedding 25 years ago. My family then came here almost every Sunday.' she said. 'It's like an old friend who is always there. When the restaurant is finally gone I will feel very, very lost.'
The parting was also painful for workers. Tang Fong, a dim-sum cart waitress who held her wedding reception there 25 years ago, said she had many fond memories and was very reluctant to leave.
'I won't work here in the future but I think I will still stop and look in the direction of the building.'
Restaurant director So Man-sing said business had picked up almost 40 per cent in the past two weeks as many patrons who moved out of the area came back for the farewell. But he said takings had declined over the years as many old customers moved out of the area and the catering business changed.
'In the 80s and 90s when the restaurant was at its prime, people always met here for a chat or to talk about business. We even had a service for taking messages for patrons. Now only old people come to spend hours over tea.,' he said.
He said the restaurant would keep its 16-year-old branch in Mongkok and look for another location with good auxiliary facilities like a parking lot.
Mr So said the 200 staff members had received their severance pay. Forty would move to the Mongkok branch.
