Chips and curry sauce, anyone? British-Chinese restaurant opens in Hong Kong, drawing diners from afar – and criticism
- Susanna Ho, a former investment banker, was born in the UK, where her parents, migrants from Hong Kong, owned Chinese takeaways
- Her restaurant 1908bc serves the kind of food their shops sold, and reaction to it from her fellow British-born Chinese has been mixed
As soon as word got out that a British-Chinese restaurant would be opening in Hong Kong, many British-born Chinese (BBC) were sceptical. Would the food be as good as their parents’ takeaway shop? What would be on the menu? How much would the dishes cost?
The criticism came when they saw the prices posted on the 1908bc website. HK$90 (US$11.50) for bean sprouts? HK$90 for curry and chips? And chicken and sweetcorn soup for HK$80?
Susanna Ho, British-born owner of 1908bc, says she was prepared for the criticism, and hopes the feedback will help her make the food better for those who have a hankering for dishes like crispy aromatic shredded duck and butterfly prawn toast.
Recently opened in Sheung Wan, in the Central & Western district of Hong Kong Island, the restaurant is named for the year the first sit-down Chinese restaurant opened in London’s Limehouse district (the city’s earliest “Chinatown”), while BC stands for “British Chinese”.
1908bc is in The Pemberton, just a minute’s walk from the Sheung Wan MTR station. It seats 48 people for now; an outdoor terrace will open later. Ho explains the forest green banquette seating is a nod to colonialism, while the mirrors with cloud-shaped edges pay tribute to the Chinese side.