Remembering the ‘abalone king’ Yeung Koon-yat, founder of three-Michelin-star restaurant Forum and ‘a legend’ who put Cantonese food on the world stage

Yeung Koon-yat, who died on 31 July, was the co-founder of three-Michelin-star restaurant Forum and a major figure in Cantonese cuisine

The legendary restaurateur was known for being ‘very generous and nurturing’. People who worked with him react to his death

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Yeung Koon-yat, founder of three-Michelin-star restaurant Forum, who died on July 31, 2023. People who worked with the chef share their memories of him. Photo: SCMP

Published: 4:15pm, 3 Aug 2023Updated: 4:17pm, 3 Aug 2023

Hong Kong culinary icon Yeung Koon-yat, also known as Yat Gor, died on 31 July at the age of 90. As the co-founder and chef of Forum, and the man behind the Ah Yat brand, he helped put Hong Kong and Cantonese cuisine on the world stage.

Yeung arrived in Hong Kong from Guangdong, southern China, at the age of 18 in 1949 to try his luck as a chef. He worked his way up the ranks at Tai Wah Restaurant until he and his business partners opened Forum in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, in 1977.

“At the time, Forum was just a family eatery,” said Yeung in a 2020 interview with the Post. “But we didn’t stand out as a restaurant, so we created our signature abalone dish. We travelled the world to enter competitions.

“After our abalone was sampled by presidents and other dignitaries, we were positioned as an authority on the dish.”

Forum’s announcement of Yeung’s death was made on Instagram. Photo: Instagram/@forumrestaurant1977

Forum was the first restaurant to popularise high-end Chinese cuisine, and specialised in ingredients such as abalone. Yeung’s signature abalone dish has been eaten by, among others, China’s former paramount leader Deng Xiaopeng, former president of France Jacques Chirac and business tycoons such as the late Stanley Ho Hung-sun.