Classic Hong Kong restaurants: New Blue Pool bakery, Mid-Levels

Along the rapidly gentrifying Caine Road, with its new cafes and swanky residences, New Blue Pool sticks out like a sore thumb. Outside, it looks like a run-down Hong Kong-style bakery selling spongy Swiss rolls and soft cocktail buns, but step in, and you'll see a dining area with neat lines of yellowing tables and chairs and treats you won't find easily elsewhere.

The bakery and restaurant opened in 1969, and its current owner, Kwong Sun-min, bought it in 1989. "I worked for the previous boss here, and when they wanted to sell, I took it over," says Kwong.

"We have a few things that others don't have nowadays, like cross cakes, banana pudding and walnut pies. They're all made fresh every day. They don't keep overnight like factories," he says.

Located in an expat residential area, the bakery attracts many curious foreign visitors. But Kwong says he can't really help them. "I don't speak English. If they want to find out what something is, they should just buy it and try it," he says.

The canteen-like restaurant, with its abandoned fast-food service counter, used to cater for students in the area, but Kwong says not many come through the doors these days. "It's mostly construction workers now. We can offer them a cheap meal," he says.