Classic Hong Kong restaurants: Canton Room, Wan Chai

"Luk Kwok Hotel was the first hotel in Hong Kong to have its own Chinese restaurant," says James Li, general manager of Gloucester Luk Kwok, as the hotel is now known.

The hotel and its Chinese restaurant, Canton Room, opened in 1933. Li says it was one of Hong Kong's most well known hotels, and popular with wealthy locals.

As the name suggests, Canton Room has always focused on Cantonese cuisine, but in the late 1930s, many Chinese from outside Guangdong began staying at the hotel, so the restaurant hired a Sichuan chef to cater to their "foreign" tastes.

During the Japanese occupation from 1941-45, the hotel was a clubhouse for the Japanese military. In 1946, the British navy occupied the building, and it remained popular with naval officers after the hotel was handed back to the original owners. In the 1950s, the hotel was redesigned to include a large banquet hall, and Li says it became a popular place for high-society wedding banquets.

"Lots of people have been coming to the restaurant since those days, and we're fortunate that they've brought their children and grandchildren, and they seem to like our food," says William Ma, executive chef of Canton Room, who has been driving the creation of an array of "modern" dishes at the restaurant. "It's very important to stay current and keep creating new dishes," he says.