Hong Kong couple in Berlin serve authentic Chinese food
Ben Chung and Yuki Lam set out to correct Germans' image of Chinese food by opening a restaurant, and have thrived in a city where landlords can't throttle successful businesses with astronomical rent rises, writes Vivienne Chow
Hong Kong cuisine has its singular attractions but the idea of trying to make a living as a restaurateur in the city can leave a bad taste in the mouth. Just ask Ben Chung and Yuki Lam.
The camera-shy Hong Kong couple have been living in Berlin since the late 1980s and have been running the Tak Kee restaurant for more than three years. It is the only restaurant in the German capital offering authentic Hong Kong cuisine: crispy roast pig, claypot rice and steamed fish, all washed down with milk tea.
Forty-something Chung moved to Berlin two years after meeting Lam, a German-born Hongkonger, when she was working a summer job in Hong Kong in 1987. He was then an office worker who dreamed of becoming a firefighter or a policeman.
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After moving to Germany in 1989, just before the Berlin Wall came down, Chung began working in kitchens. Over the years, he mastered culinary skills, even teaching himself how to roast a pig. Then he became ambitious.