https://www.scmp.com/rss/524085/feed Mamoru Hayashi, Managing Director, Heichinrou Group. He oversees the Chinese restaurant group, established in 1884. Hayashi joined the company in 2009, working through various roles. He views the recent closure of their Metropol restaurant in Hong Kong, which operated for 35 years, as a 'glorious ending', reflecting his commitment to quality food and service. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Billy Potts Billy Potts A grainy image comes into focus. Shaky interlacing lines coalesce into the vigorous movements of a lion dance. A time stamp reads “1990.8.19”, but the clang of cymbals and drums through the tinny output of the camcorder are as clear as if recorded yesterday. “That’s our opening day,” explains Mamoru Hayashi, who ran the Metropol Restaurant with his family until September 27, when it closed its doors for the final time. Hong Kong’s post-pandemic reality has ended many long-established eateries,... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3329241/hong-kongs-metropol-dim-sum-restaurant-may-be-dead-its-neon-sign-will-live?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3329241/hong-kongs-metropol-dim-sum-restaurant-may-be-dead-its-neon-sign-will-live?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Oct 2025 22:15:08 +0000 SCMP SCMP We have selected seven Lifestyle stories from the past seven days that resonated with our readers. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. How Hong Kong’s ‘Fat Mama’ Maria Cordero went from Cantopop to controversy To generations of Hongkongers, she is Fei Ma, or “Fat Mama” – a beloved singer, actress and television chef whose booming voice and hearty recipes feel like a warm embrace. But in the past decade or so, Maria Cordero has adopted a new, more... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3327580/maria-corderos-cantopop-journey-vtubers-find-fame-hong-kong-7-lifestyle-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3327580/maria-corderos-cantopop-journey-vtubers-find-fame-hong-kong-7-lifestyle-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Oct 2025 07:15:11 +0000 Charmaine Mok Charmaine Mok For Mamoru Hayashi, the closure of Metropol – the Cantonese restaurant his family has run for the past 35 years in Hong Kong’s Admiralty area – on September 27 is not something he views with sadness. Unlike many recent restaurant closures – often lacking notice or completely unannounced – the sunsetting of Metropol was sealed months prior, in July, with news of the venue being acquired by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) for HK$354.4 million (US$45 million). It is the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3326806/how-hong-kong-dim-sum-restaurant-metropol-kept-cantonese-food-tradition-going-35-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3326806/how-hong-kong-dim-sum-restaurant-metropol-kept-cantonese-food-tradition-going-35-years?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Sep 2025 09:15:08 +0000