Reinventing Cantonese Culinary Classics and Cultural Heritage
HONG KONG SAR 5 December 2024 – Yung’s Bistro has officially opened its second restaurant in Taikoo Place. Building on 82 years of culinary expertise from its parent company “Yung Kee Restaurant”, the brand celebrates authentic Cantonese cuisine through its philosophy of “Taste of Art, Made with Heart”. The restaurant offers traditional Cantonese dishes with contemporary flair. The new location is a significant milestone, where the brand incorporates modern design elements and sustainability concepts to create a dining space that perfectly balances traditional charm and modern sophistication.
Harmonizing Nature with Urban Life
The new Yung’s Bistro sits in the open space at Taikoo Piazza at Taikoo Place, Taikoo Square, Taikoo Garden and the open space at Taikoo Piazza offer more than 70,000 sq ft of green area. This redeveloped green space embraces nature-centric design, enhancing biodiversity and connecting the community with the natural environment. As a dynamic business hub, Taikoo Place skillfully blends modern urban amenities with green spaces, striking an ideal balance between work and leisure. The area features native vegetation, water features, and open spaces designed for community use and urban ecology, allowing visitors to experience Hong Kong’s bustling business world while enjoying moments of natural tranquility.
Yung’s Bistro recognizes urban professionals’ desire for quality living and has created a new location that perfectly aligns with sustainability principles and Taikoo Place’s green design. This philosophy is reflected in the restaurant’s interior, where diners can enjoy gourmet, leisure, and nature at the same time.
A Dialogue Between Classic and Contemporary
The new location’s interior design was helmed once again by the Lim + Lu design team. The 2,500-square-foot interior space and nearly 1,000-square-foot outdoor terrace has been transformed into a serene dining sanctuary with contemporary design aesthetics.
The restaurant boldly features “vermilion,” one of the twelve traditional Chinese colors, as its primary tone. This distinctive reddish-yellow hue creates a subtle earthy texture throughout the space, establishing a vintage, subtle luxury atmosphere that gleams of liveliness and joyfulness. The signature brick wall design, inspired by Yung Kee, is reimagined through contrasting tones, honoring its heritage while asserting the young brand’s unique identity. The three-dimensional handcrafted bricks create rich visual textures and depth.
Upon entering, guests are greeted by two striking hand-painted murals. These works blend playful charm with traditional Chinese artistic elements. The lifelike figures are inspired by Black Maine Chinese Goose, referencing Yung Kee’s iconic goose pond and “Lanting Court” private dining room. The design incorporates elements from Wang Xizhi’s famous “Winding Stream Party,” depicting serene pavilion scenes. The charming geese appear to frolic in nature, leisurely enjoying tea from cloisonné teaware. Both murals, personally created by Lala Curio’s founder Laura Cheung Wolf, add vibrancy and whimsy to the restaurant while celebrating cultural heritage.
The designers have maximized the VIP area’s limited space to cleverly create three private rooms with sage green leather panels. These rooms can be combined into one spacious dining area for events and gatherings, maintaining design cohesion while enhancing the space’s aesthetic appeal.
The lounge area, situated in front of the central bar, features floor-to-ceiling windows. Here, guests can relax on comfortable sofas and armchairs and enjoying drinks while basking in natural daylight—creating an inviting dining and social atmosphere.
At the bar’s far end lies an intimate and secluded photo spot. The two overlapping semi-circular booths sits in front of another lively hand-painted mural, where playful geese appear to wander through different corners of the interior. This creates a relaxed, joyful atmosphere that perfectly suits Taikoo Place’s young professional community, ideal for both quick breaks and social gatherings.
Outside, guests will be whisked into Yung’s Bistro’s nearly 1,000-square-foot terrace. The spacious outdoor dining area, where pets are also welcomed is perfect for both events and after-work relaxation and embodied true work-life balance.
Leading Sustainable Development in the Food & Beverage Industry
Yung’s Bistro’s new Taikoo Place location demonstrates strong environmental commitment through both design and operations. The restaurant showcases its sustainability philosophy through various eco-friendly materials, including innovative seating from Kanso Design—a company recently honored with the 2024 DFA Design for Asia Awards for its outstanding design concepts.
Yung’s Bistro is the first restaurant worldwide to feature Kanso Design’s latest black and white interwoven collection. These chairs, crafted by Japanese designer Sakura Adachi, combine stylish aesthetics with environmental consciousness—their fabric is woven from 100% recycled ocean plastic fibers, representing a perfect blend of fashion and sustainability.
From planning to completion, the restaurant has adhered to rigorous sustainability standards, becoming the first local Chinese restaurant to receive the highest “Three Leaf” in Taikoo Place’s “Green Kitchen” programme. The restaurant also put a significant amount of resources and effort in waste reduction, plastic reduction, and carbon reduction, and is currently pursuing BEAM Plus certification.
Yvonne Kam, third-generation leader of Yung Kee, explains “Opening Yung’s Bistro at Taikoo Place marks not only a significant milestone in our brand’s development, but also an advancement of our sustainable dining vision. We understand the importance of corporate social responsibility, which is why we’ve incorporated numerous eco-friendly elements into the new location’s design, demonstrating our commitment to sustainable development.”
To further embrace sustainability, Yung’s Bistro has partnered with renowned local fashion designer Dorian Ho for an innovative upcycling project. Apart from designing staff uniforms, Ho has transformed unused tablecloths into stylish eco-bags to be gifted to guests for the opening.
Yvonne adds “Yung Kee has always championed ‘Made in Hong Kong.’ We’re thrilled to collaborate with local talents across different sectors to contribute to Hong Kong’s sustainable development. Through Yung’s Bistro, we hope to inspire customers to explore and appreciate Cantonese cuisine in a new light, promoting authentic flavors and Hong Kong’s unique food culture.”
A Culinary Symphony of Tradition and Modernity
Yung’s Bistro’s Taikoo Place location offers a feast for both eyes and palate. The team extends the brand’s core philosophy through four key pillars: modern interpretations of classics, nostalgic favorites, childhood-inspired creations, and refined home-style dishes. The team meticulously selected several original and signature dishes of “Twelve Exclusive Delights” to offer in Taikoo Place branch, also specially created three exclusive delicacies, showcasing the essences of Cantonese cuisine in multiple perspectives.
The Deep-fried Shrimp Ball with Fermented Bean Curd (HK$260) made with Yung Kee’s famous 1.5-month-aged fermented bean curd sourced from a supplier that insists on making it the old-fashioned way, the kitchen stuffs the savoury “Chinese cheese” into shrimp balls before deep-frying them is a must-try. Once cooked, the shrimp balls have a wonderfully crispy exterior with a delicious interior that oozes like melted cheese. The Deep-fried Cod with Diced Salted Fish, Crispy Garlic and Chili in Special Sauce (HK$380) reimagines a traditional dish by combining typhoon shelter-style cod fish with salted fish’s umami notes, accompanied by yuzu juice, adding playful elements to this classic combination.
Nostalgic favorites include Steamed Egg White, Mini Crab Roe with Rice (HK$150 ) a classic dish that is laboriously made by hand-picking the crab roe from around 10 mini crabs that are prized for its strong umami flavour and delicate texture.Steamed Beef Patties and Stir-fried Sliced Beef with Premium Aged Tangerine Peel ($300) is a must-try, allowing guests to enjoy beef prepared in two different styles with the addition of a classic Cantonese ingredient, aged tangerine peel, in this case, 25-year-old peel sourced exclusively from Xinhui, where tangerine trees have been grown and the method for drying and preserving the peel perfected for over 800 years..
The childhood-inspired dishes include the Roasted Whole Goose Leg with Charcoal Stove (HK$360), served tableside with a charcoal brazier to preserve its chargrill aroma. This presentation not only recalls the tradition of gifting goose legs during festivals , but also evokes cherished memories. Among the home-style selections, the Homestyle Braised Pork with Preserved Vegetables in Soy Sauce (HK$320) features local Hong Kong Berkshire pork, prepared using traditional methods to highlight both the meat’s succulence and the preserved vegetable’s natural sweetness. The Smoked Baby Chicken (HK$660) uses organic free-range Qingyuan chicken, prepared using secret family recipe and smoked before being hand-pulled, preserving the bird’s tenderness and natural juices.
One of the three new specialty dishes created for the new restaurant is Lily on Fire (HK$180). The clear broth is made by a whole nine-year-old lily bulb, which may seem simple but is actually prepared through a complex stewing process. The nourishing soup has a sweet and pure taste without any impurities. The Steamed Rice with Cured Meat, Sakura Shrimp and Spring Onion (HK$220), is an elevated interpretation of traditional claypot rice, cooked to order. This dish features select pearl rice perfectly paired with house-made cured meat, allowing the cured meat’s rich oil to permeate through each grain. Fresh scallions provide both visual appeal and aromatic balance to complement the cured meat’s richness.
The dessert menu features the Cubes of Joy (HK$58), a creative tribute to Taikoo Place’s heritage. The site of Taikoo Place was home to the Taikoo Sugar Refinery in the late 19th century, one of Hong Kong’s earliest industrial areas. The key element of this innovative dessert is sugarcane juice, offering not only a delightful taste but also celebrating the area’s transformation from an industrial center to a modern commercial hub.
To accommodate the business district’s needs, the restaurant offers weekly rotating business lunch sets. Dim sum selections are available throughout the day, with an expanded weekend menu providing comprehensive yum cha options for patrons.
The bar continues to serve popular cocktails from the Tsim Sha Tsui location. Keeping with the brand’s commitment to sustainability, the wine list features selections from biodynamic wineries, offering both environmental consciousness and exceptional quality.
Embracing innovation, the contemporary matcha brand Matchali develops a unique green tea-based cocktail for this new location. Named “Y Matcha,” this creation draws inspiration from Matchali’s popular strawberry matcha latte, combining fresh strawberries, premium rum, and bright citrus notes, topped with a cold-brew milk foam infused with Matchali’s signature matcha powder.
The opening of Yung’s Bistro at Taikoo Place represents a significant milestone for the brand. Here, guests can experience Cantonese cuisine that honors tradition while embracing innovation, in a setting that celebrates both environmental consciousness and artistic design. Whether hosting business gatherings or enjoying casual meals, Yung’s Bistro’s new location offers a distinctive dining experience.
The Yung Kee brand will continue its journey of innovation, with more exciting projects planned for Hong Kong’s dining scene.
Location and Information
Address: Shop 1-2, G/F, Dorset House, 979 King’s Road, Quarry Bay, Taikoo Place
Parking: The Taikoo Place area offers over 1,600 parking spaces. Eligible customers enjoy 3 hours of complimentary parking.
Reservations and Enquiries: +852 2523 3123
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