Mouthing Off | How Hong Kong’s Kennedy Town failed as a hip dining hub, and why it’s a damning metaphor for ‘Asia’s World City’
- With its MTR station opening along with smart restaurants including one by a Michelin-star-winning chef, Kennedy Town looked to be the next big thing in 2014
- Forbes Street epitomised the revitalisation, but where slick restaurants stood are now sushi and fast-food chains. It says a lot about the state of Hong Kong
A classic Hong Kong truism is that the only real constant here is change.
Ten years ago, the MTR extended its Island line all the way west to Kennedy Town. At the time, there was optimism that the district would become the next hip neighbourhood.
In place of crumbling old tenements, shiny new high-rises were erected, presumed to become desired residences of high-spending, overseas-educated executives and well-heeled expats tired of Central congestion.
To cater for their leisure, a stretch of Forbes Street was wholesale gentrified, with old auto-repair garages and shops replaced with a row of smart, stylish restaurants. With the street’s picturesque creeping banyan tree along the opposite wall, the area seemed so full of potential.
The outlets that opened would be the envy of any stretch of Mid-Levels. Among them included a cool Japanese izakaya nook called Missy Ho’s, the comfy Thai and Southeast Asian eatery Café Siam, casual Italian trattoria Primavera, and a popular brunch hang-out K-Town Bar & Grill.