Another one bites the dust … Ngau Kee Food Cafe closes after 62 years
Ngau Kee Food Cafe, at 3 Gough Street between Sheung Wan and Central, was forced to close down after its landlord refused to lease the unit out for catering purposes.
Hundreds of diners yesterday flocked to a 62-year-old cha chaan teng in Sheung Wan on its last day of business.
Ngau Kee Food Cafe, at 3 Gough Street between Sheung Wan and Central, was forced to close down after its landlord refused to lease the unit out for catering purposes.
"It's OK if you want me to go, but you can't say Ngau Kee isn't special, you can't say you won't lease the unit to a cha chaan teng any more," said restaurant owner Mak Ping-keung.
Mak, 60, took over Ngau Kee in 1996 as its fourth owner, when the eatery was still at Staunton Street. It moved to Gough Street in 2005 because of an urban redevelopment project.
The restaurant was a family-run business, with Mak's wife, three sons and a daughter helping out with different tasks.
Mak said he suspected the landlord wanted them to move so he could lease the space out to high-end boutiques for higher rent. The monthly rent for the 1,300 square feet unit was HK$49,000.
"It's a loss to the residents in the neighbourhoods if there are only money-making boutiques around but not any local restaurants - which are harder and harder to find in the Western and Central districts," he said.
