It is a halfway house, not quite Chinese, not quite Western, that hits a sweet spot in both cultures. You can feel the love in this food that is almost an homage to the Western cuisine of the 1950s and 60s.
Breakfast
There’s a 60s vibe to this place in TST along Haiphong Road. It used to be quite dilapidated – wet, mushy floor in an old tin shed – but because it was such a relic, it gained fame for being authentic and loud. Then it became swarmed with mainland Chinese tourists, and that’s when they lost the plot.
Hong Kong-style French toast, aka sai-do-si 西多士, is a decadent twist on classic French toast. It features thick slices of milk bread spread with peanut butter, dipped in a beaten egg batter, fried until golden and crispy, and traditionally topped with a generous pat of butter and a heavy drizzle of condensed milk. Not quite my choice of breakfast toast but Princess has always wanted to try it and never got the chance.
And then there’s the corned beef and omelette sandwich 鹹牛肉蛋治 that I tried in vain to recreate at home. Then I realised my mistake when I refreshed my palate memory. I forgot the soy sauce. While the fluffy omelette and crispy corned beef hit the spot, the bread for this version was not toasted enough on both sides.
Lo-sung-tung 羅宋湯 is a tomatoey vegetable soup, and is often provided as part of the meal or as the soup base for macaroni. It is often wrongly regarded as minestrone soup. The origin is actually Russian borscht. But it tastes nothing like its Russian cousin. Shanghai borscht came first before the Hong Kong one. Both styles are Chinese adaptations, but Shanghai’s version was created in the 1920s by Russian émigrés fleeing the Russian Revolution. First known as the Russian soup, “羅宋” sounded like the word “Russian” in Shanghainese dialect and name stuck when it arrived in Hong Kong when chefs fleeing mainland China brought the recipe south decades later. The Chinese version has no beets, sweeter and tomato paste is used.
Haiphong Road Temporary Cooked Food Hawker Bazaar (its official name from the HK Tourism Board) has been serving local street food for over 40 years (not exactly temporary, yes?), featuring “nine stalls in a nostalgic setting”.
In October 2020, the bazaar reopened after undergoing a makeover. The refreshed centre preserves the metal roof but features a dai pai dong-style interior furnished with red light shades and large fans. I was surprised that for a tourist attraction as this hawker centre has become because of Xiaohongshu, some of the popular stores were closed on a Saturday morning. I had to walk to the other end to get my sai-do-si.
This is not an endorsement of any of the stores there, just that the owners for this store were really friendly, and they have all the items that we want to try, so we picked them.
Sun Tung Yuen 新東園
Store CF6, Haiphong Road Temporary Market
No.28 Haiphong Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Lunch
In F&B industry, Kah-wai 卡位 (booth seats) refer to seating areas similar to old-fashioned train carriages, featuring sofa cushions and offering good privacy. They first appeared in Western restaurants, making it convenient for customers to dine together, chat, or conduct business conversations. Then it took off and became the norm in chachaantengs and Chinese teahouses. During busy timeslots (which is like the whole day for some restaurants), you may have to share the booth with strangers. So much for privacy. Reminder on etiquette – if there are only two of you, sit on one side instead of facing each other.
These Western-style restaurants are small and often the soft drink crates are stacked in open view to everyone. The bests still serve their soft drinks in bottles instead of cans, and I love the Schweppes cream soda and never fail to order one against doctor’s order whenever I am in Hong Kong.
“Soy sauce Western” (historically known as see yau sai chaan 豉油西餐) is a distinct culinary style that originated in Hong Kong during the 1960s and 70s. It features Western-style ingredients (like beef steaks and pork chops) adapted to local Chinese palates by replacing traditional creamy sauces with savoury, soy sauce and garlic-based gravies. These dishes are notoriously served on smoking-hot iron sizzling plates. The crackling heat keeps the meat warm, cooks the raw egg on the side, and caramelises the thick, fragrant gravy right at your table.
This is one ingredient that would never appear in a Western meal – beef tongue, and not just thin slices but chunks. Ngau-lei 牛脷, as it is called in HK, is first braised and the pan fried for that Maillard reaction on the surface. There’s a hint of Worcestershire sauce, another cornerstone condiment of Soy Sauce Western, and definitely MSG.
These sizzling plates brought back memories of the first time I saw it in a Western restaurant in Bras Basah Complex (Singapore) called Jack’s Place in 1980. Before that you can only see it in Chinese restaurants when you order cast iron plate dishes like venison. I remember the excitement when I poured the gravy from the sauce boat onto the sizzling plate, causing everything to splatter and steam.
Don’t expect to be asked whether you like your beef medium or rare. The ribs were tenderised using classic Chinese techniques (sodium bicarbonate) to yield melt-in-the-mouth beef, and the tastes are definitely completely different from real Western fare. Foreigners will find this food very unfamiliar, even unrecognisable.
Soy sauce Western meals typically begin with soup served with a sweet bun. These days, given people are health-conscious and taking less sugar, dinner rolls like these come with the meal. For a little more, you get a soup and a drink.
Golden Dragon is a new kid on the block, and brought back the nostalgic soy sauce Western as it starts to disappear elsewhere because of retiring chefs and owners cashing out on their real estate.
Golden Dragon 金龍鐵板牛扒
Unit 601, 6/F, Citygate, 18-20 Tat Tung Road, Tung Chung, Lantau Island, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Visited May 2026
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