After more than half a century, a noodle restaurant named by the Michelin Guide as one of the best places to grab a cheap eat in the city has announced it will be shutting its doors for good on August 31.
Wing Wah Noodle Shop on Hennessy Road in Wan Chai has been making its famous bamboo-pressed noodles from scratch for 68 years, but the restaurant’s proprietor Tse Sau-hong — the third-generation owner of the establishment — said she was feeling old and wanted to retire.
In a video interview with Apple Daily published yesterday, Tse said: “Wan Chai has changed a lot and business isn’t as good as it used to be,” adding that she has seen 5,000 fewer people walking through the door since the Immigration Department moved their offices from Wan Chai to Central.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsJeMNiSgxQ&frags=pl%2Cwn
The humble noodle establishment was first set up in 1950, and has since made a name for itself as one of the best places to grab a bowl of wonton noodles.
It was featured in the most recent “Bib Gourmand Selection”, an award handed out for quality three-course set menus for HK$400 (about US$51) or under. News that it would close down upset many Wing Wah regulars.
Calling the closure “a huge shame”, one customer who spoke to Apple Daily said he had eaten at the restaurant since he was a child in the 1960s, noting that places to watch noodles being made by hand, and enjoy the final product, were becoming rare in Hong Kong.
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Another long-time diner praised the restaurant’s timeless quality, saying its tasty food and atmosphere had remained unchanged over the decades.
“These are the kinds of things that don’t normally stay the same in Hong Kong,” she told Apple Daily.
Wing Wah Noodle Shop will be open until August 31, so there is still time for those of you who want to grab a bowl of its famous wonton noodles (HK$44) or red bean soup (HK$32)
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