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Ban Heung Lau

Ban Heung Lau is a fusion restaurant in Nam Shan Estate, Shek Kip Mei, with offerings of both Chinese and western dishes, along with local Hong Kong style fast food. Originally a Shanghainese restaurant, Ban Heung Lau achieved its transformation in the early 2000s to a fusion Cha Chaan Teng that provides more diverse dishes, as we can see today.

History

Opened in 1979, Ban Heung Lau was a classic Shanghainese restaurant in Nam Shan Estate. It remained as a traditional Chinese restaurant until 2002. Facing the decline of local economy, the owner spent over 3 million Hong Kong Dollars to renew and transform the restaurant into a Sino-Western fusion Cha Chaan Teng in order to survive. While continuing the classic Shanghainese offerings, new cantonese and fusion dishes were introduced. Since then, the Ban Heung Lau has become a notable restaurant not only within Nam Shan Estate, but in Kowloon Tong as a whole. It focuses on local fast food at lunch and tea time, and featured fusion dishes at dinner time.

Signature Dishes

There are several featured dishes in Ban Heung Lau.

Deep fried Pig’s hock with fermented red beancurd sauce

The hock is thoroughly seasoned with fermented red beancurd sauce before being deeply fried in oil. This dish created a unique contrast between the crispy-golden skin and the tender yet juicy internals.

Iced chocolate Drink

Mellow chocolate drink served with a thick layer of whipped cream on top of the liquid. Creates a smooth and tasty beverage for the diners.

Baked diced tenderloin steak with black pepper sauce

Diced tenderloin steak in a easy one-bite size, served with black pepper sauce. Soft, tender and juicy. When serving, the bowl would be placed on top of a plate with salt-ethanol mixture. The mixture is lit afterwards, giving an unusual visual experience to the customers.

Grilled chicken with deep fried minced garlic

Whole plate of golden deep-fried garlic on the completely grilled chicken.This creates the hybridity of the crispiness of the skin and the tenderness of the meat. Served with salt and special sauce.

Deep fried spare ribs and peach chunks with salad dressing

Pork ribs was fried golden, along with the thin layer of fat around the ribs that gives the ribs a chewy texture. Served with sweet-and-sour salad sauce and sliced peaches.

Reviews

Ban Heung Lau is located at the Nam Shan Estate which is a public housing estate. Most of the customers are the residents there or a nearby residential area. Due to its affordable and qualified cuisine, it is also popular among the nearby universities. Therefore, it is also seen as the “Canteen” of the university students. In short, the atmosphere is neither classy nor elegant. It is local and common.

There are number of dishes in Ban Heung Lau. Their featured cuisine included, deep fried pig’s hock with fermented red beancurd sauce, baked diced tenderloin steak with black pepper sauce and also the “must-order” Iced chocolate. These dishes are highly rated by the customers.

However, the service in the restaurant have been criticized. Since Ban Heung Lau is a restaurant with local flavour. There aren’t any classy waiters or waitresses serving you. Instead, the staff are mostly come from the grass-root. In other words, they do not wear suit but t-shirt. Screaming and shouting are their communication methods. Moreover, in order to speed up the customer flow to make more profit, they need you to be fast. Therefore, decide what you want to order among yourself before asking them to help you take your orders. Or else, the waiters may feel impatient.

As a whole, Ban Heung Lau is an above average restaurant in spite of the serving attitude of the staff. The cost of each meal is not pricey at all. It is under $100 if shared by a group of people. The dishes are being praised and rated highly. Yet, please be reminded that a reservation is needed and the waiting time is not short either. The average rate will 3.5 star out of 5 stars.

Relation with City University of Hong Kong

Nam Shan Estate has a nickname called ‘City University’s canteen’ since the estate is close to the university which is just within 10 minutes by foot. There are stores and restaurants which sell local food and snacks with a much cheaper price than Festival walk, a modern mall next to the university. is also one of the reason as the snacks and food are hard to find in Hong Kong now. And for Ban Heung Lau, it has long been well-known among the students. There are large round tables so that relatively large space is provided to dine with a big group of friends. Alongside with the reasonable price, it is therefore always young people waiting outside the restaurant during dinner time. Almost every freshman will be taken here to dine by the seniors at the beginning of each semester, and it is considered as part of the ‘CityU experience’

Deep fried Pig’s hock with fermented red beancurd sauce

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Charles0311230 (talk • contribs) 14:18, 4 November 2015 (UTC)