A taste of history : the traditional Hong Kong style bing sutt Wah Nam Café

Abstract

Hong Kong was once a colony of Britain and food plays an interesting role in revealing the history and culture of this place in relation to the colonization. Standing in the city for more than a century, bing sutt (literally ‘ice house’) is well-known by most of the Hongkongers as a traditional local diner serving coffee, tea and localized western snacks. As the precursor to the cha chaan teng (literally ‘tea restaurant’), bing sutt not only signifies different modes of operation in specific time periods of Hong Kong’s history, but also illustrates the laborious Hong Kong life during the colonial time. With the understanding that bing sutt is becoming more difficult to be inherited and sustained, the possibility of losing them should not be overlooked. The purpose of this paper is to identify the characteristics and understand the significance of bing sutt by taking Wah Nam Café in Sham Shui Po as a case study. With exteriors and interiors that have not changed much for the past 40 years, this research examines the relationship between the layout and operation of the café in order to understand the spatial qualities in this neighborhood-oriented eatery. Following the understanding of its spatial configuration, this paper looks further into the stories behind Wah Nam Café in the aspect of its history and changes over time. This paper concludes by discussing the possible challenges and making recommendations for better preserving this traditional Hong Kong style bing sutt, which represents east-meets-west dishes that best characterized 60s-70s Hong Kong.