Nottingham has no shortage of Asian restaurants serving Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Thai cuisine. But one part of the continent has been lacking - until now. Kofuku is a new cafe specialising in the authentic flavours of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong toast, imitation shark's fin soup and cart noodles - some of Hong Kong's most traditional foods - are on the menu at the eatery on the city centre street called Hockley, at the far end of Nottingham's coolest district. The cafe has opened in the former Restaurant 88, serving Chinese food, and karaoke bar.
Kofuku is named after a closed railway station in Japan and translates as 'happiness' which is what restaurant owners Yammie Ng and Adrian Ning, both 27, hope to bring to their customers. Adrian said: "We want people to come here, relax and be happy. They can read a book or play board games and stay as long as they want to."
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Rather than catering for the Western palate like some Asian restaurants, the couple want to make it as traditional as possible. Hong Kong style toast, a speciality at street food cafes, is the real deal. Slices of bread are spread with peanut butter, deep-fried and served with syrup to create a sweet and salty taste.
"We strongly recommend the beef brisket noodles and Hong Kong style toast. We had some people come to the soft opening and they said it's really, really good. Hong Kong toast is my favourite, I eat it every day when I finish work," said Adrian.
A soup made using fins of endangered sharks for texture is a traditional but controversial Asian dish but like many restaurants, Kofuku has an imitation version using glass noodles. Other starters with a less controversial reputation include chicken dumplings, fried king oyster mushrooms and deep-fried bean curd.
Diners can then move onto mains such as cart noodles, another iconic Hong Kong dish which takes its name from the street sellers who used to sell noodles from their carts by the roadside in the 1950s. Skewers are also big in Hong Kong and Kofuku has it covered with tiger prawns, ox tongue, fish balls, tofu, mushrooms and pork skin.
Popular dishes originating from other parts of Asia feature, amongst them Korean cheese with rice cake and ramen, Japanese gyudon (beef and rice) and Taiwanese popcorn chicken. Desserts of osmanthus jelly, named after the edible Asian flowers, Earl Grey tea mousse cake and caramel pudding cake are served.
The cafe, which is open seven days a week from 11am to 10pm, has applied for an alcohol licence. In the meantime drinks include Hong Kong style iced lemon tea, honey orchid Mi Lan Xiang, coffee and Coca Cola.
Decor is minimal but there is a large screen that will be used to show the World Cup later this year. Live music is planned, such as the entertainment they had at the launch from Pier Zero, like themselves graduates from Nottingham Trent University.
Yammie came over to the UK to study architecture, while Adrian did a degree in business management and marketing. The two grew up in Hong Kong's New Territories, half an hour's drive from each other, but didn't meet until they arrived in Nottingham. Now they've been together seven years and are engaged.
"When we first came to Nottingham it seemed like there wasn't much Hong Kong food here," said Adrian. "We want to serve the Hong Kong taste in Nottingham. We are the first cafe do Hong Kong style food in Nottingham. We would like to open more in the future."
Yammie wants to use part of the space to showcase the work of young artists. "As well as the food we want to develop the art culture as well. We're going to put some shelves near the window for art student or designers to put their work there."
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