Classic Hong Kong bakery Happy Cake Shop to close after 45 years in business as landlord takes back premises

A bakery that became a Hong Kong institution is to shut its doors for good after almost a half-century in business.

Happy Cake Shop, in Wan Chai, will join a string of classic city food outlets, such as Mido Cafe and the Jumbo Seafood Restaurant, that have ceased operations in recent times.

A notice posted online said the bakery, on Queen’s Road East, would serve its last customer on August 2 because the property owner was to take back the site.

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“We want to thank our customers for their support over the past 45 years, we hope that we will have the chance to see you again in Wan Chai,” the notice said.

But it highlighted that customers could still visit its other branch in Ma On Shan in the New Territories.

The bakery is well-known for its Hong Kong-style cream-puff pastry and sweet fritters, and it also sells classics such as pineapple buns and egg tarts.

Bakery owner Wong Siu-ping, speaking to the Post in 2014, said the secret of the shop’s success was that staff made the puff-pastry by hand using lard to keep the layers crisp.

“Customers know if you’re not giving them the best quality,” Wong said.

“It’s important because we have so many regulars. People come in before work or school, children come for snacks after school and office workers buy egg tarts for parties.”

Internet users said it was sad that the store was to close and some sang the praises of their favourites.

“It is really a pity. I used to visit them every day to buy bread,” one user wrote.

Tugboat crew of Hong Kong’s Jumbo Floating Restaurant in ‘dire situation’

“I will always remember your cream-puff pastries,” another post added.

Mido Cafe, one of the city’s oldest cha chaan teng, a distinctive Hong Kong-style cafe, shocked regular customers when it closed down in July.

Jumbo Floating Restaurant, another Hong Kong fixture, suspended operations in 2020 after it suffered losses of HK$100 million (US$12.8 million) because of the social unrest of 2019 and the Covid-19 pandemic.

The vessel, built in the style of a Chinese imperial palace, capsized near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea last month as it was being towed to Cambodia for repairs and storage because of a lack of funds for maintenance.

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