Tim Ho Wan’s first 20-seat restaurant opened in Mong Kok, Hong Kong.
Tim Ho Wan opened its original 20-seat location in Mong Kok in March 2009. The restaurant was founded by Mak Kwai-pui and Leung Fai-keung, with Mak bringing experience from Lung King Heen, a three-Michelin-star restaurant at Hong Kong’s Four Seasons Hotel.
The tiny Mong Kok shop became famous for serving carefully made dim sum at accessible prices. Within its first year, the restaurant gained a Michelin star, helping establish Tim Ho Wan’s reputation as one of the world’s most affordable Michelin-starred restaurants. Its name, Tim Ho Wan, is commonly translated as “add good luck.”
The original location later relocated to Olympian City in 2013, so current visitors may not find the first shop at its original address. The brand subsequently expanded across Hong Kong and internationally. Mong Kok is therefore the historical answer, even though later branches opened in areas such as Central, North Point, and West Kowloon.