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SoHo became one of the trendiest local dining spots after the Central-Mid-levels escalator was built.
Said Mr. Robert Tai, chairman of The SoHo Association Limited: “Thousands of people began to go up the escalators every day.
“More and more restaurants were then opened along the escalator.
“Restaurants there often serve dishes people have never tried before.”
“This is indeed the most charming point of SoHo,” said Mr. Ken Lee, chef of Samba Restaurant in Shelley Street.
Since the styles of the restaurants vary a lot, the competiton among them is not very keen.
Orange Tree Restaurant, which serves Dutch Continental cuisine, is also located in Shelley Street.
The manager of the restaurant said that people just walk along the road to find a restaurant that is new to them.
“They will usually try another one next time. It is true that there is a price war in lunch hours, though,” he said.
With SoHo growing so rapidly in the past few years, someone saw the potential to develop it into a dining paradise.
Due to the fact that SoHo is located in a residential area, bars are less commonly found in SoHo.
“Residents are living upstairs,” explained Samba Restaurant’s chef, Mr. Lee, “and they will certainly make complaints if we make any noise.
“We are only allowed to sell wines and beers ’til 11 p.m., so we seldom have a party here even though we would like to.
“SoHo is purely a dining area where you can eat in a quiet environment, especially on weekdays,” added he.
Many tourists were attracted to SoHo in its early years. But the number of tourists has dropped since then.
Mr. Lee explained, “Although our customers have been mainly local people, the weakening of tourism led to a tremendous drop in our business.
“The economic recession also greatly lowered our local customers’ willingness to spend on a grand meal,” he added.
However, it seems that the influence of tourism at the Orange Tree has been relatively small.
“Since we have many long-term customers, our business was not as bad as people expected,” the manager said.
This year, the Hong Kong Tourist Association made a special effort to advertise SoHo.
In the “Hong Kong District Food Guide”, endorsed by the Tourist Association, SoHo is classified as one of six “theme food districts” in Hong Kong.
Maps of SoHo and brief introductions to various boutiques and chic restaurants are included.
Recently a meeting was held between the Tourism Commission and the The SoHo Association to improve signage in the SoHo area.
In the plans for new street signs, the word “SoHo” will be replaced with something like “Mid-Levels Theme Dining Area”.
“It’s confusing. Mid-Levels covers a much larger area than SoHo,” said Mr.Tai.
“The District Board thought the name ‘SoHo’ would turn this area into a red-light district like the SoHo of London 20 years ago,” said he.
As a matter of fact, together with the restored Central Police Station in Hollywood Road, SoHo has become a graceful, quaint place mixed with new restaurants.
“You see, it has nothing to do with a red-light district,” Mr.Tai said.
“It is already a fait accompli that the District Board will not allow signs showing the name ‘SoHo’.
“We will try to use the name ‘SoHo’ as often as possible on menus, letterheads, faxes, etc,” said Mr. Tai.
In reponse, the Public Relations Department of the Tourist Association said that SoHo is one of the six theme food districts in Hong Kong.
“We will do the same with regard to all these districts,” said the spokesman.
But still Mr.Tai said Tourist Association could give more support to SoHo.
“Some SoHo restaurants are members of HKTA, but they even do not appear in the advertising publications of HKTA.
“We all need to work together to promote the SoHo area,” said he.
He said that he has always believed SoHo has great potential.
