Capital Cafe, which is widely known as Wah Sing Bing Sutt, is a traditional cafe in Hong Kong. Bing Sutt was very popular since 1950s in Hong Kong. It mainly sold western drinks and light meal in Hong Kong style, like milk tea, red bean ice, French toast and instant noodles. Bing Sutt was believed as the predecessor of Cha Chaan Teng, mostly in traditional decoration, the whole room is pervaded by nostalgia. Nowadays, most of the Bing Sutts were knocked out by Cha Chaan Tengs and chained fast food shops, only a few famous bing sutts could survive under keen competition.
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History
Capital Cafe was first opened in 2010 in Wan Chai to give a salute to the former Capital Artists Music Limited, which was a record company in the 70’s and 80’s. The second branch store is located in Sau Kei Wan since August 2011 and the third one was then set up in Mong Kok in March 2012. In January 2014, the first non-local branch store was opened in Macau.
Capital Cafe was found by Swadiq Khan who used to work for Capital Artists Music Limited. The cafe was set in order to memorize the splendid years of Capital Artists Music Limited. The other shareholders are Eddie Pang and Edmond Leung who are all singers in Hong Kong. Since all of the owners are from the entertainment business, the cafe was widely reported on newspapers and magazines once it was set up.
In 2011, Swadiq Khan started a partnership with capitalists from mainland and two branch stores were started in Guangzhou but soon withdrew in the next year. The reason behind the breakup was the disagreements between Khan and the partners from mainland. Khan claimed that they had disputes in the matter of food quality and accommodations provided to the workers. After the failure of requesting the partners to withdraw their shares, Khan decided to withdraw his shares.
Characteristics
Scrambled eggs and milk tea are famous dishes in Capital Cafe. The scrambled eggs are well-known because 3.6 Hokkaido milk and butter was added while cooking. There is also a dish called the “Principal’s Toast”, which is made with a toasted bread covered with cheese and black truffle. It is named because this kind of toast is tailor-made for the singer, Alan Tam, whose nickname is “Principal”.
It is often said that the scrambled eggs in Capital Cafe are comparable to those in another well-known “cha chaan teng”, Australia Dairy Company. In fact, a few of the experienced chefs had worked in the Australia Dairy Company for years.
The interior design of Capital Cafe is one of its characteristics. The ceiling fans, flooring tiles, wooden chairs and tables, are all in the style of the Hong Kong 70’s. Moreover, since this cafe is founded by a former worker of Capital Artists Music Limited, there are many famous Hong Kong stars’ posters posted inside the cafe. Capital Cafe has also enshrined a lot of precious old records and concert posters. As Capital Cafe is frequently visited by many pop stars, there is also a blackboard hung on the wall for the pop stars to sign on.
Recent news
In July 2014, Capital Cafe’s owner Swadiq Khan became the owner of YFCMD of Hong Kong First Division Football League. The logo of Capital Cafe was printed on the team player’s training jersey.
In October 2014, Capital Cafe joined the campaign Live in Levi’s launched by Levi’s Hong Kong. The campaign aims at integrating Levi’s into the daily life of customers. Two companies worked collaboratively to make the Wan Chai branch become a pop up store. The whole store has been embellished with denim. The employees’ uniforms have been changed to Levi’s jeans, aprons and T-shirts. The chairs of the restaurants have also been covered by denim. In addition, Capital Cafe has exclusively introduced a new dish named Levi’s Toast, using tomato and cheese to represent the color of the brand’s logo. This combines the image of Levi’s with the popular dish of Capital Cafe. Levi’s Toast can be ordered in Capital Cafe.