According to the cane juice making young lad, whom we later known as the owner’s son, the cane store has now been passed to the third generation and run as family business, operating by him, his brother, his parents, Mr. Chui and Mrs. Chui and two cats. There is also a second store at Wan Chai and is mainly taken care by their mother. And here like a factory, producing all the cane juice and herbal tea they sell.
Kung Lee Sugarcane juice
Address: G/F, 60 Hollywood Road, SOHO, Central, Hong Kong
Phone Number: +852 2544 3571
Business Hours: Mon-Sun: 11:00-21:00
Just a few steps pass PMQ and a few up-class fashion stores, you will find this old fashioned bereave store, that its decoration in every way fits one’s imagination of Hong Kong in the 1970s. It is Gong Lei Real Sugarcane Juice, opens in 1948 and has been focusing on sugarcane juice ever since.
After going through over 60 years of highs and lows, Kung Lee has never changed. From the furnishing to the items on the menu, it is still the same as it was 60 years ago.The front door was covered in slightly yellow pinkish marble stone, very cold even when touching on a hot summer day. The most popular and famous item here is the freshly squeezed sugarcane juice. All the juice in Kung Lei are made from bamboo sugarcanes, a type of sugarcane with unique bamboo aroma and commonly farm around Southern China region.
During the 1950s, bamboo sugarcane was widely planted in Hong Kong. The founder of Kung Lei also started off as a sugarcane planter in New Territory before he opened Kung Lei Sugarcane Juice. The instruction of sugarcane planting is still hanging on the wall, keeping that part of history alive.
Unlike those street-side juice stores you found around the existence of MTR stations in Hong Kong, you will not find sugarcanes put in a bucket of water set aside of a fountain machine exposing to the dust and dirt on the busy road. The big batches of sugarcanes are all taken freshly from the back of the store. Also, the juicer here is nowhere like those tiny machine we usually see on the street, It is so big that it could swallow five to six sugarcanes in one go.
After being compressed many times through the juicer, the canes are slowly turned into sheet then to crumbs. Juice fills the white bucket, which is put under the machine while the refreshing aroma of sugarcane fills every inch of the store. It was truly a pleasure, especially in a hot summer day in Hong Kong.
As a traditional herbal tea shop, it also offers common items like turtle jelly and five-flower tea can be found in the store as well. Yet the spotlight is on the cane juice for no doubt. On the marble table at the storefront, there are two fountains machine with jade like green cane juice turning round and round like swirl of liquefied jewel. The cane juices are sold in cups or bottles. It is about 11 HKD per one cup and 30 HKD per bottle. The juice for no doubt is very sweet. However, unlike those that will clot your throat or make your mouth sour after a few sips, the sugarcanes here has all been steamed and carefully peeled before juicing, to reduce the astringent taste and intensify the cane flavour. Therefore, the juice here is very smooth and has a mild grassy flavour.
He is one of the kitties owned by Kung lee. We found him on a street nearby. If you bump into him, you may give him a little pat on the head. He is a very nice and sweet kitty.
Other than cane juice, they also have boiled cane tea and cane juice jelly. The cane tea is less sweet and mainly drink for the bamboo aroma of the bamboo cane but in my opinion, it is definitely not as spectacular as the cane juice for sure. Other than cane juice, its cane jelly is also very popular among customers. Made with cane juice and water chest powder, it was stirred for one hour before steaming till it is set. So it is very chewy yet it still keeps the bamboo aroma and delight sweetness of the cane juice. However, this item is only available after 3 pm and is usually sold out quickly. It usually takes around one to two hours to make a new batch. You probably will need a bit of luck if you want to try it.
Quick Buttons
Map
