My Dad, The Lion Roars; The Cab Driver, Never Saw It Coming!

Jimmy's Kitchen Hong Kong! Issue #29

ifOnlyi… I could remember what I had for dinner, not liver and onions! I only recall the taxi driver's face and the words Dad yelled!

I just recalled a wild story of going to the famous Hong Kong restaurant Jimmy’s Kitchen, which was nearly 70 years old at the time. Both my Mother and father were regulars there, and Jimmy’s was a frequent topic at the dinner table back home during their parties.

We were outside our hotel, Dad, Scott, and I. The doorman waved down a cabbie for us. Scott sat in the front, Dad sat behind the driver, and I sat next to Dad in the back seat. “Where to, Sir? " the driver asked. “Jimmy’s Kitchen on Wyndham Street, please,” Dad said. “On our way!” the driver replied.

Driving along, I enjoyed looking at the sights at night; it was beautiful, and then all of a sudden, I saw Dad sit straight up in his seat, reach in front of him, grab the cab driver’s collar, and pull him back into the seat, and he started yelling at him. “This is not my first time in Hong Kong, so stop the bullshit of driving us around the city, wasting time, and adding money to the meter”.

Dad Roared like a Lion

Next, he dropped him back into his seat, and the car slowed down as no one was at the foot pedals. We were at a standstill in the middle of some strange part of the city as we waited for the terrified driver to get fluffed back into position and start driving again. “I’m so sorry”, he said shakily. “I promise I will drive straight to Jimmy’s. I won’t waste another minute.”

I had never seen Dad do anything like that before or ever again, but he hated being taken advantage of big time. The image of the driver's face was something I have never forgotten and never will. It was pure class. Shocking…

We pulled up to Jimmy's Kitchen's famous green neon lights, and the driver said, “No charge, enjoy your meal,” and drove off at high speeds. It certainly doesn’t pay to take advantage of tourists who you think are only in town for a good meal.

I still treasure the signed copy of the cookbook Jimmy’s: Secrets from Hong Kong’s Best-Loved ‘Kitchen’, and I was so happy to hear that, after four years of absence, Hong Kong’s infamous Jimmy’s Kitchen reopened in the city’s Central district in April this year.

‘Hong Kong’s best-loved Kitchen’ closed its doors in 2020. Former regulars recall the celebrity spotting, the less-than-warm waiters, the vast menu and the welcoming owners who made it the place to be. Indeed, the 92-year-old Central eatery had been set to close in April 2020 but was given a month’s reprieve following a surge of interest from patrons who wanted to dine at Jimmy’s one last time. “The response was so overwhelming, the closure was extended into May,” said Epicurean Group’s food and beverage director Anthony Russell-Clark.