Ser Wong Fun: Gigi Paulina Ng celebrates 130 years of her family's legacy

It was 11:30 a.m. on a Tuesday at Ser Wong Fun – only 30 minutes into service – and half of its 11 tables were already filled with patrons slurping on bowl of noodles, rice and its signature dish – snake soup.

Having called Central's Cochrane Street home since 1989, Ser Wong Fun's interiors are, in themselves, a time capsule: stained glass windows, flamingo-pink paper lanterns that match its equally flamboyant tablecloths, a Chinese calligraphy plaque, countless awards of recognition and the many, many newspaper clippings of the restaurant, discolored and barely legible from time.

Four-generation owner, Gigi Paulina Ng, claims she's done more than 1000 interviews in her lifetime, rekindling tales of her family business that her great grandfather Ng Gwai Fun, after whom the restaurant is named, had erected in 1895 in Guangzhou. In 1940, her father brought the business to Hong Kong amidst the Japanese occupation: what was just a food cart towering with piping-hot steamers of boiled soups soon transformed into a street stall on Stanley Street in 1967 – complete with home-cured laap cheung, or Chinese sausages, by Gigi's mother. Twenty-two years later, Ser Wong Fun opened the doors to its current spot serving Cantonese delicacies on Cochrane Street. Celebrating its 130th anniversary this year as the second oldest restaurant in Hong Kong – after the 1860-born Tai Ping Koon – Ser Wong Fun's mission now extends far beyond serving snakes in soup, but surviving and promoting Cantonese culinary traditions to Hong Kongers and beyond.

"I want to tell the tales of Hong Kong classic restaurants and classic food; otherwise, we will lose these essential stories that make up our city," says Gigi.

The youngest of six sisters and a graduate of industrial engineering at the University of Toronto with an MBA, Gigi took over Ser Wong Fun in 2000 – despite her phobia of snakes – when her father fell ill.

The core menu has remained pretty much the same, with slight adjustments such as soups that detox rather than nourish and using faux shark fin instead of the less humane real deal. Portion sizes have shrunk to cater to smaller parties; and dish presentation got modern, creative upgrades.

"The Classic Pottery-Baked Fish Intestines, which usually comes in a clay bowl – for instance – can be served in small cubes with the fermented bean curd sauce in the form of whipped cream, like a little pastry. Wouldn't that be cool?" Gigi quips.

Since her reign, Gigi has spread the Ser Wong Fun brand into supermarkets with ready-to-eat soup packs, teas, mooncakes, cookies, chili oils and poon choy – a traditional Hakka bowl often brimming with prawns, scallops and abalone, often enjoyed over celebrations like Mid-Autumn Festival, birthdays and weddings. In 2020, Gigi co-opened Four Seasons Fun Fong in Sha Tin's New Town Plaza shopping mall, bringing her Central shop's signatures plus more playful interpretations like lo mien, dim sum, stone-pot rice and even Japanese Donburi. Her snakes have gone on pizzas and in cocktails; while hotels like The Park Lane Hong Kong, Rosewood Hong Kong and Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Sha Tin have also showcased the Ser Wong Fun brand on their seasonal menus.

At her homebase on Cochrane Street, she hosted an 130th anniversary party this summer with buskers serenading passersby, cocktails concocted with Chinese herbal tea – an official intangible cultural heritage – laap cheung egg waffles as well as a bento box boasting foods that are sweet, sour, bitter and spicy, indicative of the hardships and blessings Ser Wong Fun has endured throughout its history.

Aside from keeping top-of-mind in Hong Kong's cut-throat dining scene, the goal of these projects, Gigi says, is to rectify the misconception that snake and laap cheung's warming qualities are only beneficial during cooler months. The truth is, she explains, they can be eaten all year round when they are complemented with the right ingredients. Moreover, snake is low in fat and cholesterol and has properties that reduce inflammation and cancer cells while promoting metabolism and blood circulation.

"Snake can be eaten every single day. Yes, it is indeed a delicacy, but it's something that can be integrated into our daily diet. For instance, gym-goers prefer chicken breast for its high protein and low-fat content, snake would be an exponentially better alternative," she says.

Almost right on cue, a flock of tourists stopped outside Ser Wong Fun. The tour guide began her introduction of the restaurant with some brief history and the whimsical question of "who wants to try some weird food unique to Hong Kong?".

Though clearly not the branding Gigi is after, she understands education takes time.

"Before I took over, I think only 20 per cent of young people understood the health benefits of snake and would eat it regularly; now, I'd like to say may be 60 per cent do? They still don't quite get it, but the numbers are definitely going up."

Going forward, she will continue to spread the gospel of her family business, perhaps in the form of souvenirs, restaurant tours, a private kitchen extension and a cross-venue collaboration that will take visitors across the entire Central neighborhood, with hopes to "drive revenue for our entire community and boost the Hong Kong economy".

Rather than a fuel propelling her to go forward, she says there's just no reason to stop the culinary powerhouse that her family has worked so hard to build.

"There's no reason to stop, especially with all the hardships that my grandparents and my parents have gone through to make this restaurant and their passion of sharing snake soups a reality," she says. "Aside from Tai Ping Koon, these old shops are far and few in our city; I don't think I am the best, but we will, no doubt, keep charging ahead at full speed."