GEORGE CHEN

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The bite of Hong Kong history

Photo: George Chen

The Peak Lookout is a restaurant located in a heritage house at Victoria Gap, near the summit of Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is housed in a 19th-century Grade II Historic Building. Originally known as the Old Peak Café, the restaurant has an open terrace overlooking Aberdeen, Pok Fu Lam Country Park and the South China Sea.

The Peak Lookout has experienced major transformations in function and renovations since the site was used in 1888 as a rest place and workshop for British engineers that constructed the Peak Tram line.

Sea bass

Inside The Peak Lookout

In 1901, the site was handed over to the British Hong Kong government and built into a chair shelter and rest place for sedan chair carriers for both public and private sedan chairs (similar to taxis and chauffeurs today). During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong (1941–1945), the chair shelter was believed to be used by the Japanese army as a police station.

The catering history began in 1947 when it was suggested that the building should be converted into an open-air café, serving light refreshments. Nowadays the restaurant is particularly well known for its authentic Indian cuisine.