Dai pai dong

Dai pai dong is a type of open-air food stall in Hong Kong. The government registration name in Hong Kong is "cooked-food stalls", but dai pai dong literally means "restaurant with a big license plate", referring to its size of license which is bigger than other licensed street vendors.According to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, there are only 25 dai pai dong remaining in Hong Kong.

Characteristics

A dai pai dong is characterised by its green-painted steel kitchen, untidy atmosphere, the lack of air conditioning, as well as a variety of low priced great-wok hei dishes. Regarded by some as part of the collective memory of Hong Kong people, official dai pai dong are scarce today, numbering only 28, situated in Central (10), Sham Shui Po (14), Wan Chai (1), Tai Hang (2), and Tai O (1).

Although the term dai pai dong is often used generically to refer to any food stall operating on the roadside with foldable tables, chairs and no air-conditioning (like those on Temple Street), legally speaking the term can only refer to those 28 stalls which possess the "big licenses".

Dai Pai Dong (restaurant)

Dai Pai Dong is a chain of medium range restaurants based in Hong Kong, owned by the Kampery Group (Chinese: 金百加集團). The chain has nothing to do with the traditional dai pai dong, except the name.

The food chain also produces a series of "Dai Pai Dong"–branded instant food products, including instant tea, instant coffee, instant yuanyang, and instant cereal.

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