“Chungking Mansions is a good place; it’s convenient for eating and shopping. There are so many familiar faces and fellow countrymen running shops here, so communication is easy.”

Jacky, a devoted Muslim, runs Bismillah Kebab House in Chungking Mansions alongside his brother. While the restaurant itself dates back to the 1980s, the brothers took over the business in 2007 as its third owners. Since then, the business has gone from strength to strength. In 2010, they began expanding into the adjacent units; today, four consecutive shopfronts are clad in the restaurant’s signature bright orange—a vivid and eye-catching sight. The unit at the far end sells ingredients and spices sourced mainly from India, Pakistan, and Turkey, catering to the many diners who want to recreate the restaurant’s flavours at home.

Jacky hails from Attock (formerly known as Campbellpur) in northern Pakistan. He arrived in Hong Kong in 1993, and after just one year of schooling, he entered the workforce. He spent eight years in garment retail—an experience that allowed him to master Cantonese—before transitioning into the food and beverage industry. Two years later, he decided to strike out on his own by taking over the restaurant in Chungking Mansions. His father, who served in the British Forces in Hong Kong since the 1970s, had always spoken highly of the city, praising its development. Those glowing reviews left Jacky with a positive impression of Hong Kong from a young age. Upon moving here, he found he liked the city just as much. It took him four or five years to become fluent in Cantonese, effectively overcoming the language barrier—the only real challenge he faced in settling down. Since then, he has made it a tradition to take his family back to Pakistan once a year during the summer holidays. He appreciates the safety of Hong Kong, noting it is far more secure than Pakistan or even Europe and America; he feels perfectly at ease with his children being out late at night.

Jacky has a genuine passion for cooking and loves nothing more than preparing a lavish feast for his family to enjoy together. However, he admits that running a restaurant is no easy feat. “For one thing, the hours are long and the work is exhausting. Secondly, catering to the diverse palates of different customers is a real challenge for me,” he says. The restaurant opens its doors at 9 am and serves customers until 11 pm, with Jacky and his brother sharing the workload across the morning, lunch, and dinner shifts.

In addition to South Asian diners, the restaurant attracts a significant number of African and local Hong Kong customers. Jacky has observed that preferences for spice levels and sauce consistency vary wildly between groups; for instance, traditional Indian and Pakistani dishes are often far too spicy for African and local diners. “Sometimes a dish has no added chilli at all, and I’ll tell the customer it isn’t spicy, but they’ll still say it’s burning their mouth. I really don’t know what to do then,” he says with a helpless laugh and a shrug. Jacky explains that fine-tuning the flavours takes time—especially with curries, where the seasoning cannot be adjusted instantly. Trying to strike a balance that satisfies everyone’s often contradictory feedback is a constant struggle. He also noted that most local diners opt for chicken over the traditional lamb when ordering their signature Turkish kebabs, as they often find the texture of lamb too tough or dry.

Jacky first visited Chungking Mansions with friends to shop a year after arriving in the city. “Chungking Mansions is a good place; it’s convenient for eating and shopping. There are so many familiar faces and fellow countrymen running shops here, so communication is easy,” he says. He then touches upon how the atmosphere in the building has quietened in recent years, noting it isn’t as bustling as it once was. From his restaurant on the first floor, he points to the surrounding units with their metal shutters pulled down. He sighs at the sight of so many vacant shops, despite Chungking Mansions being located in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui’s tourist district. He also observes that while more tourists from the mainland are visiting, yet most simply take a few photos and leave without spending anything. With a wry smile, he says frankly: “I recognise every customer who comes in now, because they are all regulars. We rarely see a new face.”