Bakery Hoko is more than a Hong Kong-inspired bakery: review

Hong Kong food – while commonly tucked under the wider umbrella of Cantonese cuisine – has its own distinct identity, with unique local takes on dishes and drinks, from Hong Kong French toast (a peanut butter fried sandwich) to milk tea (with evaporated and/or condensed milk) and char siu (sticky-glazed roast pork).

Putting Hong Kong food on the map in London is Nicole Ma, co-founder of Hoko, a growing line of cafés. The Brick Lane original is inspired by a cha chaan teng (a traditional Hong Kong café) and feels at once retro and contemporary; the second concept, in Seven Dials, Hoko Wonton Noodles, dishes up plump and succulent hand-wrapped noodles; and now a third opening, Bakery Hoko on Bethnal Green Road, leans into the sweeter side of life.

Each Hoko location feels different, but all are marked by the intention to create a space that sits at the intersection of Hong Kong design and the context of London.

For Bakery Hoko, Ma worked with Justin Melican of Block One Design, who also designed Hoko’s Brick Lane café. Together they decided to focus on the material language of Hong Kong’s post-war public housing estates, which has been interpreted through a restrained brutalist lens.

‘Hong Kong’s post-war housing estates often had humble neighbourhood bakeries within them,’ says Ma. ‘So that relationship between everyday architecture and bakery culture felt very natural to us.’

She explains that they referenced visual codes such as repetition, grids, dense geometry, and very direct use of materials. However, ‘rather than recreating a Hong Kong bakery literally, the idea was to capture something of that architectural character and give it a contemporary London identity’.

She continues, ‘I shared lots of photographs and references I’d collected in Hong Kong, things I recognise instinctively as a Hong Konger, while Justin brought another perspective through materials and [knowledge of] brutalist architecture. We had plenty of friendly “battles” along the way, but that back-and-forth helped us find the balance between Hong Kong nostalgia and a contemporary London identity.’

One thing they both settled on was the bold mix of materials often found in Hong Kong, such as mosaic tiles, terrazzo, concrete and strong colours. In the bakery, this dynamic energy is seen, for example, in tiling and concrete working in harmony with Ketley brick counter, a nod to the Barbican.

Ma continues, ‘There are smaller, more personal details: our own photographs of Hong Kong housing estates, plastic bread trays, orange bakery tongs, and vintage blue melamine plates sourced by my mum. Those are probably the details that make the space feel most like home to me.’