Gongfu Cafe & Bao in Ottawa, Canada, is a cosy diner with a menu featuring twists on Hong Kong-style snacks – such as French toast with rhubarb purée – along with hand-pulled milk tea and pineapple buns.
But the chef and owner is not from Hong Kong. He is not even Chinese.
Tarek Hassan is a 46-year-old Egyptian-Canadian who has only visited Hong Kong once, but fell in love with Cantonese food and culture after watching John Woo’s 1989 hit The Killer in his early teens.
“In many ways, [the film] is a love letter to Hong Kong, exploring different settings and locations and the scenes of Hong Kong,” Hassan says. “It really made me fall in love with the place.”
His passion for Cantonese food and, in particular, cha chaan tengs helped land his cafe on the Chinese Restaurant Awards’ Elite 30 Canada 2025 Top 50 Honorees list, which was unveiled in late October.
