HELLO KITTY had been a part of every little girls’ stationery collection. Now, experience dining with it.

Jordan’s Hello Kitty Chinese Cuisine lights up Hello Kitty brand through dim sums. And Hello Kitty Secret Garden offers snacks where the toasts are served with Hello Kitty decor.

WHERE DID IT ORIGINATE FROM?

Sanrio is a toy company that Shintaro Tsuji had established from a silk company. Tsuji expanded his business from silk to rubber sandals with flowers painted on them. Later on, he decided to be creative around it since great profits came just by adding simple cute decor on the sandals. This drove him into hiring cartoonists to design the sandals furthermore. In 1973, Sanrio got established. Hello Kitty was one of the first characters that Sanrio had released in 1974.

THE PRODUCT THAT KEPT SANRIO ALIVE ALL THIS TIME

Hello Kitty first appeared on a vinyl coin purse in Japan. Who would have thought that the picture of her between a bottle of milk and a goldfish bowl would earn Sanrio a unique brand?

A brand that took fame to bring the most sales to the company. In 2008, Hello Kitty is responsible for half of the $1 billion dollar revenue of Sanrio. Now, there are over 50,000 different Hello Kitty brand products in more than 60 countries.

In the beginning of 2007, Hello Kitty started to embrace more colors than pink. Recently, it embraces dark hues including the shade of black.

What’s so interesting to know is that, Hello Kitty is connected with Disney’s Alice in Wonderland!

Hello Kitty was originally designed by Yuko Shimizu. The book, “Through the Looking Glass” (that followed later by “Adventures of Alice in Wonderland”) inspired Yuko to come up with Hello Kitty’s name.

At the beginning of the story, Alice was talking to a cat named Kitty and there she named it so. In addition, Yuko had decided Hello Kitty will be British because when she was doing it, foreign influence was trendy, particularly the British influence.

In 2003, Sanrio won the “Top Brand with a Conscience” award from the Medinge Group of Sweden for its communication principles. They partnered with UNICEF for many helpful projects since 1984. Nowadays, its brand extends to stationeries, school supplies and apparel. Sanrio released Hello Kitty for it first line-up of characters and it gained following instantly.

Shortly after its creation in 1974, it was brought to the United States in just two years. Sanrio parks in Japan feature Hello Kitty as well. They have two parks to be exact.

HELLO KITTY CHINESE CUSINE IN HONG KONG

Hong Kong has its own way of embracing Hello Kitty. They have built two cafes, though it still needs licensing for taking up its name and brand. One branch is at Tai Hang and another one at Jordan.

After fetching my 3-year-old daughter from school, I told her we will visit the Hello Kitty Cafe. It was on a Monday and I thought of surprising her. Having the chance to see either one, the branch in Jordan won as the Tai Hang branch closes on Mondays. She jumped up and down out of excitement. She had been watching Hello Kitty series online so she has this certain fondness of her. And as I join sometimes, I find that these series should be continued.

HOW TO GET THERE

Located at Shop A-C, G/F, Lee Loy Mansion 332-338 Canton Road, Jordan, The Hello Kitty Chinese Cuisine is the first in the world to ever cater yum cha with Hello Kitty decorations and food presentation. It was dedicated to providing customers with natural, organic food to lead a new trend in healthy Chinese Cuisine.

As you reach Jordan MTR Station, take exit C2 and it will take you directly to Pilkem Street. Check this map out so that you can sort out which streets you have to cross and how many blocks are there before reaching Hello Kitty Chinese Cuisine. Coming from Austin MTR Station, take Exit F and you’ll reach the place in 3 minutes.

The interior of the place will pretty much take you to instant yum-cha mode. Its hues play around red, gold, rustic brown, black and white. A touch of pink surround the dim sums and the tea tasted bitterly sweet. My daughter does not drink tea but magically, she loved the one they had. We ordered the following:

Clockwise from upper left onwards: Hello Kitty Siao Mei with abalone = HK$68, Hello Kitty Hakaw = HK$68, Hello Kitty Custard Buns = HK$62.
The cuisine encourages tourists and first-time comers to make reservations during lunch and dinner time. Just call 2375 8077 or 8202 8203. Though on a Monday that we went there, it wasn’t that crowded and we got good seats. It’s open daily from 11:00am to 4:00 pm then 6:00pm to 10:00pm.

Assign your budget starting from HK$100 to HK$200 if you decide to come. You can pay through Union Pay (EPS), Visa and MasterCard credit cards. The bill includes ten percent surcharge. My own gauge on this is, it’s pricey. But their dim sum was delicious. Hear it from my 3-year-old.

Until the next dining adventure with this little one. Don’t forget to follow #TheBraveShow on Instagram!!!!