Gage Street

Gage Street is a short, lively street that starts at the intersection of Cochrane Street and Lyndhurst Terrace, and ends at Aberdeen Street. The street was named after Sir William Gage, an admiral in the Royal Navy who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars.

The Gage Street street sign at the intersection of Cochrane Street and Lyndhurst Terrace.

The street is lined with an assortment of noodle shops, meat markets and fresh fruit and vegetable stalls. There are also quite a few open air cafe-style restaurants along the street, known to locals as dai-pai-dongs. Dai-pai-dongs are an essential part of Hong Kong’s culture, but are dying out, as the Food and Hygiene Department of Hong Kong are not issuing any more new dai-pai-dong licenses, and also because rental fees in Hong Kong are increasing rapidly.

Lan Fong Yuen – one of the better known dai-pai-dongs in Gage Street. Credits to “Gourmet Traveller 88”.

It is also a shopping hotspot for locals who live around the area. Local shoppers go to the street’s markets on a daily basis to buy their daily groceries. The Park N’ Shop at the top end of the street seemed relatively out of business compared to the bustling fruit, vegetable and meat stalls!

Stall selling fresh cuts of pork.

Shopkeeper preparing vegetables for sale.

Gage Street is also home to many critically-acclaimed local restaurants. One of them is Dragon Restaurant, a restaurant that specializes in barbecued meats. Anthony Bourdain visited the restaurant while on his Hong Kong tour, and after tasting the suckling pig, remarked that “This is as close to God as you’re going to get”.

A variety of different “char siu” (barbecued meat) for sale.

To sum up, Gage Street is definitely a piece of well-preserved history within a modern, sophisticated metropolis. Having already operated for over a hundred years, it is still a vibrant and lively street.