Entering the sixth year of operating Baked in Hong Kong, founder Zahir Mohamed is sharing his lekker meals with more locals and beyond in Asia and Europe
Zahir Mohamed doesn’t care about playing the food PR game in Hong Kong. The Egyptian-born South African rarely takes interviews and relies on word of mouth when it comes to marketing his food, which he says evidently speaks for itself.
At Baked, an all-day-dining chain he has operated in Hong Kong since late 2018, Zahir wants you stuffed on his lekker dishes, a South African term for tasty food. “We fill you up [at Baked],” he says. “You’ll feel like, oh f*ck, I ate!”
Joining Zahir in the newest of three Baked locations in Kennedy Town, the sprouting of his Baked empire is obvious, marking a precipice where his North and South African-inspired food is becoming synonymous with Hong Kong’s dining scene.
Frequent diners at Baked are familiar with the snarkily titled sourdough, pita, burger, brunch, and pasta plates – Oh My God, Going L-A-M-B, Yogivasana, Hipsters Say Hello, F*ck Lettuce, and Baby, and I’m Hungry and Hungover. The spices are heavy, carbs strong, meat rich, and servings packed for a meal that is equally nourishing as it is filling.
Zahir’s humble Hong Kong beginning came in 2016 when the chef left South Africa after a tireless spell operating restaurants, bars, and bakeries in Cape Town. With a tourist visa stamped in his passport, the baker-chef wanted Hong Kongers to savour the hearty-carby-meaty plates made famous at his former Baked Bistro in beachside Cape Town.
“I had HKD50,000, my bags, and my sourdough starter when I arrived,” Zahir recalls. “From the off, it was a survival of the fittest. The main objective for me was to build a strong life for myself.”
Just like his Hong Kong story, his family history speaks of surviving and thriving. Born in Egypt, he immigrated to South Africa with his grandparents, who set up a coal mine. Indifferent to manual labour, Zahir wanted to build his own vision for a successful food business.
Playing on his love for baking – in both namesake and business model – restarting Baked in Hong Kong came as an embrace of his identity: big-portioned sourdough and pita plates taking inspiration from his connections to Egypt, South Africa, Paris, and Bologna. “Baked is robust food; it is the flavours of my upbringing and my early career.”
Baked began as a small dozen-seater hole-in-the-wall on Elgin Street in Soho in 2017, before opening a second location on Queen’s Road East in Wan Chai in September 2022.
The staples from Zahir’s Cape Town restaurant – Gravy Train, Bakoven, baked eggs and brioche, and avo toast – exist and thrive in their new Hong Kong environment. Hong Kongers cannot get enough of the lekker food packed with spice, meat, sauces, and bready carbs.
The menu production at Baked is more an art than science, Zahir says. “[Our food] is a balance of different components feeding different nutrients for your body. It is carb focused, but has always been about great flavour and texture.”
“This fusion of North African and South African food, nobody is doing it here.”
In mid February and early March, Zahir opened his all-day-dining Baked locations in Tai Hang and Kennedy Town, respectively, a rapid expansion that might sound risky, but Zahir disagrees. “We catch the opportunities to open in the right time and right place. We’ve been lucky to open when and where we have, making execution effective.”
Baked is not a cookie-cutter franchise; that would kill the essence of the chain, Zahir states. Each location caters to the hungry needs of each neighbourhood. Baked Tai Hang takes an Italian twist from Zahir’s days in Bologna cooking with his “adopted grandma”, serving eggy breakfast options and pasta for dinner. The Tai Hang neighbourhood adores smaller, independent restaurants.
The latest Baked restaurant, located on Kennedy Town’s waterfront, takes over the mega-space from the now-closed GRAIN. It is Zahir’s biggest project yet: the restaurant holds 180 seats, a bakery, beer-brewing facilities, and a sizeable kitchen pumping out plates from 8AM till midnight. Opening a store in Kennedy Town is a no-brainer, Zahir points out.
“I like to work behind the scenes,” Zahir replies when asked about his role with Baked in 2024, the biggest year for the business. “This year is the restaurant year, next year is the retail year. Throughout my career I’d like to build a legacy that would last in my family for generations to come after me. Whatever you set for yourself, coming from nothing, you can do it.”
Hong Kong can now feed on Baked’s spiced and seasoned plates in Wan Chai, Tai Hang, and Kennedy Town, with movement shaking up abroad. “We are opening up a location in London in late 2024 to help feed talent to our global chain and work in Seoul [starts] early next year. [Seoul has a] culture that I am intrigued by, and I want to immerse myself in Korea.”
The Baked empire doesn’t stop there. Locally, Zahir’s Egyptian restaurant ACME will be reopening in a high-end Central location alongside Yung & Lazy rooftop bar in July 2024. Chunkees, a fast-food burger spot, and peri-peri chicken shop Head Honcho will be joining Baked in Kennedy Town later in summer 2024.
To feed off the virality of his recipes, Zahir will be launching a cookbook of Baked classics at the end of this year, featuring 50 recipes focusing on sourdough and charting the journey of how Baked started in Hong Kong.
Head to Baked’s Instagram to feed your gut and soul with their spicy, carby, meaty, and eggy plates in Wan Chai, Tai Hang, and Kennedy Town.
