The name alone sort of catches your eye. What kind of restaurant is called tfvsjs? And what does it mean?
It turns out that it’s a mixture of Chinese and English. tf stands for 談風 (taam fung) , the “vs” stands for versus in English, and js stands for 再說, (joi shut) in Cantonese. In fact, the name belongs to the indie Canto band that owns the restaurant.
Interestingly, the band first obtained this spacious underground (basement) space near Hong Kong University because they wanted a large enough space for a band room and a recording studio. However, in order to fund it, they had to have some kind of business. Thus, a modern fusion cafe was born.
The food at tfvsjs is creative, beautiful, and fun. Chef Sean Yuen, who formerly worked at Caprice, is the mastermind behind these dishes and he’s great. We had a blast trying all of their dishes. The menu was small, and we had a large group of about 10 people, so we were able to try virtually the entire menu.
However, as it happens all too often in Hong Kong, the cafe announced in July 2019 that it was going to be closing.
The band is currently figuring out how to create version 3.0 of tfvsjs, since this restaurant concept has been in two locations already. For now, there are some pop-up collaborations, but nothing permanent.
I’m looking forward to seeing there the third reincarnation of 談風 VS 再說 will end up.
We’ll commemorate version 2.0 of this restaurant with yet another photo essay.
Enjoy!
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