This Tsim Sha Tsui Japanese Eatery Turns Into a Bar by Night, Where Kosa Law Uses Low-ABV Cocktails to Turn Grown-Ups Back Into Kids

At half past nine at night, a Japanese restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui known for its home-style cooking wraps up dinner service and swaps in party hats, stickers, and Kidult-themed posters, instantly flipping the walls into '90s mode. This is bartender Kosa Law's new outpost, borrowing Grandmama Cafe's space every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. By day, the place serves slow-braised beef tongue, chicken liver terrine with baguette, and honey soy-glazed grilled corn; by night, it turns into a tiny bar with just ten cocktails on the menu.

"We wanted to build a space where people could escape reality for a bit," says Kosa. The bartender, who also runs a cocktail-focused content channel online, describes Kidult as a place that gives guests "one night to feel young again," with the alcohol content deliberately kept low. "I love to play, but I also have to deal with reality — like a lot of Hongkongers, I have to work. Growing up is a responsibility, but staying a little tipsy inside, keeping that kid mentality, that's your right."

The menu splits into four Tap Cocktails and six Signatures, all low-ABV. The four Tap Cocktails draw straight from Kosa's childhood memories: Bit Boy, a gin-based drink with lychee syrup and mangosteen juice, comes with a playable Game Boy on the side; Baby Flame, made with vodka, peach syrup, sea buckthorn juice, and Chinese chili powder, comes with a Charizard magnet. The other two are themed around Sailor Moon and Sun Wukong, rounding out a bright foursome. "The whole point of going low-alcohol is so you don't wake up hungover and can go to work with a clear head the next day," Kosa jokes, adding that "Hong Kong as a city is actually pretty open to trying low-alcohol drinks."

The six Signatures lean into local flavor memory instead. The Mala Sour, made with tequila, Aperol, and pepper spices, takes its cue from Tam Jai Rice Noodles' spice-level system — its Chinese name literally translates to "extra mild spicy." The Coconut Chicken Martini brings the savory broth flavor of Hong Kong-style coconut chicken hot pot into a dirty martini. Oolong tea paired with VSOP becomes Crazy Love, while green tea and pandan blend with whisky to form the Sticky Ricevardier.

Kosa is paired with business partner Alex Ng, who previously handled cocktail menus and team management at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, and Quinary — experience largely rooted on Hong Kong Island. This is Kosa's second bar, and her first venture into Kowloon; she previously bartended at ohm… cafe and bar. Choosing Tsim Sha Tsui wasn't part of some calculated market strategy: "I didn't really have a plan — a friend [who runs Grandmama Cafe] said we had this space and could work together. We didn't really compare a lot of locations, maybe Central, maybe Tsim Sha Tsui, and it ended up here purely by chance."

It's unusual to find a bar in Tsim Sha Tsui outside of a hotel, but Kosa points to a wave of independent bars — Niwas, Arka, Kowloon Walled City, Draft Land, and See You Tomorrow — that have moved into the neighborhood in recent years. "This area might become a good spot for bar hopping down the line," she says. For now, Kidult only opens three nights a week on weekends. "It fills up easily, but if we want to add more operating days going forward, that'll be a new challenge."

Kidult currently operates only from Friday to Sunday nights after 9:30pm, at the same address as Grandmama Cafe. Pricing and reservation details have not been made public.