{"id":71258,"date":"2026-07-24T11:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T03:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=71258"},"modified":"2026-07-24T11:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T03:11:12","slug":"inside-hong-kongs-listening-bars-which-balance-a-love-of-vinyl-with-culinary-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=71258","title":{"rendered":"Inside Hong Kong\u2019s listening bars, which balance a love of vinyl with culinary culture"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Kung Chi-shing adjusts the needle on a Lionel Hampton vinyl, and suddenly a gentle vibraphone rings out over the chatter of afternoon cafe-goers at Coda, a 520 sq ft space in Sai Ying Pun.<\/p>\n

Coda is one of a new clutch of listening bars, where quiet appreciation of music is intended to take priority over highly refined drinks and conversation. The concept has a long history in Japan<\/span> but has recently spread worldwide, reaching hip neighbourhoods in New York, London, Berlin and beyond. So far so cool, but for all the \u201cromance\u201d of the vinyl revival<\/span>, the listening bar model demands significant concessions. The most fundamental tension is between atmosphere and revenue. A listening environment requires relative silence; a profitable bar requires conversation and consumption. The two do not always coexist peacefully.<\/div>\n
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\"Vinyl<\/div>
Vinyl on display at Coda. Photo: Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Kung learned this the hard way. He tried playing a Beethoven vinyl at Coda. \u201cPeople talked so loudly,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI printed a sign asking people to speak more quietly, but eventually I stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n

He now sticks to jazz \u2013 a genre that\u2019s historically paired with conversation, smoking and drinking \u2013 a compromise he has made his peace with.<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, like the purist Japanese versions, at Coda, music is the protagonist. Everything else \u2013 simple salads, croissants, wines \u2013 plays second fiddle.<\/p>\n

Vintage Technics speakers and a turntable welcome you at the door. They sit opposite a wall of vinyl records that customers are encouraged to browse on their own, as a deliberate gesture towards a \u201ccommunal\u201d listening experience. \u201cA customer stashes his collection here, fresh every other week,\u201d Kung says, gesturing to the shelves. \u201cHe\u2019s basically our biggest supplier \u2013 as if we could afford to buy new records ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Coda<\/div>
Coda sometimes hosts jazz performances and cultural events. Photo: Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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Kung Chi-shing adjusts the needle on a Lionel Hampton vinyl, and suddenly a gentle vibraphone rings out over the chatter of afternoon cafe-goers at Coda,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":71259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[598,722,5338,1332,3569,5010,9336,772,17267],"class_list":["post-71258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-balance","tag-bars","tag-culinary","tag-culture","tag-hong","tag-kongs","tag-listening","tag-love","tag-vinyl","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=71258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/71259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=71258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=71258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=71258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}