Since 1997

Our Story

A mum who would not let go. A daughter who came home. A city that showed up.

1997

Sophie opens the doors

Sophie Li came to Edinburgh on a spouse visa while her husband studied his PhD, working in Chinese restaurants to support the family. In 1997, the same year her daughter was born, she opened China Star on West Maitland Street.

30 years on

The room goes quiet

Regulars aged, rugby night rushes overwhelmed an understaffed room, and sit in trade faded while takeaway kept the lights on. Sophie kept working 16 hour days into her seventies and stopped taking a wage. Retirement was on the table. Selling was on the table. She did not want to let it go.

April 2026

Lisa comes home

Lisa He, Sophie daughter, is an actor and part time paralegal living in London with a part in the upcoming Harry Potter audiobooks. She came back for the Easter break planning a one month project: tame a 300 dish menu spread across lunch, evening, takeaway and a hidden menu for Chinese students, and find a till system so orders stop being translated into Chinese by hand.

Then she posted on TikTok: my mum Chinese restaurant is dying and I have three months to save it. The first video passed 890,000 views, the story has since passed 14 million, and influencers from across the country started showing up. A one month trip became a full rescue, and the kitchen grew to three full time staff.

Her own verdict travels with the hype: virality gets attention but it does not fix broken businesses. The fix list is gloriously unglamorous, menu first or till first, staffing, and slowly modernising while keeping the Cantonese soul. Dream specials include Irn Bru sweet and sour chicken and haggis spring rolls.

Read and watch

Press and socials

This is an unofficial demo concept built to show what a proper front door for China Star could look like. The live restaurant, its ordering, and its socials all belong to the family.

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