About Kuiben Kitchen & Bar

The host

Keqi

Home cook, cocktail maker, and the person behind every dish on this menu.

Growing up, my family introduced me to a wide variety of foods and cuisines — and that curiosity never left. I've always been a foodie with a simple rule: try anything once. I believe every meal should be colorful, because color means variety, variety means ingredients, and a plate with only one or two tones is a plate playing it too safe.

I started cooking when I studied abroad in 2010, far from home and forced to figure it out. Over the years, with friends and family willing to taste and test alongside me, the cooking kept growing. In 2025, I got my bartender certificate — because a great meal deserves a great drink to go with it.

The kitchen

亏本

Kuiben — doing business at a loss

In Chinese, 亏本 means spending more than you earn — giving more than makes financial sense. That's exactly what happens every time friends come over. The good ingredients come out, the portions are never small, and no one leaves hungry.

The name started as a joke. Friends teased that Keqi was running a 亏本 kitchen and bar — no real restaurant could survive these margins. But it stuck, because it perfectly captures what this is about. Not a restaurant. Just a home, good food, and the people you love.

The philosophy

This menu is a living collection of everything that comes out of the Kuiben kitchen — food, cocktails, desserts, and whatever else is being experimented with at the moment. It started as an idea to create an online menu for friends. But now it's something bigger — a way to share inspiration through food, and a reminder that passion for life often starts at the table.

If something catches your eye, save it to your wishlist or request the recipe. Every dish has been made with real care, served to real people, and is absolutely worth every penny of the loss.

Browse the Menu