The restaurant was famous for its cold ginger chicken and beggar's chicken, the latter created by original chef Dai Hoy Chang, requiring the diner or the server to hammer the baked entree, wrapped in lotus leaves and encased in clay, with a mallet before serving and eating.

"The restaurant has been challenged for many years with low demand and the closure is a business-based decision," said Noel Trainor, HIlton general manager, in a statement.

Thirty-one employees will be affected, said Trainor. Because of vacancies in various departments of the hotel — from food and beverage to front office, from administrative to housekeeping departments — the hotel's human resources team and managers will offer training for those who opt to remain and work in new careers.

There are no plans to fill the prime location, at water's edge next to the Bali Restaurant in the beachfront Rainbow Tower, said Trainor.