MK Restaurants

The founding of MK Restaurants Co, Ltd dates back 42 years to the opening of a single Thai restaurant, named MK, in Siam Square Soi 3. Not long after the opening, the restaurant’s Hong Kong Chinese owner, Makong King Yee, the inspiration behind the name MK, moved to the United States and sold the restaurant to Mrs Tongkam Mekto in 1962. Under the leadership of Mrs Mekto, or “Aunty Tongkam” as she was known to her customers, the restaurant grew in popularity. Besides the food Aunty Tongkam’s kindness, generosity and friendliness kept new customers coming in and coming back often. The success of the first restaurant led Mrs Mekto and her family to open a second restaurant in 1984 at Central Plaza Ladprao, which was then a newly opened shopping centre. This second restaurant was named “Green MK”
Two years later Aunty Tongkam experienced the suki concept, or “Thai-style steamboat,” for the first time and soon after joined forces with her sons, daughter and son in law to establish their first suki restaurant “MK Suki” in the same shopping centre in 1986. It was then that the family also introduced the innovation of electric pots and condo plates. The suki business continued to grow steadily; a second outlet was opened and within a few years the chain grew to more than 100 outlets around the country, with many occupying prime space in department stores and superstores.
MK expanded its business overseas in 1996, partnering with entrepreneurs in each new market. Its first restaurant outside Thailand was in Japan. Today MK Restaurant Co, Ltd is one of the largest Thai-owned chain restaurant businesses with more than 400 outlets nationwide plus more than 30 outlets in Japan. To better reflect the expanded product offerings available at its restaurants the company recently changed the name of its restaurants from MK Suki to MK Restaurants.