Floating restaurants appeared in the typhoon shelter shortly after World War II. The Sea Palace Floating Restaurant was sold and towed to Australia. The Tai Pak Floating Restaurant was established in 1952. On 30 October 1971, a 4-alarm fire occurred at the Jumbo Floating Restaurant before its opening which left 34 dead and 42 injured. The Jumbo Kingdom was established in October 1976 by Stanley Ho after four years and over HK$30 million were spent to design and build it. It was originally decorated in the style of an ancient Chinese imperial palace. In 2000, two tugboats brought one of the floating barges from the Aberdeen Harbour to the mouth of Manila Bay, and it was rebranded as the "Jumbo Kingdom Manila". Much of the original ancient Chinese imperial palace style renovation was retained. The Manila restaurant closed in 2008. The Jumbo Kingdom went through a major multimillion-dollar renovation in 2003. On 1 March 2020, the restaurant announced it would be closed until further notice and laid off all staff due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Attractions
Topdeck : A restaurant and bar located on the topdeck of Jumbo which serves dim sum. Topdeck opened in 2005 and was managed by Cafe Deco Group.
Dragon Court: Dragon Court is a fine dining Chinese restaurant which serves authentic and innovative Cantonese cuisine located on the first deck of Jumbo. The interior design of the restaurant is a mixture of Ming Dynasty and contemporary Chinese.
Cooking Academy: A Chinese culinary school taught by the chefs of Jumbo Kingdom.
A traditional Hong Kong-style food area is allocated at 4/F of Jumbo Kingdom, named SO-Kee Coffee Shop. Fast foods such as sandwiches, hotdogs, noodles, soft drinks, coffee & tea are provided, at lower prices.
It is shown in The Amazing Race 17, Leg 10. It has also featured on the first season of the Australian version of The Amazing Race and some openings of The Amazing Race Asia. The British miniseries Noble House shows the compound being destroyed by a fire. The video game Sleeping Dogs features a mission set in a floating restaurant based on the Jumbo Floating Restaurant in a semi-fictionalized version of Hong Kong. The Japanese anime Mister Ajikko also had few episodes using Jumbo Floating Restaurant as a scene. However, the floating restaurant appeared in Victoria Harbour in the anime, rather than Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter, the actual location of the restaurant.
