The story of Phoenix Restaurant unfolds through the lives of four women across generations, each facing love, loss, and societal pressures.

In the late Qing Dynasty, Ngai Yu Fung is forced into a loveless marriage and, after hardship, sells a love token from her first love to found the Phoenix Restaurant.

Years later, during the May Fourth Movement, her daughter Wong Chi Kwan elopes with her teacher, but the relationship falls apart. She returns to Beijing, only to find the once-thriving restaurant in decline.