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Tuesday, August 11, 2020, 16:58
Outside the box
By Peter Liang
Tuesday, August 11, 2020, 16:58 By Peter Liang

In past weeks, Hong Kong people have been hearing a lot about the plight of the catering industry. That’s not surprising given the severity of the social distancing measures to contain the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

What’s surprising is that the restaurant owners, who were known for their innovation in adapting to changing consumer tastes, are now appearing so helpless. In addition to moaning and groaning incessantly, they are asking for more government handouts to the tune of HK$8 billion to help them tide over the crisis.

It’s hope that the money can help them last till the market returns to normal when the pandemic either dies down as SARS did in 2003, or an effective vaccine is found. What they refuse to accept is that things are not going to return to “normal” in the post-COVID-19 era.

Consumers who have learned to adapt to the lockdown by cooking at home or order take-outs from the various food delivery service providers are not going to accept the ridiculous proposition of the old days when a large chunk of the money they paid to eat at restaurants went to the landlords rather than the food and services they expected.

Some restaurant owners said that it was hard for them to provide takeaways for Chinese cuisines. They were right to some extent. Some Cantonese dinners are particularly meticulous about the speed of getting the stir fried dishes from the wok to the dinning table. 

But few modern restaurants that follow a basic routine can offer that kind of service which can only be found in cook-food stalls. In fact, the majority of Chinese dishes can be packaged for takeouts.

I’ve tried the Chinese takeouts from a restaurant in my residential neighborhood. The owner assured me that they should taste the same as long as I stayed away from the delicate dishes, such as steam fish. He was right.

The owner also said that he was decided against renewing the lease on his restaurant premises after it expires. He was thinking of renting a store front to sell takeouts prepared in the back kitchen.

That sounds like the logical thing to do.


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