Why budget-friendly ‘2-dish-rice’ shops are feeling the pinch in Hong Kong

Inside the cramped premises of Hong Kong Family Food, a two-dish-rice restaurant in Causeway Bay, 59-year-old Lo Hung-wan toils away serving up takeaway meals for her customers.

“It is very busy during the lunch rush; I won’t even bother to answer the phone during this period,” said Lo, one of the restaurant’s operators. “During those couple of hours, it feels like we are fighting a war.”

Two-dish rice is a type of meal that allows diners to select two pre-cooked main dishes of their choice accompanied by a generous serving of rice – all for around HK$30 (US$3.70) or more.

The format became popular in Hong Kong during the Covid-19 pandemic when many residents turned to the cheaper takeaway option after the government banned restaurant dining after 6pm for more than four months.

Industry insiders estimate that the number of such eateries has mushroomed from around 300 during the pandemic to roughly 1,000 in the city now, ramping up competition among them.

Hong Kong Family Food, which downsized from a pandemic peak of three branches to only one, knows this all too well.

Lo said that increased competition from other two-dish-rice restaurants was one of the reasons they closed their branches, along with changing consumption patterns and rising costs.

  

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