Hong Kong restaurants are looking towards Lunar New Year for a rebound in business after weak sales over the winter solstice weekend, as the city continues to reel from the Tai Po fire tragedy.
Restaurant operators said on Monday they hoped business could take off in February around the Lunar New Year holiday.
On Sunday, one Chinese-style restaurant recorded a 6 per cent drop in sales, despite a 15 per cent increase in diners for winter solstice dinners.
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“Customers have ordered less and are swapping expensive dishes with more affordable ones,” said So Man-sing, assistant general manager of London Restaurant in Mong Kok, which serves Cantonese cuisine.
“Changing from leopard coral grouper to a Sabah giant grouper could mean the difference of HK$1,000 [US$129].”
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One of the contributing factors was the deadly Tai Po fire, which dampened the desire to celebrate and diverted funds that could have gone to restaurants for relief efforts, he said. The average spending per head was HK$250 at his restaurant.