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Vivienne Chow

Bookings at Hong Kong's Michelin star restaurants have soared since their  status was confirmed, but they have promised not to raise prices to capitalise on their new-found culinary fame.
A spokeswoman for Hong Kong's first and only three-star restaurant, Lung King Heen at Four Seasons Hotel, said the restaurant had received more inquiries after their Michelin stars were announced in the 108-year-old culinary bible's first Hong Kong-Macau guide published on Tuesday.
'We have had more phone inquiries, but the restaurant is usually quite fully booked and we advise customers to make reservations three to five days in advance,' said the spokeswoman. 'But we will definitely not increase our prices.'
The restaurant charges HK$45 to HK$88 for dim sum.
A spokesman for two-star restaurant Bo Innovation in Wan Chai said bookings had increased by 10 per cent in just one day, and he encouraged customers to make reservations a week in advance.
The spokesman said the restaurant, which charges HK$1,280 per head for its chef's menu, would not raise prices.
A Michelin star has also brightened business prospects at Fook Lam Moon,  a Chinese restaurant best known for being the 'tycoon's canteen'.
'Our bookings are up by a third,' said a restaurant spokesman.
'We have had regular customers calling us to congratulate us. But no matter what, we will definitely not increase our prices - would anyone dare increase prices during such an economy?'
Tasty Congee & Noodle Wantun Shop  at the IFC, which got a special mention in the Bib Gourmand section of the guide, said it also saw more customers yesterday. A shop spokesman said that it had no plans to put up prices.
Hong Kong now features one three-star restaurant, seven two-star and 14 one-star restaurants in the guide. Twenty-four restaurants made it to the Bib Gourmand section, which recommends restaurants that serve a three-course meal priced at not more than HK$300.
The guide sent a team of more than 20 inspectors, including two Chinese, to dine anonymously at over 1,000 outlets in Hong Kong and Macau.
The first edition of the guide featured 169 restaurants from Hong Kong and 33 restaurants from Macau, including four with one star, one with two stars, and one with three stars, French restaurant Robuchon a Galera.
But the Michelin standard also attracted controversy. Simon Wong Ka-wo,  president of the  Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, said the guide was a commercial activity, and a guide judged by foreigners had no representation of Hong Kong's dining culture.



Michelin stars boost bookings - but not prices, eateries say