In any case, DB was never likely to be a dining choice for anyone other than the people who call the development home.

'How on earth are they going to get people back in there?' asked one Discovery Bay resident, who has sat once too often under the extractor fan that blows fumes over the Waterside Inn's terrace.

Who knows? For now, no one is keen to take responsibility for a brown and unpleasant restaurant which attracts one table - ours - on a Thursday night.

Meanwhile, outside Chateau 7-Eleven is a buzzing mass of summer-timers gathering around the free tables with their take-out coffee and supermarket beers.

'Why should we pay $35 for a beer when we can buy one at the supermarket for $6 and sit out here,' says one.

The operators most bullish about eating in DB are Russell Frederickson, the owner of Uncle Russ, and Francis Chow, the new owner of Chilli N Spice.

Frederickson is currently watching the ink dry on plans for his new Stars Cafe in the spot ice-cream merchant Movenpick has vacated. The cafe is scheduled to open next month.

Meanwhile, Chow, who also owns Spanish restaurant El Cid in Kowloon and the Parrot chain of bars, is making plans for another outlet in Discovery Bay when a space becomes available.

The key to success in Disco Bay is simplicity, Frederickson says. The Stars Cafe will serve sandwiches, salads, ice-cream and soft drinks. Take-out will form the backbone of the business, but there will be a few seats.

'Discovery Bay is a very good market if you have a good quality product, reasonable prices and clean friendly service,' Frederickson says. 'I think anywhere is a good market if you do the basics well.' The basics he hopes to do well are about five sandwich and five salad selections. Ice-cream will be by Haagen-Dazs.

'If people think they're getting value, they don't mind eating at the same place often,' Frederickson says.

His Uncle Russ outlet sells between 500 and 550 cups of coffee on weekdays and around 700 cups at weekends.

'It's not true that there is no daytime business,' he says. 'There is a pent-up demand out there if you've got the right thing to offer. Our coffee business trades all day and into the evening.' Other restaurants have drummed up lunches for $30 - not much more than a cup of Uncle Russ gourmet coffee - in a bid to attract midday custom.

Chilli N Spice offers a range of lunches, from Thai sweet and sour pork to sauteed chicken with bamboo shoots and chilli for $30, including soup of the day and steamed rice. The restaurant, which was revamped last year, serves between 50 and 80 people at lunch. It's the weekend dinner trade, plus parties and outside catering, that keeps it going.

'It's mostly people who live in Discovery Bay that come here,' says restaurant manager William Kwok. But owner Chow believes there is enough business to keep his restaurant and another one going. 'And make money, too,' says the group's manager, Anna Chow. Right now, the competition consists of the Waterside Inn, Jo Jo Indian and Chilli N Spice plus McDonald's, European take-away Ebeneezer's, an Italian take-away, Cajun's fried chicken take-out, Bodit Bakery, and the Discovery Bay Seafood Restaurant.

Korean restaurant Seoul Garden is being renovated. The members-only resident's club also houses several restaurants.

If restaurants in the development are finding times tough, they need not fear further competition. Developer and management company Hong Kong Resorts says all the spaces designed for restaurants are filled.

But restaurant owners and managers are still wary. 'People who live there don't expect to pay the same prices as in Central,' said a restaurateur who once investigated opportunities in DB. 'Yet it costs a fortune to get stuff there. Freight charges for one year can be $200,000 . . . They want the sophistication of Central but no one wants to pay for it.'