THE Verandah restaurant at the Repulse Bay Hotel is the overall champion in the non-Chinese category of the Restaurant Hygiene Competition.
General manager of the hotel John Barnes said that although the Verandah took part in the competition as a matter of course, it had an advantage over most other restaurants in Hong Kong.
''We scrub the kitchen twice a day and a team gives the restaurant and kitchen a thorough cleaning overnight, which is not the sort of thing a smaller restaurant can afford to do,'' he said.
Despite this advantage, Mr Barnes said inspectors were still very careful and thoroughly checked details such as seals on the refrigerator doors and how the food was packed in the refrigerator.
They also checked for dirt on compressor units and looked for grease under kitchen grills.
Mr Barnes considered the hygiene competition was an excellent one and increased awareness of standards, especially by the smaller operators.