Mouthing Off | A cloud hangs over new Hong Kong restaurants – staff shortages that could affect food and service quality
- There’s a rush of restaurant openings in Hong Kong, after border hold-ups because of Covid-19 delayed fixtures and fittings for the newcomers
- Restaurants may be hard pressed to maintain standards, however – many staff have left the industry and authorities are slow to grant visas to their replacements
Two steps forward, one step back – that seems to be the choreography of Hong Kong’s recovering restaurant scene.
After waves of Covid spikes and restrictions, any kind of energy is an optimistic sign. When such major players feel comfortable enough to expand and grow, light must be peeking through at the end of the tunnel.
However, some of that enthusiasm might be tempered with caution. We’ve experienced false starts before. A slight uptick in Covid-19 infections in June resulted in harried and overzealous new regulations, causing much stress – especially in the city’s Central area.
A hastily imposed (and seemingly not well thought out) rule requires bar patrons to show photographic proof of a negative RAT test, with the person’s name in addition to the date and time the test was taken – it only being valid if taken within the previous 24 hours. If this seems complicated and burdensome for customers, spare a thought for the poor door staff who have to enforce the policy.