KOTA KINABALU: While many families are having their reunion and Chinese New Year (CNY) dinners at home, some families, particularly those who have members returning from overseas, opt for a more hassle-free dinner in restaurants and hotels.
Winner Restaurant, which has been around for 40 years, has been fully booked for Chinese New Year eve since six months ago.
Supervisor Adeline Tsan said the restaurant is currently in the process of re-confirming the reservations with customers.
Many customers are still on the waiting list, while many have been rejected.
“Some regular customers complained for not calling them up. But we have too many regular customers, it is impossible to call them one by one.”
Winner Restaurant, famous for its Hakka dishes, can accommodate up to 22 tables, equivalent to 220 diners.
She added that the restaurant will be closed from the first day of Chinese New Year and will be reopened on the seventh day.
Tsan pointed out that customers who patronise the restaurant on Chinese New Year eve are mostly outstation workers who return from other places such as Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
“The families reserve at least two tables.”
In order to ease the cooking process for the chefs, the restaurant has specially compiled a list of CNY dishes for customers to choose from. Each category, including cold platter, soup, fish, prawn, chicken, duck, sea cucumber, vegetables and meat, and rice, has been narrowed down to two or three selections.
The dishes are usual dishes, but had been given CNY-related names which are meant to bring fortune or happiness.
Meanwhile, president of the Sabah Restaurant Fellowship Association Kapitan, Lim Vun Chan, said more people eat out during CNY.
Lim, who is also the chief executive officer at Port View Seafood Village Sdn Bhd, said diners are mostly tourists from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.
However, he pointed out that the crowd this year would be fewer as many chartered flights are not allowed to enter Sabah, thus causing a drop of several thousand tourists.
As for locals, Lim pointed out that some would eat out on CNY eve but for the next few days, the locals usually attend open house gatherings.
Most diners will order seafood in his restaurant, Lim said, adding that there is no specified CNY dishes that are popular.
Nonetheless, Yee Sang (a combination of raw fish, shredded vegetables and plum sauce), remains a popular dish among Malaysian and Singaporean diners.
On the other hand, the food and beverage director of Promenade Hotel, Alexander Wong, said the hotel sees quite a number of local families dining on CNY eve and during CNY.
Promenade’s Chinese restaurant Dynasty is said to be fully reserved on CNY eve, while Promenade Cafe also received many reservations as Yee Sang is also served in the buffet section.
In addition, the hotel offers dim sum as breakfast during Chinese New Year, which is popular among families.
“On the first day of Chinese New Year the families usually come in a bit late, so we open till 2.30pm. On the second and third day it will be very busy.”
Wong added that there would be quite a number of diners who return from overseas or other towns.
“Mostly they (the diners) are families, who occupy two to three tables.
“Some are in-house guests but they are minimal.”
Wong also said customers prefer ordering from the a la carte menu rather than the set menu as they want more flexibility in choosing their dishes. The set meals are priced at RM 388++ for five to six pax and RM 788++ for 10 pax.
The popular dishes during Chinese New Year include Yee Sang, oyster, steam fish and chicken. The price of Yee Sang ranges from RM38 to RM98 depending on the size and ingredients.
Meanwhile, a Chinese daily in Peninsular Malaysia reported that the number of reservations for company dinners before the Chinese New Year period is down for most restaurants this year due to price hike.
The daily quoted Selangor Restaurant Keeper’s Association president Lum Tuck Loy as saying that in previous years, some restaurants even set up makeshift canopies to add additional tables to cater to the huge number of reservations.
“However, due to inflation, many countries are facing the same problem as the cost is too high now.
“Previously, even non air-conditioned areas were fully booked a month before Chinese New Year but this year, walk-in customers can still get very good seats,” he said.
Lum said many companies were cutting their budgets for these dinners and going for the cheapest package.
“There are also companies which are opting for non-peak seasons to hold such dinners,” he said.
Lum added many restaurants are now focusing on the New Year’s eve reunion dinner and hoped that it would generate more profit for them.
The daily said some restaurants were also having promotions like free wine to attract diners.