Ordinary Gweilo

One of the great unresolved mysteries about Hong Kong restaurants is why some of them think their customers want icy blasts of cold air with their food – even in the middle of winter. Today I had lunch in a dim sum restaurant that really excelled itself in this regard – one of my colleagues was wearing a fleece jacket with the hood up and still complained that she was cold. I wasn’t wearing a coat or jacket – because oustide it was mild and quite pleasant, but inside the restaurant was another matter. The only small consolation was that by sitting back in my chair I was out of the direct line of the aircon (though I couldn’t eat my lunch either, which rather defeated the object of going there).

Apart from the discomfort, you also end up with cold food. I used to go to a small restaurant which didn’t have the normal heated trolleys for dim sum, and you could almost guarantee that most of it would be stone cold by the time you were served. Even in restaurants that do have the trolleys (or ask you to order dim sum from a menu and then bring it to you), the pressure is on to finish the food quickly before it gets cold!

Why do they do it? I can only assume that the staff, who are rushing around serving people, like it to be cooler and don’t realize that the customers, who are sitting still, find it uncomfortable. Or do they want to dissuade you from staying too long?

Whatever the reason, it really is a ridiculous waste of money and energy.