The Food and Beverage industry was hit hard during Hong Kong’s fifth wave of COVID, which came with some of the world’s stringent regulations and social distancing measures.
Aside from the dine-in ban after 6 pm and mandatory use of the LeaveHomeSafe app, individuals must have at least one dose of a government-approved COVID-19 vaccine. However, the most hard-hitting regulation is the two-person rule, meaning that no establishment can seat more than two people per table.
Due to these strict prerequisites as well as the general anxiety surrounding the fifth wave, many restaurants have seen a drop in visitors and consequently revenue. Even after they offer attractive takeaway discounts to customers, it is still not able to compensate for their losses.
However, restaurant owners are standing strong. They receive support from the community and their regular customers are willing to help them to get through this tough time.
Here are some businesses you can support during the fifth wave of the pandemic in Hong Kong, either by ordering takeout, or taking precautions and dining in.
1. Bijas
Bijas is a Buddhist restaurant and buffet located on the HKU campus.
They offer a wide and healthy selection of cooked vegetables and dim sum throughout the day, alongside fresh drinks, daily soup, rice, and tea.
The restaurant also has a set menu during tea time (from 2 pm to 4 pm), where one can select various dim sum items for as little as HK$30!
Recently, Bijas introduced a ‘DIY Veggie Combo’ allowing customers to select a noodle and soup base, as well as additional items to top their bowl with, all for HK$36.
Bijas is an affordable establishment with a soothing and welcoming ambience – it is certainly a great place to visit for a healthy and delicious meal!
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2. Veggie4Love
Veggie4Love is a unique restaurant in Central with an extensive menu offering Vietnamese, Singaporean, Korean, and Indonesian style dishes as well as American classics. It is decorated in a retro fashion and radiates a calming yet funky atmosphere, transporting the customers to a 50’s diner in San Francisco.
The restaurant takes on a healthy approach to veganism and offers drinks and dishes with reduced sugar contentment by 50%; Veggie4Love wants to promote a plant-based diet through cleaner and guilt-free alternatives to classic dishes.
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3. Paradise Veggie
Paradise Veggie is a buffet heaven located in Causeway Bay.
The restaurant knows how to appease its visitors by offering cruelty-free versions of local Cantonese dishes, popular street food, and other delicacies! From veggie dumplings and bao buns, vegetarian char siu and octopus balls, to ‘salmon’ sushi and California rolls.
This is a must-try restaurant if you are looking to surprise and impress your friends!
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4. Three Virtues
This is a local restaurant with a takeaway stall located in North Point.
Three Virtues offers an extensive vegetarian dim sum menu (with an array of vegan options) which is available in the early morning until tea-time.
The restaurant will surprise you with the shrimp rice rolls that look very alike to the real shrimp, char siu buns, xialongbao and many more of Hong Kong’s classics.
For dinner – now available only for takeout – Three Virtues presents an entirely different menu, full of guilt-free and delicious items such as vegetarian seafood rolls with mango, pan-fried seaweed pancake, minced vegetarian meat with lettuce wrapping.
With a soothing atmosphere and an attractive menu, Three Virtues is a restaurant that should not be excluded from your go-to list!
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5. Woodlands Indian Vegetarian Restaurant
Woodlands is a restaurant in TST offering Indian cuisine.
They have gained popularity due to their gigantic and Instagram-worthy Paper Masala Dosa, which is certainly worth trying out!
It was also the first Indian Vegetarian restaurant to open in Hong Kong and has been operating since 1981.
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