TALKING SEAFOOD
Sai Kung's beautiful scenery and fresh air, beaches on isolated islands and watersport facilities bring many local and international visitors to the area. And although they come here for the hiking, swimming and activities, they often wind up their day doing something else for which Sai Kung is famous: seafood dining.
The boats temporarily moored at the waterfront, from which fishermen sell their wide array of local seafood, always attract a crowd of people. These fishermen, as Explore found out, go out early in the morning to areas around the Ninepin Group of islands and sell their catch of seafood in the afternoon. Some of the crowd are buyers but many just watch for the entertainment value. Once bought, the seafood is often taken to one of the many restaurants along the waterfront where the cooks turn your squirming seafood into a unique alfresco dining experience.
Explore conducted a small survey of four seafood restaurants and found that, following SARS in 2003, business in the area picked up. Since people were wary of travel at the time, Sai Kung Town became, and still is, one of the most popular places for weekend outings. The restaurants said that locals are the major clients now, but also that there's been an increase in the number of mainland Chinese and a decrease in Westerners.
The survey shows that the seafood business in Sai Kung is doing well but some restaurants say they have encountered a few difficulties. Firstly, some say the regulations of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) are too strict, making it hard for them to increase business and fulfill the requirements at the same time. They hope for more leniency or changes in the laws to allow for more business development but they also understand that existing policies must be observed. It is a problem that is, at the moment, unsolved.
Secondly, the restaurants say they are in a bind when it comes to the pricing of seafood dishes. They have seen rises in rents and staff salaries but need to keep the cost of lunches and dinners at a reasonably low price to ensure they don't lose any customers. Raising prices is not an option at present.
Thirdly, the flux of people coming into Sai Kung varies with the weather, which, though we would like to believe our weathermen, is notoriously unpredictable. Consequently, the restaurants experience a similar fluctuation in business that they are powerless to counteract.
In our discussions with the restaurants, Explore heard about the intense competition generating conflicts between restaurants as well as some unverified hints of unfairness in the way the government deals with them all. Better communication was suggested as a way to rectify this situation.
And, what special features of Sai Kung do our surveyed restaurants believe draw people here? They say it's the character of the town, the relaxed atmosphere, the fresh air, the beautiful scenery and the watersports. Explore wonders if perhaps, instead of simply trumpeting the seafood, greater promotion of these aspects of Sai Kung would be useful in bringing more people here, particularly on weekdays. Of course, once they're here, they'll likely be hungry, and there might just be a lot more happy faces among seafood restaurant staff and boat vendors too.