RESTAURATEURS are seeing zero reservations for the customary year-end office and family gatherings because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This period is usually a peak time for them with employers hosting dinners for their employees as a show of appreciation of their hard work, they said.

It is not the case this year though, with restaurants now banking on Chinese New Year bookings which have started to come in.

Penang Island Koo Soo Kwong Choon Tong Restaurants’ and Coffee Shops’ Association president Vinah Yee said Chinese restaurants would have been packed if it were any other year, but they are now only receiving bookings for family gatherings.

She said it would get so busy in past years that reservations would usually be full for dinner time.

This year, she said, there is no such rush in business.

Koo Soo San Yuen Guild Taiping chairman Law Eu Wei told The Malaysian Insight that business has been slow for Chinese restaurants in Taiping as well.

Restaurants would typically receive bookings a month in advance but they have only received enquiries about prices and dishes, said Law.

“The prices for year-end feasts this year are not the same as past years, there will be a drop of 20% to 30%.

“There’s also the need to follow standard operating procedure, such as seating only six people at one table compared to 10 before.

“This reduces the orders from 10 to six people. There will still be fish and prawn dishes, but it will likely be a six-course meal instead of the usual seven courses,” he said.

Banquet halls hit hard

Loon Sing Group managing director Shi Wen Kang said for the past two years, the trend has been for companies to hold their usual year-end feasts during the Chinese New Year instead. He believed it would be the same for this year, too.

“We are mentally prepared for this. Year-end feasts are getting harder to do because of the pandemic.

“Every day we have to check whether the case numbers are still in the four digits, I think companies are also having a wait-and-see approach,” he said.

“Some customers have even asked if the conditional movement-control order will still be in place in January. How do I answer that?”

Loon Sing Group has restaurants in Johor, Negri Sembilan, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. Shi said 2020 had been a tough year for the company and if the situation persists, the group will have to restructure.

“We cannot keep dumping money into it, and we have no choice but to downsize or to move to malls to continue operations,” he said.

Malaysia Koo Soo Restaurants’ and Chefs’ Association president Wong Teu Hoon said restaurant are now looking forward to the Chinese New Year celebrations to turn their business around but that it is also dependent on Covid-19.

He said restaurant business will rebound but banquet halls will still be paying rent while having near zero income due to restrictions against large gatherings.

Wong said according to the Covid-19 SOP, halls can only house a maximum of 100 tables, with each table seating only six, making weddings all but impossible.

These businesses were hoping for year-end feasts but that too fell through.

“There’s no more hope for any kind of business for banquet halls for 2020. With the CMCO plus the recent alcohol restrictions, it’s like watching money turn into water. They can only wait for next year, maybe there’s still hope then.”

Wong said restaurants in Malacca have seen some bookings for year-end feasts, with his own restaurant receiving two bookings.

However, he said, restaurants are in a dilemma as they desperately needed the business but also worried about Covid-19. If even one customer contracts the virus, Wong said, then it will nevertheless affect the restaurant as well. – December 30, 2020.