Cantonese restaurant

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Cantonese restaurant

A seafood restaurant in Sai Kung, Hong Kong
Traditional Chinese: 茶樓
Simplified Chinese: 茶楼
Literal meaning: tea house
alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese: 酒樓
Simplified Chinese: 酒楼
Literal meaning: wine house

A Cantonese restaurant is a type of Chinese restaurant that originated from Guangzhou, China. This style of restaurant soon flourished in Hong Kong.

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[edit] History

Some of the earliest restaurants in Colonial Hong Kong were influenced by Cantonese people.[1] Through out the history of Hong Kong cuisine, a great deal of Southern China's diet became synonymous with Cantonese style food.

As many Cantonese people, including chefs, emigrated from Hong Kong to the Western world, authentic Cantonese restaurants began appearing in many Chinatowns overseas. From 1980 to 1986, an estimated 21,000 left Hong Kong permanently each year. Beginning in 1987 the numbers rose sharply to 48,000 people a year.[2]

Many Chinese restaurants in the United Kingdom are actually Cantonese take-out restaurants with few people recognising the difference between Cantonese and mainstream Chinese.

[edit] Restaurant types

Typically in the afternoon, dim sum are served during yum cha hour. A few Cantonese dishes may be available. In the evening, various Chinese banquets of Cantonese cuisine are held in the restaurant.

There are two main types of Cantonese restaurant.

  • chaa lau (茶樓), literally tea house, is a place serving only tea and dim sum.
  • jau lau (酒樓), literally wine house, is a place serving banquets. From the early 20th century, jau lau started providing tea and dim sum like cha lau. Thus only a few caa lau remain in business.

Others.

  • Seafood jau ga (海鮮酒家), are restaurants that sometimes specialize into more seafood dishes.

[edit] Business

Nearly all the Cantonese restaurants provide yum cha, dim sum, dishes, and banquets with their business varying between the hour of the day. Some restaurants try to stand out by becoming more specialised (focusing on hot pot dishes or seafood, for example), while others offer dishes from other Chinese cuisines such as Szechuan, Shanghai, Fujian (Teochew cooking, a regional variation of Guangzhou is similar to that of Fujian), Hakka, and many others.

A new kind of Cantonese restaurants are quickly spreading overseas and mainland China. It is often referred as Hong Kong-style zau lau (香港式酒樓) outside Hong Kong.

[edit] Notable restaurants

  • Jumbo Floating Restaurant
  • Lin Heung (蓮香樓)
  • Lung Mun (龍門大酒樓)
  • Maxim's (美心大酒樓)
  • A & J Chinese Restaurant (Pottsville, NSW, Australia)
  • Landmark Restaurant (Sunnybank, QLD, Australia)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Wiltshire, Trea. [First published 1987] (republished & reduced 2003). Old Hong Kong - Volume One. Central, Hong Kong: Text Form Asia books Ltd. ISBN Volume One 962-7283-59-2
  2. ^ Manion, Melanie. [2004](2004). Corruption by Design: Building Clean Government in Mainland China and Hong Kong. Harvard University press. ISBN 0674014863
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