The global Covid-19 pandemic has everyone staying home and pausing on all “normal” activities and the F&B industry isn’t excluded from this hit as they too, are forced to take a hiatus. However, some eateries aren’t as lucky to make through this “pause-mode” and have decided to cease their operations for good. This includes an iconic 84-year-old restaurant at Transfer Road in Penang, 西公園飯店 See Kong Ooi Restaurant.
西公園飯店 See Kong Ooi Restaurant serve traditional Hainanese and Hokkien home-cooked dishes has decided to closed for good as it has not been able to fend off the effects of the movement control order (MCO) on its business.
“It took me a lot of courage to make the decision to wind down the business, ” said architect-turned-chef Peter Tan, 47, a third-generation member of the Tan family running the show here. The restaurant which has been closed since the beginning of the MCO in March as he felt customers usually dine in as the food are tastier when served hot, thus he did not want to provide take-away or delivery services through the period.
“Many of our customers used to come for the authentic taste, in addition to the nostalgia and ambience of this old building, ” he said.
The name See Kong Ooi was derived from that of a lake in China and the restaurant was started by Tan’s grandfather, Tan Kong Chye, an immigrant from Fuzhou, China, serving only breakfast 1936 before venturing into selling porridge and economy rice in the 1970s. From there, the restaurant evolved to serve authentic Hokkien and Hainanese home-cooked dishes until today.
However, according to their Facebook Page postings on May 27, the restaurant will be closing down for now after 84-years in operation but hinted it might return again and it also thanked all those who have supported their business over the years.
In a report by The Star Online, Foochow Coffee Shops Owners Federation vice-president Toon Koon Ku said more than 40% of his members had halted their business temporarily as they were unsure how to comply with the MCO standard operating procedure and did not want to take the risk.
“If the situation continues, many coffeeshops will not be able to afford the high costs and they would probably cease business for good, ” he said yesterday.
