KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24 — Restaurants are reporting bumper bookings for the coming Chinese New Year, with many saying they are already full or close to it, signalling that the last shadows of the pandemic have finally been dispelled.
In Chinese culture, the reunion dinner is one of the most significant traditions of the year, when loved ones gather to celebrate and share hopes for the future. The meal typically includes dishes with symbolism representing blessings like wealth, progress, and abundance, among others.
From family reunion dinners to companies’ year-end banquets, a representative of Law Yi Restaurant in Setapak, which specialises in Chinese cuisine, said the demand for these was finally back to the levels prior to the world-stopping events of 2020.
“Things have improved a lot from back then; I’d say it’s back to as it was before,” the spokesman said.
Rather than lower demand now, however, the person said the pressure was from rising prices.
Over at Hakka Restaurant, or popularly known as HakkaKL, the family-run restaurant has chosen not to impose a time-limit for dinners despite the high demand for tables.
Instead of restricting diners to 90 minutes — a practice that became common due to reduced seating capacity during the pandemic — a staff member said patrons were welcome to keep their tables for as long as they need.
Patrons dine at The Han Room in the Gardens Mall. — Picture by Hari Anggara
The employee who asked to be identified as Chong said the restaurant has two dinner sessions daily, one starting at 5.30pm and another at 7.30pm, with the first being indoors and air-conditioned while the second was outdoors.
“Diners, whichever slot they belong to, can stay as long as they want,” said Chong.
Hakka Restaurant will close on the first day of the Chinese New Year and reopen for dinner from the second day of Chinese New Year.
Like Law Yi, Chong said HakkaKL was also grappling with rising prices, but noted that the restaurant has not increased its own in recent years.
“Our Yee Sang is still kept at the same price, and our regulars will always order our popular signature dishes such as the roast duck, while some also prefer to custom order their set meals — they prefer to pick their own a la carte dishes,” said Chong.
Over at the Oriental Group of Restaurants, the situation was similar: most of its restaurants were at capacity for the eve of CNY and close to full for the days after.
According to chief executive officer Emily Chiam, there has been increased demand for tables on the eve this year.
Yee Sang, or Lou Sang (prosperity toss), a popular dish that is high in demand during Chinese New Year dinners. — Picture by Hari Anggara
“We also noticed an increase of bookings for the Chinese New Year eve lunch session as well.
“This may be due to families having reunions on the same day for both sides of the family. Other than that, the other popular dates during Chinse New Year such as Renri (Yan Yat or the birthday of humankind), and Chap Goh Mei are usually fully booked but bookings will usually follow right after the eve or the first two days of Chinese New Year,” said Chiam in an email interview.
This year, Chiam said there has also been more varied bookings, ranging from groups as large as 50 to as small as four.
When asked if there was a clear preference for set offers or ala carte orders, she said the two were matched.
“But that said, Yee Sang remains the most popular dish of the season for Oriental Group,” she said.
Additionally, traditional and auspicious dishes that are high in demand during Chinese New Year include braised Shajing sun-dried oyster with fatt choy, deep-fried turbot with butter egg floss, braised pork trotter with dried seafood, Shunde salt-baked whole three-head abalone with fatt choy, stir-fried vegetables with prawn paste, white fungus and cashew nuts, sweet potato ball with nian gao (Chinese New Year glutinous rice cake), kwai lin ko (Chinese traditional herbal jelly) and mango pudding with mango pomelo cream.
The Chinese New Year in 2025 will begin on Wednesday, January 29, marking the start of the Year of the Snake.
