Standing the Test of Time

Standing the Test of Time


Hong Kong Restaurant is a time-honored family-operated establishment located in a residential neighborhood in West Warwick, Rhode Island. Opened in 1948, the restaurant concentrates on serving authentic Cantonese and Americanized Chinese food to the local residents.

The father of Kwok Kin Sit, the current owner, took over the Hong Kong Restaurant twenty-two years ago from the previous proprietor and later enlarged the establishment into a 1,500 ft2 dine-in eatery that can now comfortably accommodate up to 100 diners.

Pedestrians walking down Washington Street will probably notice the restaurant, because of its eye-catching red exterior. The restaurant is always bustling despite the many other restaurants nearby. Its warmly decorated interior provides patrons a comfortable and bright atmosphere of a casual rather than an overly formal restaurant. When it comes to the restaurant's environment, Mr. Sit believes that cleanliness is the most important element because it’s the first chance the restaurant has to give customers a good impression.

Hong Kong Restaurant’s success is based on its management style which is centered on serving the highest quality and consistently prepared food at reasonable prices. Although facing increasing food costs, Mr. Sit never considered passing the costs on to his customers. Maximizing profit at the expense of losing customers just doesn’t appeal to him.

Customers can always find something to suit their cravings on Hong Kong’s extensive menu. The main methods of preparation are stir-frying and frying. The dishes are kept a bit bolder than those at other Chinese restaurants—Mr. Sit says the locals appreciate the strong flavors.

Among the mindboggling selection of delicious dishes, Mr. Sit most strongly recommends the Beef Chow Mein, House Chicken Wings w. Sauce, General Tso’s Chicken, Chicken Croquettes with Gravy, and the House Special Chow Mei Fun (thin rice noodles).

He also places emphasis on using homemade sauces. “These sauces bring out the essence of the dish,” he explains. Take the General Tso’s Chicken for example. Here, the sauce tastes different than other restaurants because it is made according to a secret recipe perfected over many years. Although General Tso’s Chicken is a common dish that you may see in any other Chinese restaurants, the unique sauce and the lightly battered chicken chunks truly distinguish Hong Kong Restaurant’s version from the rest.

This eatery also supports healthy dining and offers lightly cooked or steamed vegetarian dishes for customers who are looking for a healthy meal. Amongst those selections, the Bean Curd dishes (tofu) receive the highest acclaim by vegetarians and dieters. If that isn’t enough to satisfy a customer, the kitchen is ready and willing to do whatever they can to cater to the customer’s preferences.

“Most loyal customers have made a habit out of coming to dine at Hong Kong,” Kwok Kin Sit says with a smile. He takes time to get to know his customers and can often be seen chatting with both first time and long time customers. Although Mr. Sit has done some renovations to the restaurant after taking over, there’s one thing that the family is striving to maintain rather than change—the tradition of  providing consistent tasting food and wonderful service. He knows customers want to be able to feel confident that the taste of the food they are enjoying today will also be the same in the future, “They are used to the tradition here and expect it to stay the same.”

It’s difficult to keep maintain taste at most of the restaurants because the high turnover of kitchen staff. However, that’s not a problem at Hong Kong Restaurant thanks to the Head Chef, Mr. Lau. “Chef Lau has been with this restaurant for a long time and knows how to cook food the way the customers have always enjoyed,” Mr. Sit adds. He is grateful to Chef Lau for his loyalty to Hong Kong Restaurant and his efforts in the kitchen.

Mr. Sit has already been involved in the restaurant industry for thirty years. He’s quite content to focus on the job at hand: running his restaurant well, managing the employees, and treating his customers with friendliness and respect. On top of that, he continually strives to attain greater results.

He would like to take this great opportunity to express his gratefulness to his staff and customers, for their support and help. “I promise to keep a consistent tradition of good food and good service standard. And I believe that there's still room for Hong Kong Restaurant to grow and introduce great tasting food to all who are willing to try."

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Name: Hong Kong Restaurant
Location: 77 Washington St. West Warwick, RI 02893
Phone: 401-821-3553