Mind your own business

I finally tasted the famous fish and chips at Fisherman’s Wharf last weekend. It serves good old fish and chips and nothing else, except for few items like scampi fritters and battered oysters. Well, it offers a wide selection of fish though, from Cream Dory and North Atlantic Cod to Snow Fish, Grouper, Lemon Sole, etc. Everything is coated in batter and deep-fried.

The restaurant was crowded when we got in, jam packed when we left and still half full when we walked past again much later.

Before you conjure up wonderful images of Fisherman's Wharf near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, let me tell you this one along New Bridge Road is an old shop house with Spartan furnishings. We almost missed it because it was hidden behind some hoardings from the construction work nearby.

The food was pretty good. Service is unspectacular and the location…well… But why so successful, I wonder?

We have seen restaurants that opened to much fanfare but only to fold up within a year. They had seemingly done everything right… good chefs, the right menu, concept, ambience, location, etc and yet they can’t stay afloat.

Then there are mediocre restaurants with bad service and no ambience to speak of, yet they stick around forever.

Hmm, there must be an explanation. I wonder if it is fengshui? It's none of my business anyway....