Seafood Restaurant

 

Vocabulary

variety	regency	promote
cuisine	muscle	sample (2)
own	provide	clientele
access	mussel	wave (3)
platter	average	whereas
praise	struggle	recession
boost	poultry	win over
initial	tuck in	recommendation
scarf	decades	whereas
set up	prompt	audience
lobby	tend to	recession
keen	tap into	approach (2)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Video

 
 
 
 

Transcript

The Regency Restaurant in the English seaside city of Brighton has been serving traditional fish and chips for decades.

But over the past few years, the restaurant has seen a change in its clientele, with more visitors from China coming to sample the cuisine.

According to the restaurant’s owners, there are days when more than 70% of the customers are Chinese.

Emilio Serveres owns the restaurant with his brother Roberto. The restaurant provides a variety of dishes, including mussels, lobster, pasta and poultry.

But according to the restaurant’s owners, Chinese customers tend to order the shellfish platter, one of the most expensive items in the menu, just under fifty pounds or around seventy-seven US dollars.

On average, a table of four Chinese customers will spend between eighty to ninety pounds on a meal at the Regency, whereas other customers spend less than half that amount on meals.

When asked about the popularity of his restaurant, Severes says it’s become so popular with Chinese visitors that some make a special trip down to Brighton for it.

Whilst other businesses in Briton have been struggling with recession, Serveres says his trade has been boosted by bloggers talking about his restaurant, prompting others to come and tuck into the dishes being served there.

One of those bloggers who could have been responsible for the initial wave of Chinese customers eating at the Regency is Pauline Guo.

Guo came to England initially to study. She then went on to set up a blog and website called Red Scarf where she posted information on places to visit in Britain.

Guo said she initially read reviews online, praising the restaurant in English. And that’s why she decided to write it in Mandarin.

As well as the powers of bloggers and people posting messages on the Chinese site, Weibo, a lot of others are coming to the restaurant via recommendations from friends.

Many of the Chinese customers have eaten at the restaurant, then post comments about it on Weibo.

Weibo is one of China’s most popular micro-blogging platforms, and it’s long been a place used by companies to promote, lobby and win over a large and important audience.

It’s a site similar to Twitter used by more than 250 million users. And a lot of foreign companies keen to gain access to the Chinese market use Weibo to promote their products.

But the Regency didn’t need to approach anyone to tap into the Chinese markets, and customers continue to post comments, praising the restaurant’s food online.

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Questions

1. The Regency Restaurant is an old, established business. True or false? What kind of dishes are they famous for?

2. Have things remained the same or have there been changes?

3. Do you think Emilio and Roberto provide good, friendly services, especially to Chinese customers?

4. The Regency Restaurant launched a large marketing and promotional campaign in China. Is this correct or incorrect?

5. Who is Pauline Guo? Did she originally come to the UK as a travel writer and food blogger?

6. What is Weibo? Is it similar to Tripadvisor or Lonelyplanet (travel websites)?

7. Is the main driving force for business at the Regency Restaurant reviews by restaurant critics and Michelin Star ratings?

 
 

A. What’s the most popular restaurant in your city? What does it serve? Why is it so popular?

B. Have there been changes in fortunes of restaurants in your city, i.e. have some gone from obscurity to fame and success, while others have gone out of business?

C. Does your company or institution have a marketing and sales department? What do they do?

D. Are blogs and social media important for your business?

E. What will happen in the future?