It is in the fitness of things that the restaurant has been named after its most scrumptious delicacy, the inimitable Chilli crab. The crab is served with generous amounts of crushed fried garlic, and predictably, loads of chillies, which work culinary magic when combined with certain ‘undisclosed ingredients’.

 

It is a testimony to the enormous appreciation for this signature dish that 200 to 300 crabs are sold each day on weekends and during the holiday season, and 100 to 200 crabs on working days. And not just your friendly neighbourhood crabs, but superior mud crabs that are specially flown in from Vietnam and Australia on an everyday basis and hand-picked from a local supplier. On the other hand, 400 catties or 250 kg of garlic cloves are sourced from China. For Wong is sure that nothing but the best will do for his creations in the kitchen. These are some of the exacting benchmarks of quality that Wong has set for himself which have contributed in making his dishes an absolute delight. 

 

Another hugely popular item on the menu are Mantis prawns fried in garlic. As for clams, the chefs present a wide array of mouth-watering options. There are bamboo clams steamed with chopped garlic; as well as scallops and cherry stone clams, which may be soup based or fresh clams in slated sauce and sautéed fresh clams with chilli and black beans, if you please! Once again, no ordinary clams, but the very best, imported from England and Australia and the bigger bamboo clams from Philippines. This emphasis on the finest ingredients and the freshness of food is the mainstay of Wong’s zealous approach to his offerings. 

 

 

But there is more to running a successful restaurant that conjuring up the most compelling cuisine. When a team from The Asset descended on the Chilli Crab, what ensued was a hugely enjoyable dining experience, replete with magnificent food in a modern but unpretentious ambience. This time, however, the squad went a step further and did the next best thing as well and spoke to Wong about his experiences and challenges. What follows are the insights from their conversation with the now-famous owner Wong.

 

Wong reveals that to start the business he faced the formidable challenge of mobilizing the requisite capital. Loans offered by Hang Seng Bank and the Standard Chartered Bank, based on Wong’s personal clout, helped him to raise a sum of HK$300,000 (US$ 0.04 million) and with that, he jumped into the fray, or frying pan, if you will. Wong wistfully remembers the initial years of struggle, when he had to contend with irregular cash flows, the paucity of resources for renovation and a shortage of tables, and the fines he paid when he put tables on the streets! 

 

It took Wong two years to turn the business around and open his second restaurant on Lockhart Road. Today Wong is the proud owner of four restaurants in Hong Kong and another in Chengdu in China, which has a restaurant space of 10,000 square feet. From a staff of only four or five employees when he started, today his enterprise boasts of more than 50 staff across all restaurants who work laboriously to cater to 800 - 1000 guests each day, for all the outlets taken together.  

 

But Wong is not resting on his laurels. In fact, he is not resting at all – the indefatigable Wong still works a grueling 15-16 hours a day, seven days a week, with no holidays or rest days. He has set rigorous standards of quality, which he reinforces in periodic interactions with his chefs. Wong discloses that his master chef is a blast from the past – a chef known to him from his unassuming days at the typhoon shelter. 

 

The one ingredient of his success that Wong does make explicit is the support and encouragement from his family – his wife Angie, and his two sons, Ben and Kevin. And that completes Wong’s recipe for success!