However, Causeway Seafood Restaurant’s managing director Alex Tan corrects me regarding this point. With the competition among Chinese restaurants nowadays, fish dishes, particularly those made with fresh live fish, are becoming inexpensive.
"If you go to a Filipino seafood restaurant, fish is often priced at P100 per 100 grams. Here, at Causeway, our fresh live seafood is priced at P1,000 per kilo. There really is no difference in the price of fresh live seafood at a Filipino seafood restaurant and ours, because 1,000 grams of live fresh fish also comes up to P1,000. In our restaurant, a regular order of steamed live fresh fish will only cost you around P300, because a regular-sized lapu-lapu weighs around 300 grams," says Tan.
And that’s not all.
"With the competition among Chinese restaurants, there really is no reason to keep the price of live fresh fish high," Tan adds. "Causeway has an ongoing promotion at all our branches in Quezon City, where fresh lapu-lapu goes for P600 per kilo and crabs go for P700 per kilo. And this is an indefinite promotion. We’re offering it as long as there is a demand for fresh live fish and crabs."
"If you think about it, diners are now spoiled for choices. With the competition, Chinese restaurants need to price their food reasonably. And here at Causeway, we serve authentic Cantonese food at reasonable prices," he further explains.
The Causeway branch along Congressional Ave. in Quezon City, just beside Cherry Foodarama, is quite busy during lunch and dinner time. You would have a hard time hearing your voice over the din. All you will hear is the clinking of spoons and forks on china, surely proof that the food here is good.
Alex says they have quite a mixed market. Here at Congressional Ave., the crowd is mostly Filipino. At their branch in Banawe, the clientele is mixed, with Filipino-Chinese diners predominating.
"That’s something we can say about the Filipino-Chinese," Tan says. "They will drive to faraway places for good Chinese food."
When the Chinese restaurant boom happened in Banawe St. in Quezon City, the Filipino-Chinese residents in the area stopped driving all the way to Binondo for weekend lunch and dinner.
"And I’m quite glad to say that Causeway led that boom of fine dining Chinese establishments in Banawe," he beams.
Unlike other popular Chinese places, Causeway serves full Chinese dinners.
"Some restaurants are just noodle houses and dim sum places, but Causeway has all that and Chinese dishes for main courses. We also serve exotic Chinese dishes, like shark’s fin and abalone," he explains.
With two chefs from Hong Kong in their kitchens, moving around among Causeway’s three branches, diners are assured of authentic Cantonese cooking. Portions are big, while prices are reasonable. Most main dishes are priced from P120 to P150, while more exotic items are priced a little higher. All ingredients are sourced locally, except for some vegetables and condiments that are not available locally. Some ingredients, like abalone and bean curd wrapper, are also imported from Hong Kong or China.
"If there is any reason why people go back to a Chinese restaurant, it is because of consistency. So long as you serve good food all the time and offer good service, your customers will keep on coming back," Tan adds.
While Causeway is a fine dining Chinese establishment, the menu at its different branches are tailored to the market it serves. At the Congressional Ave. branch, there are more dim sum items, while at the Banawe branch, the more exotic dishes are offered. The aquariums filled with live fresh fish, seafood and crabs are also visible in Banawe.
"Even if we only have three branches, and they are all located in Quezon City, I believe Causeway has already established a name as a good Chinese restaurant," he says. "While we look up to the leading Chinese restaurants in Metro Manila, we have been able to establish our presence."