Like many Hong Kongers, I have been a rather frequent traveller to Japan - for pleasure mostly and until recently, also for business. While I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the country, I have always enjoyed pretty much everything it offers in the culinary department.
It was in Tokyo a few years ago that I gained exposure to Freshness Burger as an alternative to MOS Burger, whose WOW factor (important for me when visiting Tokyo) had been gradually subsiding. Freshness had soft pumpkin buns, meat sauce and mayo to go with the beef patty, thick tomato slices, and even cute mini burgers - everything was made fresh. Freshness Burger to me equals yummy snacks in a cute package.
Well Freshness Burger was not quite the same though when it crossed the seas to Hong Kong, maybe more than a year ago. I have not really had the urge to retry it since my first experience was bland, which I attributed partially to an operation that was not run-in.
I had no idea what besotted urge came over me , but I decided to give Freshness another shot today. At 5.30pm the place was surprisingly deserted for a location in the heart of Causeway Bay, for good reason I was to discover. I waited more than 10 minutes for a supposedly freshly prepared burger - so much for fast food... Meanwhile I observed 4 or 5 teenagers in the back kitchen pretending to be busy but at a slow pace, slotting small salads in plastic boxes rather unsuccessfully into larger plastic bags. My patience was running out.
The clock struck 5.44pm, it was finally my turn to claim the prize. Alas I was rewarded with a lukewarm piece of beef, a frigidly cold tomato chunk, mediocre pumpkin buns, and onions that tasted distinctly independent from the whole package. To be fair, the store manager was attentive, and I felt the sincerity in her "thank you" when she gave me my burger. Yet something larger was missing. Is it the financial tsunami dampening motivation, or is it that young Hong Kong workers who grew up in this era of "instant gratification" just don't give a damn about anyone but themselves?
Chinese people stereotypically are more flexible than the Japanese, but we should probably learn from their heart, discipline and execution. Cultural and historical differences aside, recession or no, I really respect the Japanese people for their dedication. Anyway, I would rather go to McD's next time for my trans fat fix - at least everything is piping hot and I get instant gratification too!
Freshness Burger
Windsor House, Causeway Bay - ain't worth the wait
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment