No itās not. Its not the same at all in Hong Kong and certainly NOT very common. Even finding restaurants at street level these days is tedious in Hong Kong. Hong Kongā¦the most overrated foodie destination in Asia where you canāt even find restaurants easily anymore except in a mall.
Itās pretty much exactly the same. Little plastic stools, folding tables, beer, beer girls in beer outfits, stir-fried dishes. Although they serve Cantonese food instead of Taiwanese, obviously.
You donāt see them in street-level as much nowadays (ever since H5N1 and SARS). Youāll find them at the top floor of most wet markets, but otherwise they are exactly the same as the ones in street level.
Itās not the same at all.
You are mostly referring to those small food stalls with plastic seats in Hong Kong.
Rechao places are much bigger with indoor seating also, much bigger menu and operation, beer girls, more choices of beer and alcohol , also some Japanese dishes too.
You started this conversation by saying rechao is a very distinct Taiwanese dining style, and that you wonāt find it anywhere else in the world.
Sure, you wonāt find places that call themselves rechao dian anywhere else in the world. Why would you? Theyāre Taiwanese. You wouldnāt find Hong Kong daipaidong in Taiwan either.
Iām saying there is the same kind of dining style in Hong Kong (at least 90% similar). The only differences are:
Called something else
No Japanese food
Cantonese dishes instead of Taiwanese
Here are some pictures of what Iām referring to. I ate here on my most recent trip to Hong Kong. They had beer girls too, but you donāt see them in any of these pictures. They are also becoming less popular in HK.
This restaurant is called Tung Po, and itās one of the more popular ones in HK.
Yeah⦠the similarity stops at the tables, chairs and beers though. The food is only similar to the extend of being East Asian restaurant food, but not the same at all. Itād be like saying Italian and French food in the restaurants are the same because the tables, chairs and wine are similar, and they are all European styled cuisines.
Oh no, I hope we can keep this thread at least somewhat positive about this aspect of Taiwanese food!
But Iād say that Hong Kong is more famous worldwide as a food destination, whereas Taiwan is apparently famous as a food destination mainly for East Asians. For most North Americans and Europeans, Taiwan wouldnāt count as overrated, because they donāt have any expectations to disappoint.