Into the melting pot

Steaming is another specialty of Kong's. From white eel and yellow croaker to long snout catfish with yellow pepper sauce, Kong always manages to bring out the best flavors from the original ingredients.

The restaurant is co-owned by Wang Zhongkai and An Lan. Wang, 40, began working as a graphic designer in 2000, but in recent years he found the work too exhausting to continue with it. Three years ago, when he was hosting a barbecue for a group of friends in his yard, he noticed how happy and satisfied he felt when he was cooking for people. This is when the idea for opening a restaurant sprung up.

An used to be a consultant psychologist. After practicing for 12 years, he decided to open a restaurant this year. "I used to be able to only help a few people at a time. Now it's time for me to do something that can express kindness to the wider public," says An.

An and Wang took over the restaurant from a couple at the end of 2018 and decided to change the team and elevate the dishes.

"Our key to hiring new staff, whether chefs or servers, was that he or she must demonstrate a kindness toward both the dishes and the customers," An explains.

"If you put your heart into the dish, and the diners can feel it-it will taste different if you cook it with anger or bad feeling," says An.

The servers are happy to bring dishes to their customers, especially the clay pot rice. "They feel a sense of accomplishment when they see the happy faces on the customers as they open the lid of the pot," An says.