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SHARK'S fin, abalone, and Buddha Jumps Over The Wall. Eating these delicacies at a Chinese restaurant doesn't come cheap, and they are usually ordered only on special occasions.
But what if you could have any one of the above with rice, a vegetable side dish, Chinese tea and white fungus dessert, all at less than $10?
That is what some patrons have been paying to get the value set meal.
Miss Goh Xiaoting, an auditor who frequents a branch of Rabbit Brand Seafood Delicacies restaurant in Lucky Plaza, said: "The prices are cheap and the food is good quality."
The food appeals to the budding palate of 14-year-old Elton Thong, who prefers the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall served at this restaurant to more expensive versions in other places. His mother takes him and his two brothers to the restaurant two to three times a month.
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The sceptics might ask if the ingredients are for real, given the cheap prices.
Well, they are "100 per cent genuine", Mrs Doreen Goh (left) said. The 54-year-old executive officer of Rabbit Brand Seafood Delicacies said it is able to sell the dishes at such low prices because her company directly imports and processes the ingredients, therefore cutting out costs to a middleman.
The abalone it uses for the dishes is Philippines deep sea abalone, she said.
Rabbit Brand Seafood Delicacies earns profits of about $2,000 to $3,000 a month.
Mrs Goh said: "We're doing this for branding. So once people hear that it's Rabbit Brand, they know that it's good shark's fin."
Like her, Mr Joseph Ong, the general manager of Seafood Station, a restaurant outlet at East Coast Parkway, is also offering cheap eats.
He charges only 50 cents for a plate of char siew (barbecued pork) rice - down from his usual price of $3.
Sounds incredible?
Well, the catch is, this is a special price for a promotion that lasts only until the end of this month. The deal is only available from 12pm to 4pm daily, except on Thursdays.
Food sellers like Mr Ong want volume, so the offer does not apply on Thursdays, when the golf driving range next to the restaurant is closed.
The 48-year-old also knows who his best spokesman is.
If you are a taxi driver, you eat for free during the promotion period and get a complimentary soft drink. Mr Ong hopes that they will then recommend the restaurant to tourists.
He said: "Rather than spending thousands of dollars on advertising, we let our customers enjoy the food instead."
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STRATEGY WORKS
He claimed that the strategy has been successful, adding that it led to a 30 per cent increase in the number of customers at the restaurant, most of them golfers from the driving range and housewives who live in Marine Parade.
Another person banking on customer satisfaction to fuel his business is young Darren Toh. The 26-year-old director of Yan Chuan Roaster took over his two-decade-old family-run business two years ago.
And despite rising poultry prices, MrToh sells his Peking duck at only $12.90, which earns him just enough to cover his workers' salaries. Typically, a Peking duck sells at around $60.
It helps that his shop is in Ubi industrial estate, where rental is cheaper.
Mr Toh said: "My prices are so low because I want every household to have a taste of my duck instead of waiting for a special occasion to enjoy it."
His shop sells as many as 9,000 ducks a month at peak seasons during Chinese New Year and the Hungry Ghost Festival, and 3,000 ducks a month during the off-peak season.
Ms Claudia Tan, 27, a stewardess whose family has been buying from the shop for the past 20 years, said: "It's really value for money, and you can't find Peking duck at this price anywhere else.
"It's convenient because you can take it home instead of going out to a restaurant, and to get it at such a reasonable price is unbelievable," Ms Tan added. She lives in Hougang, and travels to the shop at Ubi Avenue 2 just to buy it.
For sure, foodies are not averse to travelling a little to get their value-for-money eats.
Over at Block 22, Toa Payoh Lorong 7, 'economy rice' stall Lai Heng Cooked Food sells two vegetable dishes and two meat dishes with their rice - all at $2.
A similar stall nearby sells one vegetable dish and one meat dish at the same price.
A customer, who wanted to be known only as Mr Chia, lives and works in Macpherson, but he was there for a meal when The New Paper visited. There was a queue of more than 10 people at the stall.
Mr Chia, a salesman, said: "It's worth waiting for - where else can I find such cheap food?"
Madam Tan Meng Cheok, 57, the stall-owner, said she learnt of this pricing strategy from her previous employer, who also operated a food stall selling economic rice.
Speaking in Mandarin, she said: "I don't lose money, because although I earn less, I sell more plates."
Another stall-owner relying on cheap pricing is Mr Edwin Tam, 43, who sells chicken rice at only $1.20 and earns just 20 cents a plate.
"It's hard work, but I can still do this. I'm still young," Mr Tam said.
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His strategy is to sell more plates quickly, so that his customers will get freshly cooked chicken, instead of chicken that has been hanging on display for a long time.
Recently, he raised prices by 20cents.
"Some customers don't eat my food anymore because of the 20-cent increase. They are very practical," he lamented.
And knowing your customer, as they say, is a key factor.
When the owner of Wanabe Western Food, Mr Chan Siu Ngai, saw that children did not need to eat as much as adults, an idea hit him.
He could price his spaghetti dish or chicken wing rice cheaper, at $1.90 a plate, for both children and adults.
Mr Chan, 41, a former chef at Raffles Hotel, said: "I may earn less a plate, but it's better than having no business.
"It's the idea of 'ji shao cheng duo' (collecting a little, bit by bit, and accumulating a lot in the end)," he added, smiling.
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Photos: Francis Lee, David Tan, Shin Min Daily News
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