Li Dan

WELL after 2 p.m. on a workday, several tables were still occupied at the posh Supersteak restaurant on the third floor of Coco Park in downtown Futian.

On weekend evenings, diners often have to queue if they have not booked in advance. The restaurant, with an impressive 4,000-square-meter floor space which includes a veranda and barbecue, has become a top choice for local diners since it opened last November.

A new brand operated by the Seaport Catering Group, the chain opened another outlet in Chegongmiao late February and will have six Supersteak restaurants by the end of the year.

“It’s not a Western restaurant in the traditional way of being formal, expensive and time-consuming,” said Wang Yi, a young white-collar worker dining with his girlfriend.

“It often takes more than two hours from the appetizer to the dessert at a formal Western dinner, which can cost a quarter of my monthly salary. It’s much better here. As they serve the courses much faster, I can finish a decent meal, at around 200 yuan (US$25) for two, in an hour, and then catch a movie. With people talking and laughing, and LCD screens showing fashion shows or MTV, the place is more like a bar where I can relax. Though, in fact, the restaurant offers beef steaks, salads, soups and sashimi as well as wines, beverages and even cigars,” he said.

Liu Fei, his girlfriend, likes the place for its furnishings. “I love the comfortable cloth sofas here. The gray ceilings, pipelines and the exposed inner structure of the building remind me of an airport. The fresh flowers, greenery and water pools are displayed in such an artistic manner,” she said.

A housewife who lives nearby said she had come because of her child. “My son loves the place, because he can play computer games at the playstations here for free. Then I can have a nice chat with my friends uninterrupted. Anyway, steak and salad are healthier than fried chicken and chips,” she said.

And there are gourmet diners who come to honor the chefs.

To serve food really fast, the restaurant employs more than 80 staff in its open kitchens, according to Guo Kaiyang, executive chef who has been in the trade for 19 years.

“I went on an educational tour to the United States with several other chefs, from the White Swan Hotel and China Hotel by Marriott in Guangzhou, in 2002. We were impressed by the dishes at the Gibsons Steakhouse in Chicago. I’ve always wanted to offer tasty steaks here in town ever since I returned. The specialty we offer is the fruit tree smoked steak. We use litchi and longan wood but add apple juice in the wood to give it special flavor,” the chef said.

Guo said he is trying to educate locals about steaks. “We offer different quality beefsteaks, from prime, choice, select, standard to commercial, at different prices.”

Prime beefsteak, taken from between the sixth and eighth ribs of 18-month-old calves, sells at 888 yuan for two kilograms, enough for a meal for 10 people. To ensure the texture and flavor, the steaks, purchased from Shandong Province and Australia, are left to defrost gradually between 0 and 5 degrees Celsius and then roasted whole.

“We also try to cater to the needs of Chinese customers. We use Western cooking methods and materials for dishes for Chinese customers. For instance, cooking mushroom soup, we add a moderate amount of cream so that locals do not find it too creamy,” the chef said.

Apart from free vegetables and fruit salads, the restaurant offers free Internet access as well as magazines and newspapers.