Howard Johnson Hi-Tech Plaza

[Mike]

Hey guys,

I’ve been very inactive lately in the forum. I guess 5-6 days weeks with 12 hours daily are not best for your social life^^

It’s now already over 4 months since I started to work at Howard Johnson Hi-Tech Plaza. Some of you might still remember that I’ve been looking for a job and luckily I found this opportunity and started to work in January as a Management Trainee in Food & Beverage.

As the hotel only opened last December there were still quite a few obstacles to overcome. Now we reached a very high and consistent level of food quality and service.

We have 3 restaurants: Riviera (Western buffet style), Lotus Garden (Chinese) and Ginza (Japanese). At the moment there are quite a few promotions running. We are having daily All You Can Eat Dim Sum from 11.30 am – 2.30 pm for 100 RMB net per person in Lotus Garden as well as All You Can Eat Tepanyaki including free-flow of local beer, chilled juice and soft drinks from Monday til Friday 17.30 – 22.00 pm for 198 RMB net per person in Ginza. On top of that next month (19.6 – 29.6) we are holding a Thai Food Promotion in Riviera with 3 guest chefs flying in from Bangkok. So you can expect authentic food for only 168 RMB net lunch and 198 RMB net dinner.

Last but not least: We have started a special discount program for our restaurants called Club Entree. The membership is 588 RMB net and valid for one year. Based on how many people you are there is a different discount on food granted. If you are 2 the discount is 50%! Attached you’ll find some more information.

It would be great to welcome some of you here! Please drop me a PM, send me an e-mail or call/text me.

Best regards
Michael
183-8014-6948
[email protected]

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[Danny]

Grats on the job. I spent two years (2012-early 2014) as a MT in Doubletree Hilton, thankfully I only spent a few months at F&B, and the rest was at the front desk. Let me tell you, being a MT at an all-Chinese managed hotel is frustrating to say the least, they don’t listen to any of your suggestions, and me being Chinese-American, I didn’t have the foreigner appeal because I still look completely Chinese, so they had me pouring coffee and waiting tables until I got into a huge argument with management and they put me at the front desk, where I excelled. Hopefully you have a better experience at your hotel, and remember to be assertive and do not let the leaders there walk all over you or use you for their advantage. You are there to learn and grow, so take what you can!

[Mike]

Thanks for your comment Danny! Where are you working now?

Your experience doesn’t really sound great… Luckily I have it better even though working hours are tough and demanding. But I also can do and learn a lot. For sure also becaus GM and RM are foreigners (Canadian and Dutch). For example it is my duty to manage our new Club Entree Card whih is quite a great assignment. I also come from F&B as I’ve spent 3.5 years in the kitchen but also already one year at the front desk. This helps as well quite a bit^^

Are you now in Chendgu? Maybe we can meetup and exchange some experience. Would be great!

[Chris Ziich]

Congrats on the job! (though those hours sound horrible)

What days is the dimsum on?

[Mike]

Hey Chris,

good to hear from you! How are you doing?

Well, working hours could be worse. At least I learn a lot and can improve myself.

Dim Sum is on daily 11.30 am – 2.30 pm. I would recommend you to try the All You Can Eat Tepanyaki if you have time as well. We also have Sirloin, Tenderloin, Lamb Chops, ~30 kinds of Sushi/Sashimi and many more choice on the menu.

Cheers

[Rick in China]

I like all you can eat Teppanyaki – there are more and more options for this in Chengdu it seems. Lately I’ve been going for something similar at the Korean BBQ place in kaidan (Galleria) and it’s phenomenal, the cuts of beef are some of the best cuts I’ve eaten, especially in Chengdu, especially at an all you can eat.

May try this one, can you mention a few of the better options to choose from in the Teppanyaki? Pictures even better. The reason I ask is the words “We also have…”, I’m assuming that means you have the set meal, and additionally can order those things separately rather than inclusive. 😀 The 588 rmb/yr 50% discount for 2, does that also apply to Teppanyaki? If so, 3 visits a year would net the worth of the card, and the price would be slightly better than most of these types of meals in Chengdu, if this is all the case and the options are equal or better, sounds like a plan.

[Mike]

Hey Rick,

thank you for your message.

The Korean BBQ place sounds great and I most likely will check it out. As I’m chef originally I’m always up to try other places too. What is the price there?

Unfortunately I don’t have any food pictures from the tepanyaki at the moment. I will try to get some and upload them. Nevertheless I uploaded some pictures from the restaurant, sushi/sashimi and open tepanyaki table. We also have two private dining rooms with a Tepanyaki table that can hold up to 10 people.

For the All You Can Eat Tepanyaki: All items are included in the price! There is only one price and nothing additional. Of course we still have an a-la-carte menu to choose from^^

Our menu features items like:

Appetizers: Sirloin Beef with Ponzu, Tuna Salad
Sashimi & Sushi: Salmon, Tuna Loin, Sweet Shrimps, Surf Clams
Japanese BBQ: OCean Prawns, Squid with Japanese Sweet Soy Sauce
Nimono: Prawn Tempura, Seafood Nabe (kind of Hotpot)
Tepanyaki: Tenderloin, Sirloin, Lamb Chop, Beef Rips, Salmon
Dessert: Mango Pudding, Fruit Plate
Beverages: Tea, Local Beer, Chilled Juices, Soft Drinks (Coke, Sprite), Coffee

Price: 198 RMB net per person

Hope this gives you an impression about our variety. In total we have over 95 dishes included.

Yet, there is one more thing to tell: Unfortunately the discount card is not valid for the Tepanyaki as it is already a special price. But if you would like to order additional dishes from the a-la-carte menu of course the discount will be granted!

I will try to get pictures as soon as possible and will upload them next week. Meanwhile let me know if you have any other question.

Best regards,
Michael

[Rick in China]

@Mike
If you choose to “Korean BBQ” style it (cook yourself), I think it’s around 108/pp, if it’s Teppanyaki style (chef @ table) I think it’s 148. When my friend visited from Canada a few weeks ago, he raved on about it for a while and demanded we return – amazed we could get _so much_ quality beef cuts for such a relatively low price (preference to the self-bbq).

The menu seems pretty standard @ Ginza, I’ll look forward to giving it a shot. The price being at the high-end of Chengdu hotel/restaurants (including compared to huge buffets like Wanda Plaza, with all you can eat crabs legs, yum :D) so I don’t think it’s in the range of being a routine visit for me, at least without the application of the discount program. Look forward to your pictures!

[Mike]

So, I managed to get some pictures ready. Hope it works…

Compared to other 5*-hotels having a Japanese restaurant I believe we are actually still quite low. But I agree that it is quite expensive for a routine visit. After you have tried you might change your mind though as our ingredients are only the freshest 🙂

Please drop me a line or give me a call if you would like to try it. Then I can reserve a nice table for you. Please also be aware that it is only Monday through Friday.

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[Mike]

Some more pictures 😉

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[Rick in China]

Will do, likely this week. One other small suggestion, I’d suggest adding cheap sake to the drinks menu, that seems to be the biggest hole in the list above 😀

[Mike]

This week sounds great as afterwards I will be on holiday 😉

Thanks for your suggestion! Is honestly also my opinion and will definitely forward it. So far no one listened to me 🙁

See you this week then!

Cheers

[Danny]

@Mike

Now I’m actually working at an English tutoring center, taking a well-deserved break from the hospitality industry haha.

Its good that your management level has at least some Western influence, like I said, my experience was at an all-Chinese Hilton, meaning everyone from the GM down was all local Chinese, only the MTs were foreign and they worked us like mules (or show ponies on special occasions). I hear good things about the HJ dim sum lunch, I will probably come check it out in the coming months.

And yeah, definitely keep in touch, you can add me on wechat: dannylou88. See you around!

[Rick in China]

Ginza buffet is good – attached a pic of some of the dishes here. The salmon is perfectly fresh and the tenderloin is a very nice cut, it’s already sliced, if it weren’t, you would not need a knife to slice it. Michael and his colleagues provide good service as well, thanks again Michael!

Noticed something very cool – little ‘boat’ with isolated tables in a foyer, part of the local cuisine restaurant. Not sure how the food there is, but if it’s similar in quality to the Japanese restaurant I’m sure we wont be disappointed.

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[Mike]

Hey Rick,

sorry for my late reply here in the forum. Had two weeks off to spend some time with my parents.

Thank you for your kind review! It was a pleasure having you as our guests and I hope to see you again soon! I can assure you that also in our Chinese restaurant we only use the freshest ingredients.

From Thursday (19th of June) on we will host a 10 day Thai Food promotion at our Western restaurant Riviera. We have three Thai chefs flying in from Centara Grand in Bangkok who will provide authentic Thai cuisine. The discount program (club Entree) can be applied. Lunch is 168 net and dinner 198 net. Hope to see some of you guys!

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[Ian]

Hi Mike

Are drinks included in the Thai buffet lunch?

[Mike]

Hey Ian,

unfortunately we only have some chilled juices included in the buffet. But I can recommend you our All You Can Drink Beer Package which includes Tsingtao, Carlsberg and Harbin Beer for 45 RMB net.

Best regards

[Rick in China]

Wait — the Thai thing is a buffet also? Then I only have one question:

Will there be curry crab? (or chilli crab)

[Mike]

We will be hosting the Flavors of Thailand as buffet in our All Day Dining Restaurant Riviera.

I cannot promise if there will be any chili crab or curry crab. Tomorrow I will ask the chefs and then let you know.

At the moment we already have daily for lunch and dinner cold crab legs on the buffet. Our seafood selection also features abalone, scallop, shrimps, tuna and salmon sashimi.

[Ian]

Mike can you tell us whats on the menu?  If its just the standard Tom yam soup, green curry,red curry and thai fishcakes.  It would not be worth the trip

thx

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