The Nanfang / Blog

Flame-broiled goodness while you wait for your train in Guangzhou

Posted: 07/31/2012 12:00 pm

I remember Guangzhou East Station before it even had a Starbucks.  Back then, while waiting for your ride to Hong Kong or Shenzhen, you had to make do with the little snack shop selling all kinds of stale and otherwise inedible cracker-like things.

How times have changed.

Guangzhou East now has a Starbucks, McDonald’s, and the venerable Yonghe Dawang (Yonghe King) for hungry people who need to kill time before their train departs.  But there’s an even bigger name moving in: Burger King.

The Nanfang passed through Guangzhou East a few days ago and saw the hoarding up as the staff prepare to open Burger King at the location.  The popular flame-broiled American hamburger chain is expanding faster and faster in the PRD, with several locations now in Shenzhen plus those in Hong Kong.  There are at least two other Burger Kings in Guangzhou as well at Grandview Mall and Tai Koo Hui.

You’ll likely be seeing many more Burger Kings sprout up in the next few years, which will eventually water-down the novelty factor.  The company says it plans to open 1,000 restaurants in China in the next five to seven years.

No word on when the Burger King at Guangzhou East will open, but we expect within the next few weeks.

Haohao

Life’s little pleasures: Burger King throws open its doors at Coco Park

Posted: 07/4/2011 10:21 pm

It’s amazing how eagerly anticipated openings of otherwise routine fast food chains are in this part of the world. When Fatburger opened in Macau, it drew top chefs from Hong Kong who were looking to indulge in a delicious burger from home. When the first Subway sandwich restaurant opened on Jianshe Liu Ma Lu in Guangzhou, it was hailed as a sign the city had arrived.

Now, we have Burger King in Coco Park.

Sure, Burger King can already be found in other parts of Shenzhen and across the border in Hong Kong (literally across the line, as there’s one in Sheung Shui, the first station on the MTR from Lo Wu). But Coco Park isn’t just anywhere in Shenzhen. Scott Welsh from the Shenzhen Standard describes the anticipation well:

For ages, there was talk of the fabled Hong Kong airport Burger King, a treat for those of us coming and going to and from China, where nary a Burger King was to be found. When the Burger King at Coastal City opened, that all changed and has been improving ever since.

Futian residents now no longer need to go to Nanshan or Luohu for Burger King. We have indeed made trips out to Coastal City specifically for a few Whoppers, and while worth it, we would much rather take the new metro line up to Coco Park to get our BK fix.

Burger king is now open in Coco park next to the Cinema, with an indoor and semi-outdoor eating area, great for all weather.

While the quality is the same as Burger King’s other locations, they still have no Double Whoppers or other ‘double’ burgers. That said, we’re definitely not complaining and are happy to have a Burger King to call our own.

If you fancy the extra unhealthy burgers that Scott mentions, you’ll still have to make your way to Hong Kong. The triple Whopper with bacon and cheese awaits.

 

Haohao

Coco Park the new home of the Whopper

Posted: 04/10/2011 9:38 pm

It appears that Burger King, purveyor of mayonnaise-drenched flame-broiled beef patties, has found hungry clientele in Shenzhen.

Our good friends over at ShenzhenParty noted that the city is preparing to welcome its fourth Burger King outlet inside Coco Park, making it an ideal place for bar-goers in the area to soak up copious amounts of beer and various other shanzhai drinks. Of course, that would also depend on the hours of the new ‘King.

Burger King’s first outlet in Mainland China opened in Shanghai back in 2005, and I remember being overjoyed and visiting that initial spot. At that time, as a Beijing resident, I had grown accustomed to having no decent burgers at all, or buying a Big Mac, which is basically the same thing. Since that pioneering Burger King (Hanbao Wang in Chinese), it has grown in Shanghai and Beijing, taken up shop in airports (it’s a tradition to get a Whopper when departing or arriving from a Burger King-endowed airport), and continues to grow in Shenzhen.

In fact, with McCawley’s and Tequila Coyote Cantina all in the vicinity of Coco Park, it’s quickly becoming a burger-muncher’s paradise.

The new Burger King is expected to open in May this year.

Haohao
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