Chinese recipes make Romanians rich

Asian cuisine in Romania is appreciated by exotic food lovers, both foreign tourists and Romanians who want to relive the atmosphere of some similar “China Towns” they have once visited.

Chinese restaurants are frequently inspected by Consumer Protection officials who often decide to shut down one particular restaurant due to the lack of hygienic conditions.

While most restaurant owners are proud to employ cooks from the Far East, there are also some Asian cuisine restaurants managed by Romanians.

For the past year, Cristian Octavian Frasin has been sharing his time between being a lawyer and managing his catering company, United International Services. He teamed up with Florin Badea, chairman of Bond Group (a company producing and exporting timber) and they established China Express Yin Yang, the first of a restaurant chain they intend to open in Bucharest.

The idea to open an Asian cuisine restaurant delivering food at home came from the American movies. Cristian Frasin says he wanted potential clients to be able to order warm food at home or at their office, as people usually do abroad, eating “Pork with Wooden Ears,” “Chicken in love,” “Ants in a Tree” or “Hot-Spiced Eggplants.” “This kind of food may provide an escape from everyday life,” Frasin considers.

Only orders whose value is at least 200,000 lei are accepted for home delivery and these can be made by phone or online, on the restaurant’s web site (www.china-express.ro), as Yin Yang is the only Chinese restaurant in Romania currently receiving online orders.

Operators process online orders five times a day, and the food is delivered only after the client confirms the order by phone. Transportation costs vary depending on the delivery destination.

This service is free of charge for downtown destinations, and may cost 75,000 for locations near Bucharest (Snagov, Corbeanca).

Frasin is positive that this business will bring him a lot of money. “I cannot say I have made profits so far, but I am content with what I have achieved,” the owner says. He adds that the company focuses on public image and promotion, investing in radio and TV ads.

Frasin considers that his restaurant provides “special food to special clients,” referring to some VIPs or the staff of some important companies having visited the restaurant or having ordered food from here.

According to Frasin, artist atefan Banica jr., singer Manuela Fedorca, tennis-player Dinu Pescariu, actor Mihai Mitoseru, fashion-designer Catalin Botezatu, and journalist Horia Alexandrescu as well as execs from Connex, KLM, Mobexpert or members of the European Commission Delegation are among the restaurant’s patrons.