Bristol Evening Post 21-Sep-07
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**Wai Yee Hong and the Eastgate Oriental City complex get a mention in this Evening Post feature article on Water Sky Restaurant.
WATER SKY RESTAURANT
“The largest Chinese restaurant in the area, already attracting customers from far and wide. Water Sky provides a completely authentic Oriental experience”
As China takes leaps and bounds towards becoming the economic superpower of the 21st century, Chinese influence is also becoming increasing visible in Bristol. The Chinese population in the city has trebled over the last decade, and members of the community are fast becoming prominent in both political and business arenas. The most recent Chinese addition to Bristol is the striking Eastgate Oriental City, a new enterprise behind the site of the old Eastville Stadium.
The £8 million complex will act as a business hub for the Chinese population in Bristol, and includes a warehouse-style supermarket and a cash and carry.
But the development’s crowning glory is Water Sky, a vast 400-seat Chinese restaurant which looks set to become a Mecca for Far Eastern gourmands across the region.
Open for little over a month, it is the largest Chinese restaurant in the area, and has already been attracting customers from far and wide.
Run by managing director Bobby Wong and his nephew and general manager Gary Ma, the restaurant serves exceptional, authentic Chinese food.
Mr Ma said: “It’s traditional Cantonese cooking, and we’ll be serving dim sum – a light lunch meal traditionally served in a small steamer basket with a pot of green tea – as well.”
Cantonese cooking is considered by many to be the best that China has to offer, partly because the region produces the country’s finest raw ingredients.
Water Sky has also managed to attract high-quality staff from across the country.
Kitchen staff have come from London and Hampshire, and the head chef previously cooked for an international corporation in Hong Kong.
Mr Ma said: “I suppose you could call it cooking on a grand scale, the kind of thing you might find in top London hotels.
“Our head chef came from a company that had sent him to work in Shanghai, Australia and in China Town. We’re really lucky to have him.”
The restaurant, with its covered roof terrace for alfresco dining, is open all day, every day, and is proving a popular venue for both British and Chinese wedding parties.
Mr Ma explained: ” I think that’s going to be a big part of our business. Chinese weddings are huge affairs – some of them have 300 or 400 people. It’s a huge banquet, and we have plenty of space to host the whole reception.”
Water Sky looks to be the destination of choice for those wanting something a little more authentic than a Chinese takeaway, and with parking for about 200 cars outside, the gateway to the East is closer to your doorstep than you might imagine.