Entrepreneur Shmulik Gal (right) and Vipul Kapoor have opened a Hungarian restaurant in Hong Kong named after its most famous culinary export to the world - Goulash

Entrepreneur Shmulik Gal, an Israeli of Hungarian origins, looked around and decided that out of the vast array of international cuisine available in Hong Kong, one cuisine was missing.

"I decided to open a Hungarian restaurant which is the only one of its kind in Hong Kong, perhaps in the Far East," said Mr Gal who also has Hungarian restaurants in England and Italy. 

He teamed up with Hong Kong partner, Indian restauranteur, Vipul Kapoor, who had previously managed Indian, French and Thai restaurants.

Hong Kong partner

"I decided to have a Hong Kong partner because if I do it myself, I'll be in the restaurant 24 hours. Right now, I only need to be here 12 hours," said Mr Gal.

It took barely five months from the time he conceived the idea while "having dinner at Kapoor's Indian restaurant Ashoka" to the time when the restaurant opened officially.

Interest has been huge. "From the time the restaurant opened in July 19 until August 26, a short five weeks, we have had more than 17 write-ups in the local media. Let's face it, in this town, there are lots of Italian, French and Chinese restaurants but there's as yet no Hungarian restaurants," said Mr Gal.   

He added that his customers would not be Hungarians of which there are less than 300 in Hong Kong. Rather, he is targeting Hong Kong's large expatriate community and food loving locals who have an "eating out culture" due to hectic lifestyles.

"I love Hong Kong. It's a cosmopolitan city that is ready to accept anybody. There are more than two million foreigners living and working here and because of them there are a lot of restaurants serving international cuisine. Without them, Hong Kong would never be that vibrant or international. Why do people come here? They believe that Hong Kong is the gateway to China and it's the centre of the world."

Goulash has barely been up and running when Mr Gal is looking for premises to open a similar Hungarian restaurant in Shanghai so convinced is he that China will be the future. It will be run along the same concept and serve the same food. Obviously, it will have Goulash as it is the "most famous Hungarian dish and it's my favourite. I can eat it everyday."

Goulash's menu include Hungarian favourites like Goulash (of course), Paprika Chicken, Budapest style tournedos and Ujkazi chicken soup, cooked by two chefs from Hungary.