After a bit of a hiatus – why hello there!

There is absolutely no doubt that the COVID19 pandemic has undoubtedly affected each and everyone’s lives. The pandemic brought some personal adversity to our London side of the family in April, which brought us to the other side of the pond for a few months.

Not unlike many other countries around the world, the UK was put into lockdown mode on March 23 this year to attempt to stop the spread.
On July 4, restaurants in England reopened for indoor dining, provided they meet COVID19 guidelines.

After mostly living on home cooked meals or takeaway, we had so many mixed feelings – how will it work? Will the new measures negatively impact the dining experience? Are we safe?

Dave and I had not been inside of a restaurant since mid March in New York (the last eat in meal being Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao in Flushing, Queens.

It didn’t take long for us to overcome our curiosity the following day after restaurants were permitted to open when walking along our nearest High Street with restaurants – Sushi Bar Makoto in Chiswick was calling our name. And just like that we broke our dining out “fast”. I wasn’t sure if the salmon-ikura donburi was just heavenly, or if it was because I had not had sushi in a long time. (I went back a week later for takeaway- this place is legit good). After that, we’ve been dining out around once a week in other parts of London.

From glancing around, it seem like they removed extraneous tables to ensure they were 2 meters apart. Employees were wearing PPE, and there was plenty of hand sanitizer.

I know that dining out now, especially indoors as opposed to outdoors, is not for everyone – only if you’re ready and comfortable to come out and enjoy a sit-down meal again, here are some things you can expect and be aware of to stay safe:

1. Hand Sanitizing stations: every indoor dining establishment (and stores too, for that matter) have a sanitizing station for customers to use upon entering. Almost every place had extra hand sanitizer on every table, which is pretty handy.
2. PPE for staff: About half of the restaurants we have been to so far had the servers wearing some form of PPE, which surprised me somewhat. I thought that employers would use that as a measure to keep their staff safe, considering almost all diners inside the restaurants were not wearing masks. In these cases I’ve sometimes kept my own mask on until receiving food.
3. Customer tracking: A few places I didn’t make a reservation for asked for contact details in order to help trace diners. As of September 14 2020, it looks like the contact tracing will be mandatory (and they will hold details for 21 days).
4. Apps for ordering/menus: I went to Din Tai Fung in Soho recently- and to my delight, after you are taken to your table, you take a picture of the QR code, a menu comes up on your phone, and you order and pay for your table without requiring much interaction with servers. While this was the only place I experienced the ordering app, a few other places offered drinks menus via QR code.
5. No more shared condiments at the table: As we experienced at Din Tai Fung, you are given single servings of condiments- no more pouring your own ketchup or soy sauce at the table. Hey, it promotes less waste and less germs to touch.
6. Tips for using the toilets inside restaurants: I’ve seen that some places place hand sanitizing stations outside of the bathroom door for before/after. I’ve always been wary of germs in public bathrooms even before this crisis but I use paper towels or a clean tissue to touch the door / stall handles, toilet flusher.
7. Distance of tables: Tables are further away from each other. They look to be around 2 meters from what I’ve seen, and those that are not that far apart are either back to back booth like tables or, in the case of Song Que, there is a plastic shield between your table and the one next to you.
8. One way system: some places have implemented a system where customers only go one way inside a venue which limits people from crossing paths and keep their distance.
9. Wireless / Cashfree payment: I rarely see cash changing hand at restaurants and stores these days since COVID19. Be prepared to pay with your phone or maybe your card. If you can’t escape cash, find out beforehand if it is accepted.

I noticed that a lot of restaurant websites and social media accounts will also explicitly mention how they have updated their establishments to keep safe. I encourage you to take a peek there before dining. Also, many places have decreased hours to keep their staff safe so make sure to check beforehand to make sure they’re open before dropping by and potentially getting disappointed.

As customers, some things I think we should keep in mind of as well:

1. If you don’t feel well/have a fever/suspect you may have some symptoms of COVID19, do not go out.
2. If your budget allows it, tip a little more than you normally would.
3. Be more understanding than normal to employees, they may be taking on more or dealing with many non normal procedures to make your dining experience a great one.

We do look forward to the seeing the hospitality business flourish once again, a bit of normalcy and delight coming back to the new world we are coping with. This is a very anxious time for anyone. Happy dining, and stay safe.