Rice Bowl Burger Bar, Wellington’s longstanding hole-in-the-wall fish and chip spot, will roll down its shutters for good at the end of February.
The building’s landlord plans to redevelop the site. While owner Wawa Shen and her husband Qing knew about it for the past year, they only got the final closure date a couple of days ago.
Shen and Qing have co-owned the store for the past 17 years, though it first opened its doors in the early 1970s.
“So much memories. They’ve all grown up at the back. But life always has been moving on. Maybe there’s a chance for us to change our life a little bit,” Shen said.
The family was running the shop at the time of the Loafers Lodge hostel fire, which killed five people, just a short distance down the road.
“It was quite sad because most of [the tenants] were our customers. When we heard that, it’s like you just cannot believe it. The people just sitting here yesterday and now they tell me they’re passed, they’re gone,” Shen said.
But she noted that many former Loafers Lodge residents still drop by to say hello and grab some kai.
“They’re still coming back. Even though they’re moving away, they still come to say hi. This is their kitchen,” Shen said.
Shen said she was overwhelmed by customer messages pouring in after the closure news broke.
“Too many! So many, I’ve got no time to reply.”
Rice Bowl Burger Bar shared a closure notice on their Facebook page, drawing a flood of comments from loyal customers.
“Grew up at Rice bowl was the only place we could get fish and chips and Chinese food at 1am, 2am in the morning while playing spacey games or guaranteed to get a feed after being in the hospital all day and night this place will definitely be missed,” one customer shared.
“Thank you for all the wonderful food over the years,” another customer added.