The first shots have been fired in a Hong Kong fish ball war that is pitting the city's traditional street-food vendors against the world's most ubiquitous convenience chain.
The front line in this culinary battle is busy Tong Chong Street in Quarry Bay, where last month a new 7-Eleven shop started selling laksa, fish balls, egg tarts and milk tea from a large kitchen counter.
The retailer, which has almost 1,000 shops in Hong Kong, is expected to roll out more such counters across the city as it vies for a slice of a market that for generations has been dominated by small street traders.
Curried fish balls, siu mai, milk tea and pineapple buns are Hong Kong cultural icons for the armies of hungry office workers and labourers who grab them on the street to munch on their way to work. Whether they take to a version served up by a global retail giant, though, remains to be seen.
The 7-Eleven version, dubbed 7 Cafe, is apparently off to a good start, with sales of up to 600 cups of milk tea a day at a promotional price of HK$3 on Tong Chong Street. That is about one-third of the price charged by nearby food vendors.
Tong Chong Street is packed with office workers and schoolchildren on most days.
