Uncle Joy, the Chinese restaurateur who transformed Hungary’s gastronomic map with a hundred restaurants

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 03. 24. 11:45

Cao Cseng Jin, or as he is known in Szeged and across the country, Uncle Joy, has been working for more than a quarter of a century to bring Hungarian and Chinese cultures closer together – not only at the table, but also in the economy and community life. For his work, he was awarded the Csongrád-Csanád County Economy Award, which is given to those who achieve outstanding results in the county’s economic life and in chamber work – writes Telex.

From the bank to behind the wok – the story of a Chinese economist

Uncle Joy graduated as an economist in the Chinese province of Shanxi in 1986 and arrived in Hungary as an employee of the Bank of China in 1991, at the age of 26. He did not continue his career in the financial sector: he saw an opportunity in hospitality in Szeged and opened his own Chinese restaurant in the city center in 1996. He was soon joined by his wife, Csao Pej Csen, and their daughter, who was only seven years old at the time.

After the restaurant’s success, another unit opened in a shopping center in Szeged in 1998, followed by other cities: Hódmezővásárhely, Dunaújváros, Gyöngyös, and now the network covers almost the entire country.

Europe’s largest Chinese restaurant chain

The Sherry restaurant chain, which includes four different brands (Sherry, WOK’n Go, HiCook, Sakura Ramen), today operates as the largest Chinese restaurant chain in Europe. More than 1,100 employees work for the company, and ninety of the nearly one hundred restaurants operate in a franchise system.

However, this franchise system is different from the usual: Joy only hands over restaurants to those who have previously proven themselves with him for five to eight years, with their diligence and reliability.

Work, cleanliness, responsibility

The manager still actively inspects his restaurants today: he travels 25-30 thousand kilometers across the country every year, visiting the units without notice. Cleanliness is especially important to him – they hold regular cleaning days and place great emphasis on food safety.

Spices are purchased from China, meat and vegetables from Hungarian suppliers. Some of the chefs came from China, while the Hungarian colleagues have mostly been working for the company for many years.