No shouting, no matter. Despite regulations on masking up and no loud incantations while tossing lohei this Chinese New Year, demand for the festive raw fish salad remained bullish.

People simply took it home to enjoy.

Many restaurants that The Sunday Times spoke to reported a surge in orders for takeaway platters of yusheng, as the dish is called.

The Paradise Group, whose stable of Chinese restaurants includes Taste Paradise and Paradise Teochew Restaurant, said while dine-in demand dropped by about 15 per cent, in part due to companies being discouraged from holding lohei sessions, take-out orders grew by 30 per cent.

Its 20-plus restaurants dished out almost 20,000 portions of yusheng for delivery and takeaway.

Others like Hua Ting Restaurant at Orchard Hotel saw a similar spike in takeaways - but not at the expense of dine-in orders, which remained around the same.

Said the hotel's general manager, Mr Lee Richards: "Almost all tables and orders included yusheng for good luck as it is a once-a-year treat.

"In fact, Hua Ting saw a 200 per cent surge in its total yusheng orders compared with last year."

This increase came mostly from takeaway and delivery orders.

The growth of the takeaway and delivery business was the biggest trend this festive season, even though some restaurants say overall business was slightly dampened compared with pre-pandemic times.

The TungLok Group, for example, reported a 10 per cent dip in overall sales, although takeaways grew by about 30 per cent from last year.

Dine-in still constituted the bulk of its business, said its president and chief executive Andrew Tjioe, who did not give further figures.

The group operates more than 10 Chinese restaurants here that range from TongLe Private Dining to TungLok Signatures and TungLok Seafood.

Besides yusheng, the restaurants' set meals and pencai were the most popular takeaway items.

Mr Tjioe added that the company's online delivery concept, Home Fiesta Heat & Serve, also saw "a large increase in demand" for frozen dimsum, stewed pork shank, braised duck and fish maw soup.

The Crystal Jade Group's revenue for this Chinese New Year season, too, softened slightly compared with past years, said its spokesman.

She attributed it to Covid-19 safety measures that included tables being set further apart and a limit on eight persons for dine-in groups. "It meant we were unable to serve as many customers as usual."

However, demand for takeaway shot up by about 30 per cent, especially for its yusheng, carrot cake and roast meats.

Crystal Jade's eateries run the gamut from the fine-dining Crystal Jade Golden Palace to the massmarket Crystal Jade Kitchen chain.

As of now, dine-in remains its bread and butter.

The spokesman added: "The demand for dine-in remained strong and we feel this is because customers were still willing to indulge and splurge a little more during Chinese New Year."

Hotel restaurants also enjoyed a bullish and brisk start to the year.

Peach Blossoms at Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay saw a 30 per cent spike in takeaway orders, with yusheng, abalone treasure pot and radish cake with Iberico ham among its bestsellers.

Takeaway orders also tended to be larger than dine-in ones, probably because these were delivered to large families who would bust the eight-person limit in a restaurant.

But despite the drift towards deliveries, dine-in still constituted 80 per cent of its earnings.

Hua Ting Restaurant received about 50 per cent more takeaway and delivery orders compared with last year.

Popular to-go items included pencai, yusheng, suckling pig, roast duck and nian gao.

But that is still a long way from eclipsing the restaurant's dine-in business, which makes up 85 per cent of its revenue, said Mr Richards.

The swing towards takeaway this Chinese New Year was perhaps most marked among the Paradise Group restaurants.

The group said these orders made up 25 per cent of its takings, compared with just 8 per cent in previous years.

Other trends restaurants observed included bookings being confirmed much later as customers were unsure if rules for dining out would change.

Hua Ting also saw its regular guests coming back to dine with different groups, at separate seatings, during the 15 days of celebrations because of the eight-person rule.

One thing all restaurants agreed on was that the trend towards takeaways and deliveries, which took root during the pandemic, will only become more entrenched with time.

Mr Richards said: "Takeaways will remain one of the initiatives coming out of the pandemic which generate additional revenue and audiences for hotels.

"And with the rise of third-party platforms and partners to provide deliveries, the market will continue to evolve and grow."

Mr Tjioe agreed: "This will be the new way forward in dining trends. Options are plentiful now. Ordering and delivery is also being made very convenient for consumers.

"Diners no longer need to leave their homes to go to their favourite restaurants. The restaurants go to them instead."