in may 1990, café de coral made its first acquisition by buying out the ah yee leng tong chain for hk$14 million. a year later in 1991, it acquired the spaghetti house, a popular chain that served hk-style italian food. the same year, it opened up its second food processing plant. in 1992 it opened both its 100th restaurant and its first restaurant outside hong kong in the nearby city of shenzhen.