Open-air hawker centre at Esplanade Mall undergoes a $400,000 facelift and returns with six new hawker stalls
Singapore, November 23, 2012
After 25 years in Bukit Merah, Redhill Rong Guang BBQ Seafood decided to leave the heartland and move to the city in search of international customers.
Owner Joe Eng, 46, is now one of six new tenants at Makansutra Gluttons Bay after its revamp.
The open-air hawker centre at Esplanade Mall closed in mid-October for a three-week renovation and resumed business on Nov 5. It officially launched on Thursday and was opened to the public after 8pm following a dinner party for invited guests.
Mr K. F. Seetoh, 49, the founder of food company Makansutra which manages Gluttons Bay, said a makeover of the place was in order as it was getting "old, jaded and tired" after seven years, since it opened in May 2005.
About $400,000 was spent on the facelift.
The retro theme has been enhanced with new old-style furnishings such as stone tables and plastic lounge chairs that Mr Seetoh sourced from Malaysia.
The canvas canopies of the stall fronts have also been changed to bright yellow, and umbrellas in the middle section have been replaced with transparent ones. Eight new fans were installed.
There is also new piping and greater capacity cooking exhaust systems for the stalls to cope with more customers, said Mr Seetoh.
The crowd has more than doubled since 2005, with 4,000 to 5,000 diners on weekends now.
The menu was also overhauled.
Said Mr Seetoh: "We took out a Western-style food stall, Flava Lava, which sold pasta, to keep the menu authentic with Singapore-style and regional flavours."
All six new stalls are established names in the heartland, save for Gerry's Grill, a well-known BBQ restaurant chain from the Philippines.
The new tenants have branches elsewhere except for Redhill Rong Guang BBQ Seafood.
But one of the conditions of tenancy is that the boss of the stall or head cook must be present at the stall. This is to ensure the quality of the food is not compromised.
Mr Eng decided to give up his stall at Bukit Merah to focus his energies on the new stall at Gluttons Bay as he insists on overseeing operations and doing the cooking himself.
He said: "It was a tough decision for me to leave behind my customer base of regulars at Bukit Merah, but I want to promote my food to an international crowd as many foreigners frequent this place.
"I am used to having local regular customers whom I have known for years.
"Tourists mostly visit Singapore for a few days only, but it's very heartening when I see some return to my stall to try other dishes during their short stay here."
Capturing the tourist crowd is a main draw for Mr Chan Chong Yau, 37, the owner of Hong Kong Street Old Chun Kee, which has two other outlets in Clementi and Tampines.
Said Mr Chan in Mandarin: "It is a little pressurising with all the famous hawker names here, but every stall here has its own signature dishes. I am confident my stall will do well here."
Tourists make up 60 per cent of the customers on weekdays, but on weekends locals make up 70 per cent of the customers, said Mr Seetoh.
Customers said the eating area was cleaner, better lit and cooler with the new fans.
Miss Sally Lin, 32, a Taiwanese who was on a short visit, was less impressed with the food.
She felt the standard was not representative of local food. She lived in Singapore for about 20 years before returning to Taiwan.
She said: "I grew up eating local food here, so I have tasted better. But for tourists who have not eaten local food, this place is all right as it provides variety."
Singaporean Koh Hwee Peng, 41, a manager whose last visit was a few years ago, enjoyed the crispy pata from Gerry's Grill. He said: "You get a variety of local food all at a single place so it's a very good place to bring friends from out of town."
