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Singapore, February 25, 2010 WITH the economy looking up, Singaporeans are happily indulging in festive feasting again. Some customers even request more expensive customised menus, with one guest forking out as much as $3,000 to book a table for 10. Orchard Hotel’s popular Cantonese restaurant, Hua Ting, saw 20 per cent more bookings, compared to the same period last year, for dinners held during the first 15 days of the Chinese New Year (CNY), said Ms Amy Ang, its marketing communications director. The restaurant is fully booked on weekdays and about 80 per cent booked during weekends, she said. In fact, the restaurant was already fully booked for the traditional CNY reunion dinner by September last year, she added, and there are still many customers on its waiting list. Hua Ting’s CNY set menus start at $788 for 10, but most diners chose its second-most-expensive menu, priced at $1,888 for 10. Over at Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant in Marriott Hotel, guests spent 10 per cent more on CNY feasts, which comprise reunion dinners and its set lunches and dinners for the first 15 days of the lunar calendar. The restaurant was fully booked on the first and second day of CNY, said Ms Myra Tan, Marriott’s marketing-communications officer. Some dinner guests even asked for a personal touch, she added. “We had a guest who requested a Chinese New Year menu that was different from what we had. “Our chefs specially crafted a menu for him and he took up a table for 10 for $3,000 before taxes,” said Ms Tan. “We had another guest who took up the $1,588 menu and he hosted three tables.” CNY business was also buoyant at the Cantonese restaurant Hai Tien Lo at Pan Pacific Hotel in Marina Square. A generous guest spent more than $9,000 on his family’s reunion dinner which took up five tables, said Ms Cheryl Ng, public-relations manager of the Pan Pacific Hotels Group. Takeaway sales of CNY dishes also fared well. Hai Xiang Restaurant at Parkroyal Hotel in Kitchener Road saw sales of its signature pen cai dish (a “treasure” pot filled with premium seafood ingredients) rise by more than 30 per cent, Ms Ng said. Parkroyal is part of the Pan Pacific group. CNY feasting, especially the reunion dinner, is a “tradition that people will want to uphold”, she said, explaining the popularity of its festive menus. Ms Ang agreed: “It’s a tradition and the Chinese believe that having auspicious dishes during CNY will bring good fortune in the coming year.” The dishes normally use ingredients like Chinese black moss, also known as fa cai, which sounds like the Chinese characters for prosperity. Ms Ng said these dishes appeal to diners who are looking for a good start to the new year. One such diner is a businessman in his 60s who wanted to be known only as Mr Lim. He spent more than $8,000 on a reunion dinner for about 30 people at Hua Ting on the eve of CNY. He said: “It’s worth the money, because family ties are the most important during a time like Chinese New Year’s Eve.”
