Restaurants see rise in bookings as relaxed curbs take effect today
Protocols are in place but some have concerns over verifying whether diners are from the same household
Shortly after news broke that households can dine out in groups of up to five at restaurants from today, Ms Goh Wen Tyng made a booking at Keria Japanese Restaurant in Cuppage Plaza with her family.
Except for one meal at a hawker centre, the 44-year-old manager has not eaten out with her husband and two daughters - aged nine and 14 - since dining in at eateries was capped at two people in September.
She said: "We felt it was quite pointless to dine separately, so we have just been ordering takeaway or cooking at home."
Since the relaxed measures were announced on Monday, some restaurants have seen an uptick in bookings.
But business owners have also expressed concern over having to verify if diners are from the same household, especially for foreign diners.
The new adjustment of measures does not extend to hawker centres and coffee shops as they are unable to carry out comprehensive checks on all diners.
Protocols are in place to implement the rules, said Mr Vadim Korob, managing director of Food Concepts Group, which runs Italian restaurant Griglia in Craig Road and its sister concept Zafferano at Ocean Financial Centre. After receiving reservations of three to five people, staff will call diners to confirm that they are from the same household, and remind them to bring their identification cards. This will be repeated on the same day of the meal.
Mr Korob said: "We already had a few groups - who are not from the same household - trying to make bookings and pretending they did not understand the rules."
Other restaurants are also making checks with diners when they make bookings, and said staff will check identification cards.
So far, staff at LeVeL33 restaurant at the Marina Bay Financial Centre have had to explain to families coming to Singapore from other countries via the Vaccinated Travel Lanes that they have to dine at separate tables.
Other restaurants that have seen a rise in bookings for groups of up to five people include the one-Michelin-starred Buona Terra in Scotts Road, Blue Lotus Chinese Eating House in Sentosa, Restaurant Gaig in Stanley Street and Pura Brasa in Tanjong Pagar.
The recently launched pop-up Minion Cafe in Clarke Quay has been seeing changes to existing reservations, as well as new bookings. It runs till Jan 2 next year. Said Ms Audrey Ng, marketing manager of 1-Group, which runs the cafe: "We have a few days to ensure that our supply volume is at full capacity and that our operations team is equipped with new seating plans for diners to visit the cafe safely."
The relaxation of measures is also a relief for Chinese restaurants, such as Yan at the National Gallery Singapore, where many dishes are more suited for communal dining.
However, general manager Shek Chi Kuen has had to reject some bookings from family groups whose members do not live together.
Others are relieved the playing of recorded music can resume from today, and - with Christmas round the corner - hope for a further relaxation of measures that do not limit dining in bigger groups to household members. Vaccinated diners who are not household members are allowed to dine in pairs.
Restaurant Gaig director Nuria Gibert said: "It gives us faith that things are getting better. The music is a little reward for us. Finally, we are starting to see the end of the tunnel for all we had to go through in the past two years."
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