Restaurant dining: Luxe for less?

Diners want it, and chefs and restaurant owners contending with diner apathy are happy to provide it.

- Tan Hsueh Yun Senior Correspondent

Whether it is an omakase sushi experience or a perfectly cooked steak with all the trimmings, restaurants are looking to offer that one thing no Singaporean can resist value for money.

Of course, such establishments have always been in the food scene. But restaurants at all price points have taken a battering in the last two years.

This past year, especially, has been marked by high-profile closures of Michelin-starred restaurants, upscale restaurants, mid-priced restaurants, chain restaurants and even food kiosks. People are saving their strong Singapore dollars to spend overseas, and others are cutting back on spending amid global political and economic uncertainties.

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There are those epic queues for pasta at Scarpetta in Amoy Street, which start an hour before opening. Its wares, priced between $17 and $26, fly out of the kitchen.

La Pasta, on the fourth floor of Orchard Towers, manages seven to eight turns a night. That means seven or eight different diners occupy each one of its 14 seats every night the restaurant is open.

Diners have one hour to finish their meals. They love the big portions and prices that start at $16.90 so much, they keep showing up.

Then there are the fine-dining restaurants which have gone casual. Case in point: British chef Paul Longworth turned his one-Michelin-starred Rhubarb into Encore by Rhubarb. The new casual vibe has reeled in diners, who fill the place up at both lunch and dinner.