Taiwan Night Markets, a concept eatery at Cineleisure specialising in Taiwanese street food, has closed eight months after it launched.
Citing high operating costs and a dwindling number of patrons, the Fei Siong Group-operated dining concept ceased operations on Sunday (31 March).
Less than half of the original stalls were left standing as of the last day.
News of the closure surfaced online about a week before the confirmation. Whether the eatery will relaunch under a new project or moniker is currently unclear.
According to Shin Min Daily News, the last date of operations for Taiwan Night Markets, located at the basement of Cineleisure in Orchard, was Sunday (31 March).
It first opened with 19 street food kiosks and five mini restaurants in July 2023.
When Shin Min visited its premises on 30 March, only three to four stalls were still in operation.
The stalls still open included the ones selling braised pork rice, vermicelli, and beverages.
Chen Junlin (transliterated from Mandarin), the person in charge of the eatery, confirmed with Shin Min that all the stalls will cease operations on 31 March.
The Managing Director of Fei Siong, Tan Kim Siong, told the Chinese-language daily that stalls in the eatery have been closing one after another since the start of the year due to the gradual decline of customers.
He highlighted that the original intention of opening Taiwan Night Markets was to bring the original flavour of Taiwanese food to the Singaporean clientele.
As a result, they import ingredients from Taiwan, which drives up the food prices.
The high prices, in turn, deterred customers, who found that the food was too expensive. The number of patrons subsequently halved following the year-end holidays.
“We made this decision with a heavy heart. We would like to thank our friends and customers from all walks of life for their support along the way, and we look forward to serving you with a new look,” Mr Tan said.
MS News has reached out to Taiwan Night Markets for more details.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook and Shin Min Daily News.
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