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Old-school Chinese restaurants like Spring Court in Chinatown and Lai Wah Restaurant at Bendemeer evoke a nostalgic charm that modern restaurants fail to deliver. With everything moving and developing at rocket speed in Singapore (I hate it), having such places still retains bits and pieces of our heritage. Unfortunately, our cultural identity is slipping away even further as East Ocean Teochew Restaurant on the 5th storey of Takashimaya Shopping Centre will be officially ceasing operations on 28 Dec 2025.
Like I always tell my friends, the F&B industry isn’t for everyone and it needs a special ‘breed’ of Singaporeans to do the job. That’s why you see more Malaysians and other nationalities making up the bulk of the kitchen manpower in hotel and restaurants all over Singapore. So it’s no surprise that the reason for East Ocean Teochew Restaurant’s closure is because there are no successors carrying on the legacy of what the ageing shareholders and management are leaving behind.
The restaurant opened in 1992 at Shaw Centre on Scotts Road where it operated for 2 decades, before shifting diagonally across to its current location at Takashimaya Shopping Centre.
The Teochew restaurant is not only known for its handmade dim sum, but also its festive products on special occasions such as mooncakes for Mid-Autumn festival and rice dumplings for the Dragon Boat Festival.
To thank their loyal customers who have supported them over the years, the restaurant will be launching special promotions on their menu and Chinese New Year festive cakes. If you’d like to patronise East Ocean Teochew Restaurant before they bite the dust on the last week of December, do note that the restaurant currently isn’t taking reservations and only accepts walk-in customers.
I’ve attached the operating hours for your convenience:
- Mon to Thu — 11.30am – 3pm & 6pm – 9pm
- Fri — 11.30am – 3pm & 6pm – 9.30pm
- Sat — 10am – 3pm & 6pm – 9.30pm
- Sun & public holidays — 10am – 3pm & 6pm – 9pm
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