CNY dining-in crunch as restaurants face strong demand but curbed capacity

FAMILIES are keen to dine out this Chinese New Year (CNY), but Covid-19 curbs mean that restaurants are struggling to meet demand, with many being swiftly booked up for Jan 31 - the day for the traditional reunion dinner.

A check of 11 restaurants found that 9 were fully booked for the dinner peak timings within the first week of January, with some being filled within days of their set menus launching online.

For Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant in Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel, CNY eve bookings reflected a 25 per cent increase in diners as compared with last year, according to hotel manager Alvin Lim.