HOLIDAY-MAKERS and casino patrons in Macau will be able to tuck into favourite Singapore dishes such as bak kut teh, prawn noodles, nasi lemak and roti prata when the Venetian Macao resort hotel opens on Aug 28.
A Singapore company is opening Rasa Singapura, a 1,000-seat food court, at the luxury development.
Rasa Singapura means 'the flavours of Singapore' in Malay and the 7,000 sq ft food court is one of four new eatery concepts that food and beverage group Solutions 17 is setting up in the Venetian.
The company is behind the Tong Shui Cafe chain, 3 Monkeys restaurant, and handles the food and beverage for the Singapore Turf Club and Singapore Polo Club.
It is pumping in $20 million into the Venetian Macao venture.
Aside from Rasa Singapura, it is also bringing in the nature and jungle-themed 3 Monkeys restaurant, Hong Kong-style Tong Shui Cafe and chicken wing restaurant World Wide Wings to the Venetian.
Mr Raymond Khoo, 43, chief executive of Solutions 17, said the company decided on the concepts by working with the Venetian's leasing and retail consulting team.
He said that surprisingly, Tong Shui Cafe was an instant choice for the Venetian, despite the fact that there are already so many other Hong Kong cafes in Macau.
There are six Tong Shui outlets in Singapore and they serve Hong Kong-style fast food.
Mr Khoo said: 'They visited our outlet and loved the fresh take we put into the cha chan teng concept.'
The food court and the chicken wing restaurant came about through discussions with the consulting team.
Mr Khoo said: 'Since there are many Chinese from the mainland and Hong Kongers who love Singapore food, especially bak kut teh, Hainanese chicken rice and laksa, it was natural to set up this concept.'
The company hired two chefs, formerly from the Meritus Mandarin Hotel, to helm the food court. Mr Foo Tee Loke and Mr Salleh Jahari will be heading the Chinese and Malay kitchens respectively.
Mr Khoo said the company got the deal to set up the eateries through a referral by the Singapore representative of the Las Vegas Sands, which owns the Venetian Macao. The deal was closed in a month.
The company is also negotiating to open five eateries, among them a Samy's Curry outlet, in Macau's Cotai Central. The new casino and tourism district houses several luxury hotels, such as the St. Regis, and a new Shangri-La Hotel will open there in 2009.
Good business is expected at Solutions 17's new outlets in Macau. Conference organisers and tour agencies have come a-calling, for example.
Mr Khoo added: 'There's already so much anticipation about us opening and we already have 10 corporate bookings for the entire restaurant.'
