No Dine-in Rule Effective May 4

by Ipoh Echo Team

State secretary, Dato’ Ahmad Suaidi Abdul Rahim today announces the no dine-in rule for the food sector (including restaurants, food courts, stalls, kiosks and food trucks) effective Monday, May 4.

This follows the announcement by the federal government to restart the economy by resuming certain industries and business activities from Monday (May 4).

According to Suaidi, the eateries are allowed to operate only for the purpose of takeaway and delivery.

Ipoh Echo has contacted a few eateries in Ipoh for their comments.

Proprietor Siau Hooi of Morel Restaurant spoke on how the Italian fusion dining spot at Soho Ipoh has adapted, “The period of restricted movement has affected about 60% to 70% of our sales. To date, we do delivery on our own as well as via Foodpanda. We have lowered down our a la carte menu price by giving 20% discount and introduced more variety of local food items.”

“Additionally, we have waived off the delivery fee and provided complimentary daily dessert to our guests. We keep coming up with new items like pizza and pie which were not on our menu before. We’ve been getting encouraging responses especially from our regular customers,” she expressed.

Orders for take out or delivery from Morel Restaurant is available from 11am till 3pm and 5.30pm till 8pm (or till sold out). Check out its Facebook page by the same name for the daily menu and interested readers can call or whatsapp 011 2420 2450 to place an order.

Managing director of Team Some Sdn Bhd, Ceylyn Tay stated that prior to the announcement of CMCO, they had already decided to not open Canning Dim Sum for dine-in purposes until or after the expiration of the original MCO.

“Given that it’s also the fasting period for Muslims, we wanted to see how the situation goes as many will still refuse going out for dine-in purposes,” she mentioned.

Ceylyn expressed that the extra work of recording customers’ name and contact number will not be a hassle for their side.

“It’s more of a safety purpose,” she said. “Also, I have gathered information on how to properly lay out the premise of Canning Dim Sum with my colleagues.

“Including the outdoor area, each table will be arranged 2 metres apart and only 50 customers are allowed on the premises at a time,” Ceylyn explained. “This is our adherence to social distancing measures and SOPs imposed by the government on eateries.”

Those who wish to have dim sum delivered to their doorsteps in frozen packages may contact them via number 016 276 6535.

“We’ve been on restricted movement for almost two months now, I think it’s better for us to wait until the MCO is lifted,” said Ng Yii Shing, the owner of Sheng Cake & Cafe located at 60, Jalan Ng Weng Hup, Taman Pertama, 30100 Ipoh.

“I believe most of us have been badly affected by the impact of COVID-19 but we should look at the big picture and realize it’s not worth risking our lives. I own two eateries, a cafe and a restaurant. I’d rather lose money than to expose ourselves and be back to square one, safety comes first.” he added.

“Not only that, the space in my shop is limited as we can only fit four tables or less with the 2 metre rule,” Ng explained.

“I still do deliveries, and we are on Foodpanda. Some of my regular customers would pick up the food themselves.”

Readers who wish to order may call Ng at 016-5586215.

As for Harrish, owner of Tamara’s Ipoh, he was prepared for dine-in but after a discussion with his wife, they decided that it will be safer to continue with delivery services for now. “We were happy at first to reopen because we’ve been closed for about a month now but after considering the consequences and our staff’s health, we feel it is better to maintain the delivery for now. Everyone wants business but the well-being of my staff is important,” said Harrish.

Although his business might be affected, he is grateful to his regular customers as they still order from his restaurant. Tamara’s Ipoh is available on Foodpanda.

According to Maninder Singh from Hyderabad Recipes Ipoh, the restaurant had prepared the seating arrangement according to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in a way that allows one customer per table. To ensure the safety of his own staff, they sanitize their hands frequently and wear gloves and caps. 

“Our business has indeed dropped by 50% but when we look at it from another angle, our staff’s health and safety matters more,” he told Ipoh Echo. Hyderabad Recipes Ipoh is available for delivery via Foodpanda.

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