There are several eateries shuttering in March — Restaurant Ibid is one of them.
The reason for closure, however, is not manpower issues or rising costs, chef-owner Woo Wai Leong told AsiaOne on Thursday (Feb 12).
“It is two words: It’s time. As a restaurant that is chef-owner operated with no big investments and no big restaurant group behind us, I feel like we have accomplished most of what we set out to do,” the 37-year-old said.
“We created a restaurant that our guests love, we have built a good reputation, we have regular customers who come back and have supported the restaurant over the years. We’ve done almost everything. We are profiting, we are a restaurant in the green.”
The fine-dining restaurant, which comprises a team of four including Wai Leong, is slated to close on March 20.
Wai Leong shared that he will do his best to ensure that his employees are placed in new workplaces that they wish to join.
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Restaurant Ibid specialises in Asian fusion fare, offering diners multi-course tasting menus. Since opening in 2017, the establishment has received accolades from the Michelin Guide Singapore from 2019 to 2025.
The former lawyer, who has helmed the establishment for the past eight years, also said that he needs to take a break. For now, he does not know how long this break will be — he’s “willing to let life happen”.
He is not closed off to the idea of reopening the restaurant or exploring new F&B concepts in the future.
Wai Leong, who won MasterChef Asia 2015, shared that if he were to meet a group of like-minded people who want to try something different, he is more than happy to share whatever expertise and knowledge he has.
“Unless someone is willing to buy over the Ibid name for a good deal of money, I will most definitely be holding onto the name and it will likely come back in the future. I still have to make a living,” he said with a chuckle.
But the restaurant in its current form will close for good.
“Whether it is Ibid or another concept, I don’t want to force that decision. I want it to happen naturally,” Wai Leong said.
He also noted that restaurants often change locations and do full renovations over time.
“For us, we have never really had the opportunity to change locations or do something different with the space. I felt that if I was going to do that, it’s a good time to take a break first.”
Shuttering Restaurant Ibid wasn’t a decision made on a whim.
Wai Leong shared that he has considered doing so several times over the past few years.
“There’s always that small voice. When things go bad, you wonder if you should keep going or just give up,” he said.
Citing an example, he brought up the Covid-19 pandemic period, where he had questioned if Restaurant Ibid would survive.
The establishment lost 40 per cent of its diners one evening in July 2020 due to a combination of no-shows and last-minute cancellations, CNA reported.
Due to safe distancing restrictions at the time, the restaurant’s capacity was reduced from 30 to 20.
Last November, the eatery was bombarded by numerous one-star Google reviews from suspicious accounts with no other reviews.
Wai Leong later received a WhatsApp message from an overseas number, offering to take down the reviews for a fee.
Believing Restaurant Ibid was the target of a scam, he lodged a police report.
After going through many ups and downs with his brainchild, the chef-owner feels that it is finally the right time to close it.
“At this current moment, as we announce the closure, it doesn’t feel like we are giving up. It just feels like it’s time,” Wai Leong told AsiaOne.
“We are closing the restaurant on a good note. I wouldn’t call it a happy note, but maybe a bittersweet note.”
While it was a difficult decision for him, Wai Leong feels that it is a rational one.
“I’m sure I’ll still feel it after we hand over the keys to the landlord and the next owner.”
He likened the experience to moving out of a family home and returning many years later to see someone else building their life there.
A lethargic economy
While Wai Leong isn’t closing Restaurant Ibid due to financial issues, he is aware that other F&B establishments are struggling.
The usual reasons include increasing costs across overheads such as rentals, manpower, and ingredient costs.
Apart from that, he said the economy is “kind of lethargic”.
“We have diners who have a strong Singapore dollar who would rather go on holidays and spend their money there than dine in Singapore,” he said.
Wai Leong also pointed out that Singapore now has more discerning diners.
“I think it’s great to have a dining public that demands more. It’s not necessarily a bad thing — it keeps the industry on its toes,” he shared.
“Diners can tell when they’re getting good value from eateries. They can tell when they’re getting a good experience and they reward those businesses with their time and money.”
For now, Wai Leong thinks the trajectory of the F&B scene isn’t going to get easier anytime soon.
“All the best to everyone who is still in the game. Mad respect, especially if you’re a small independent restaurant,” said Wai Leong.
Apart from the big players that are already in the industry, F&B businesses here have to worry about big overseas players who come to Singapore to set up shop, he explained.
“Logically, if we lose a hundred restaurants tomorrow, there should be a hundred restaurants’ worth of customers that will be redistributed to everyone else. But it doesn’t work that way because we’re very much an open system.”
Wai Leong added that Singapore may have reached a point where social media is not as useful a tool in promoting F&B businesses.
With many people these days purporting to be food experts and wanting to create content, it’s difficult for the everyday diner to go on social media and decide what they want to eat, he explained.
Some of these content creators and eateries also adjust their social media posts for the algorithm.
“So after a while, are we truly celebrating unique places or just places that work for the search engine?” asked Wai Leong.
Address: 18 North Canal Rd, Singapore 048830
Opening hours: Tuesdays to Saturdays, 6.30pm to 10.30pm
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