British Indian Curry Hut, the restaurant in Holland Village that failed to ensure its customers adhered to safe management practices on June 19, has been ordered to shut for one week.

The eatery has apologised for what happened:

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) had ordered the Indian restaurant located along Lorong Mambong to close “with immediate effect” on Saturday.

This was after crowds were observed outside the restaurant on Friday, the first day of phase two.

However, the restaurant will still be allowed to do takeaways next week.

It will reopen for dine-in from June 29, but “provided it has shown that it is able to implement safe management measures for its customers”, URA said in its statement.

Written to authorities

British Indian Curry Hut told Today it has written to URA to explain the situation and is hoping to hear back from the agency.

The restaurant sent an email to the authorities to say it had followed safe distancing to the best of its ability and would like to seek URA’s help “to guide it through this difficult period".

The restaurant manager also said it was beyond his control to manage customers who stood outside his premises to mingle with others, who might have been from other eateries.

Moreover, there were two fights on Friday night alone, which might have caused crowds to gather outside the eatery, the manager added.

Businesses were witnessed to have taken a hit on the second night of phase two.

According to Today, one eatery reported business to be 10 per cent of its normal night on the second night of phase two.

This was after the Outdoor Refreshment Areas (ORA) and on the road along Lorong Mambong were no longer allowed to be used to serve customers.

Top photo by Mothership