Thai restaurant Korat Thai Cafe is such a well-loved Thai establishment in Singapore, the original owners offered to pass down the full recipes and the guaranteed commitment of their current chef to potential restauranteurs at a cost.
What cost, you ask?
"North of S$200,000", revealed Justin Ang, who together with fellow Class 95 deejay Vernon Anthonisz, are collectively known as The Muttons.
The Muttons announced on an Instagram post on Jun. 4 that they have taken over the Thai restaurant.
The duo briefly explained that their F&B company was approached by advertising agency DSTNCT, who won the "big" bidding war to acquire Korat, in hopes of running the restaurant together.
All recipes stay on menu
Apart from being radio deejays, The Muttons also have experience in the F&B space as owners of roast meat restaurant Fook Kin and now-defunct casual Japanese joint Itchy Bun.
The duo told Mothership that they're not the ones literally running the restaurant, though.
"We don't do anything with regards to the business except post pictures of the food and eat the food. He's the man who does everything else," Anthonisz half-jokingly said.
He's referring to, Bernie Tay, a restauranteur and also The Muttons' business partner in all their F&B ventures.
While the restaurant takeover was officially announced in June, it was acquired in November 2022 and it took until February 2023 for the new team to learn the ropes.
Longtime fans of Korat can rest assured that all the original recipes, including the fluffy Signature Crispy Omelette (S$9.50 to S$12.50), will stay on the menu.
SignatuePhoto by Livia Soh.
Old but new Korat
Calling it the "old but new" Korat, the team also relaunched the restaurant with a line of new dishes. These dishes, Ang said, are Thai fishes that "everybody travels to Bangkok for".
The team travelled to Thailand to do some research and development (R&D), which according to Ang, is to eat at "all the places with queues [...] and you look at the queue, it's 70 per cent Singaporeans".
From there, the R&D team tries to replicate the popular dishes to bring them closer to Singaporeans.
And here's what they've added to their menu:
Tom Yum Mama Ultra (S$65)
Photo by Livia Soh.
Leng Saap (Volcano Pork Spine) (S$22 to S$38)
Photo by Livia Soh.
Khao Soi (Thai Curry Crispy Noodle) (S$12)
Photo by Livia Soh.
Expansion plans?
There are no plans to expand Korat yet, but the idea is on the table.
"The prospect of opening more outlets around Singapore is on the table we're just waiting to stabilise this place and see how far we can go," Tay said.
He continued: "As most F&B businesses do, they obviously want to expand and that's where you get to bring the food out to people who can't access this restaurant. Hopefully, we'll get to do that very soon."
@nova.mothership Korat Thai Cafe 📍: Orchard Tower, 400 Orchard Rd, 03-28 S238875 ⏰: Daily, 11:30am to 11pm 🍴: Tom Yum Mama Ultra S$65 Leng Saap (Volcano Pork Spine) S$22-S$38 Khao Soi (Thai Curry Crispy Noodle) S$12 Signature Crispy Omelette S$9.50-S$12.50 Deep-fried Tiger Prawn with Garlic Cereal S$18 Thai Iced Milk Tea/Green Milk Tea S$3 #tiktoksg #thaifoodsg #sgfoodie #tomyum #exploresg ♬ ชอบเธออะ (ท่อนละลาย)
Korat Thai Cafe
Orchard Towers 400 Orchard Road #03-28 S238875
Opening hours: 11:30am to 11pm, daily
Top image from Mothership.