Everything you need to know about 1 Market closure in 60 sec

1 Market by Chef Wan, a Halal buffet restaurant had closed its doors permanently last Sunday. With the exit of so many places, ranging from UWS to 77^th Street to Funan DigitaLlife Mall and Glasshouse, it’s pretty scary to think of how a hype can build or kill something.

Here’s everything you need to know about their closure in 60 seconds.

Location
If you haven’t heard of 1 Market, here’s a little background information. Located at Plaza Singapura, they were opened in November 2012. A 450-seater restaurant, their buffet features a massive spread of Chef Wan’s famous recipes.

The puzzling question
Malaysian celebrity Chef Wan is quite a popular figure for the Malay community in Singapore. And as the name of the buffet restaurant suggests, you would think that it was opened or run by Chef Wan.

Owned by Food Junction, Chef Wan had merely allowed them to use his name and, at times, provide advice. Wan used to develop the menu for the restaurant based on his recipes, but he has claimed in a recent interview that he hasn’t been involved in anything for the past 10 months. It was revealed that he was unhappy with 1 Market’s management and the drop in food standards.

They simply couldn’t care less
It has come to the diners’ attention that the food was a far cry from what 1 Market had claimed to be. The hype quickly died down, but 1 Market couldn’t seem to care less.

There were bad service, terrible food and disgusting upkeep that would turn diners off. The general manager of Food Junction had told the papers that the closing was due to a steady drop of business, and that it was hard to find and retain skilled cooks in today’s market.

Chef Wan also mentioned that it was a shame, because they worked hard on the venture.

Founder of Makansutra Guide, Mr K.F. Seetoh had expressed his views on the saddening news. He believed that it is difficult to sustain restaurants selling heritage food as people were more comfortable with their familiar dining options.

He also said that “big names do not hold weight in Singapore,” because “even three-star Michelin restaurants have had to close down.” That sounds pretty sad, right?

No announcement of their closure
1 Market was not too concerned with what you think. They ceased operations without giving any notice to its customers, leaving some regulars surprised and confused.

Horrible reviews
There were plenty horrible reviews online about this restaurant, and it seems that they have pissed off lots of patrons. The reviews included tons of comments stating about “the cold dishes served, the food that ran out by early night, and there were no seafood at all as advertised.”

The food quality was bad, and reviews stated it was “not worth to pay $50 for all of that.” You could easily get a better buffet with the same amount of price.

Many complained about the bad service as well, and the restaurant was poorly maintained. They even said that they would not visit again. There were a couple of good reviews as well, but the number of 1-star ratings will shock you. Not that you can see them anymore because the last time we checked, 1 Market’s Facebook page is no longer online.

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com