Haidilao’s New Outlet At Marina Square Will Have Robot Waiters, Auto Soup Base Machines & 5G

We’ve often wondered what the future with robots would look like.

As a kid, growing up watching movies like ‘Terminator’ and ‘I, Robot’ have rather scared me.

But instead of serving our future robot-lords, we currently have Sofia, the world’s first android with citizenship in Saudi Arabia.

Jokes aside, a future with the technology of self-driving cars and android servants have always been food for thought.

And you know who else is on this train? Haidilao.

High Tech Haidilao

“Good morning sir, how would you like your Asian food?”

“Futuristic.”

Because the above scenario is coming true faster than you think.

Haidilao is planning to open up a new outlet in Marina Square and the visuals of this place are a little more than ups.

At first glance, I was wondering if this was a kitchen or a sci-fi battle station.

The restaurant is under construction but promises to have food delivery robots and an intelligent kitchen management system.

Even the soup for hotpots will be prepared by customised automatic soup base machines.

This is Haidilao’s way of saying the machine can technically memorise your special orders! That’s super cool actually.

Customers can also try their hand at virtual and augmented reality e-gaming using a trial 5G network under a tie-up with telecom provider M1.

I guess this is where my temporary betrayal of Singtel starts.

Though I’m not actually sure how e-gaming in a restaurant is supposed to work, I’ll be a little optimistic about it.

Another interesting fact is that this isn’t Haidilao’s first venture into a ‘smart restaurant’, Beijing has one of these too!

Currently, there is no official opening date for the one at Marina Square.

First Step Into The Future

This is also M1’s first time bringing 5G technology to F&B and retail so it’s honestly quite a step forward for everyone!

“5G is enabling better experiences across industries, and we are happy to bring the trial of this technology to our restaurant in Singapore,” said Haidilao Marina Square’s branch manager Frank Li.

The above is a concept of how the Marina Square outlet would look like and man if it isn’t classy!

Maybe I can put my childhood fear of robots aside for the sake of some good old hotpot.

Haidilao? More like hi, you’ve definitely got my attention now.

Sorry for the failed pun attempt.