SINGAPORE – In recent months, a new foodie hot spot has been drawing crowds to the former OG Orchard Point building in Somerset.
The department store shut in October 2022, and all five of its retail floors – more than 155,000 sq ft of space – have been leased out to its master tenant Hao Corp, a home-grown business best known for its chain of Hao Mart supermarkets.
Collectively, the five floors are now known as Taste Orchard, offering a mix of groceries, food and beverage options and restaurants.
Basement 1 to Level 2 house its Eccellente by Hao Mart supermarket, which sells groceries and international food items, household products and Singapore souvenirs to cater to tourists prowling the Orchard Road belt. Also open are Killiney Kopitiam, Korean fried chicken chain BHC Chicken and frozen yogurt chain Yole.
For drinks, a Wine Bar & Cellar, run by wine restaurant chain Wine Mansion, offers up to 20 wines by the glass (from $12). Its highlight is an exclusive Taste Orchard cocktail ($18) made with rum and sake.
New tenants can be expected in the coming months.
The highlight on Level 1 is the FYI (Famous. Yummy. Irresistible) Kitchen area operated by Hao Mart. Slated to open by March, it will offer an array of live seafood – from Australian and Boston lobsters to razor clams and oysters – as well as a butchery with dry-aged beef. Diners can choose to have the produce cooked on site and dine at a 30-seat area.
There is also a menu featuring dishes from three popular home-grown businesses – Le Matin Patisserie, steakhouse The Feather Blade and pizza specialist Casa Vostra.
These include Le Matin’s Seafood Symphony Sub ($24.90), with crab and avocado sandwiched between croissant pastry; Casa Vostra’s truffle mushroom pizza ($25.90); and The Feather Blade’s steak ($24).
The Feather Blade’s meat marinades will also be on sale at the butcher’s section, while Casa Vostra’s frozen pizzas are available at the supermarket area.
Le Matin is also slated to open a small bakery there soon, selling its popular pastries.
On the second floor, a Chef Community space – targeted to launch by end-June – will feature cooking classes and events in collaboration with chefs and home-cooking groups.
Other tenants in the pipeline include the first Kebuke Tea Co., a bubble tea outlet from Taiwan, and the second outlet of Warabimochi Kamakura from Japan. The latter is known for its dessert drinks topped with warabimochi (made from starch produced from bracken root), and its debut outlet here opens on Feb 3 at One Holland Village.
There will also be branches of familiar Japanese restaurants – such as Sushiro, Chirashi King Kong and Ikura – opening soon.
Adding to the food line-up are other services including local optometrist Raylite Optical, tuition centre ASE Learning, as well as an aesthetic medical clinic and nail salon. Chun K, a family-friendly karaoke chain from China, will also take up 7,000 sq ft of space on Level 4.
The boss of this latest Orchard Road foodie and lifestyle enclave, Hao Corp’s chief executive Tan Kim Yong, 64, says he picked this spot for its convenient location and accessible parking space. He had eyed other spots, including T Galleria by DFS in Scotts Road and The Heeren.
Dr Tan, who started Hao Mart in 2016 as a minimart in Whampoa, runs the business with his daughter Germaine, 28, the company’s chief marketing officer, and his son Justin, 29, who is deputy chief executive.
Hao Mart now has 28 outlets islandwide.
At its peak, it had more than 60 branches. But Dr Tan says he consolidated them over time, as many were small minimart concepts that could not compete against bigger supermarket chains in the heartland.
With a 12-year lease for Taste Orchard, he says he is in it for the long run, and does not rule out replicating the concept if it proves to be successful.
At this site, the company is in the unique position of being both landlord and tenant – and so the main challenge has been to curate a trending and differentiated mix of offerings, he says.
Acknowledging the competitive supermarket scene, Ms Tan adds: “We have no lack of supermarkets and groceries in Singapore. But there’s something special in the experience of going to the supermarket to see the live seafood in the tank and picking the exact fish you want.”
Taste Orchard at 160 Orchard Road opens from 8.30am to 10.30pm daily.
