Tien Court reopens after 2-week suspension

SINGAPORE - Chinese restaurant Tien Court reopened on Sunday after a two-week suspension for food poisoning.

Diners flocked to the 150-seat restaurant at the Copthorne King's Hotel Singapore, said a spokesman for the hotel, filling up 85 per cent of the place for dinner on Sunday and lunch on Monday.

"We are happy that business has been brisk since we reopened. Many of our regular customers have booked tables with us and Tien Court is filling up fast for the Chinese New Year period," said hotel general manager Jeane Lim.

The restaurant, which serves Cantonese and Szechuan cuisine and is decades old, was given 12 demerit points and fined $800 after investigations by the National Environment Agency showed food "unfit for human consumption" had been brought into the restaurant, and unclean food sold.

The complaint of food poisoning was made late last year.

Since then, the management has taken measures to improve kitchen hygiene, including the replacement of refrigerators and seafood tanks with new ones.

Regular patron James Ow, 60, who had lunch there on Monday, said the incident had not dented his confidence in the restaurant. He added: "It's good that they upgraded the kitchen. For the customers' sake, hygiene is important."

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