Slow but steady start
AROY Maak Thai restaurant has had a slow start after opening on September 24 but owner Melvin Pratap is confident business will pick up with the ease COVID-restrictions ease.
The restaurant owner is set to provide customers with a unique dining experience by serving authentic Thai cuisine, using the right ingredients and sauces.
Mr Pratap said they were looking forward to opening one restaurant in Damodar City and had taken the opportunity as soon as it presented itself.
“We got a chance when Veggie Delight was closing down so we bought it off from them and then we had a talk with Mr Damodar and he told us that he’s looking for some Thai restaurant,” he said.
“So that’s when we decided okay we can cater for a Thai restaurant since our chefs were trained in Thai cuisine and they’ve worked in Australia and New Zealand as well.”
Mr Pratap employs two chefs, one kitchen hand and one cashier at his restaurant in Damodar City.
He said he felt lucky to employ the staff for his restaurant as some of them were laid off from the resorts where they were employed because of the pandemic.
“The reason why we open in pandemic is because we know the situation is going to be changing very soon.
“So that is why we have invested and now we’re just waiting for the returns.
“In Aroy Maak Thai I have spent about $50,000 to $60,000,” he said.
Despite having a slow start Mr Pratap said business had been good and starting to pick up as they have dine-in available.
“From my perspective, I would say that it’s a slow start but I know that time will change and once situation gets better,” Mr Pratap said.
“While opening up a restaurant I always know that we have to cater for losses in the beginning, when people are getting to know the place.
“So I have my plans and my budget ready for at least two to three months of expense and then we know that we will bounce back.”
However the restaurant owner feels people don’t know about Thai food and about the menu they have therefore there was a need to educate them.
“Then definitely if they taste the food, they will come back because the taste is really good,” he said.
This however was not the first restaurant business Mr Pratap had ventured into as he operates a wine and dine restaurant Bula VIP Lounge which is located on top of Outriggers and Seekers hotel at Waimanu Rd, Suva.
This restaurant employed around eight staff, had its own function hall and had resort menu available at a cheaper price.
Bula VIP Lounge was e been operational for last three months now.
Mr Prataps who also operates Japanese Auto Trading (Fiji) Pte Ltd said his dream of opening up a restaurant came from his observation that people would always need food.
He said they were in discussions to expand the business into a bigger location in Suva as well in Port Denarau.
“So we’re looking into opening up a restaurant over there which will cater for the menus from Bula VIP and also the menu from Aroy Maak Thai, so a combination of both menus.”
He said the reason they chose Damodar City was because of its locality which was near the city centre and it was also a shopping complex which made it one of the busiest places.
“We’ve done our research and there are two places that are very nice to operate, one is Damodar City and the other one is Rups Mega.
“We looked into Rups Mega but there was no space available, we were fortunate enough to get a space over here.
“At the moment we are opening from nine to eight, every day, we take online orders, we have food delivery system as well through Fiji eats,” he said.
Mr Pratap said cooking was always his hobby and he always thought about opening a restaurant because he had his own recipes which he wanted to try.
“And then that was my dream for a long time so I got a great opportunity and I had money to invest so I invested into restaurants.
“Basically what I have seen is no matter what happens people will still eat, so a restaurant business can never go down if you serve right.”
The businessman had also carried out his research into what his competitors served and the pricing of meals in the mall.
“The first thing is we have looked into is the pricing, we went around towards the food court and we checked around.
“The food that we offer we can actually sell it at a higher price because of the things that being used but we’ve decided to give it to the customers at a reasonable price and plus we also have specials of the day.
“We buy our ingredients every day from the market, we got our supplier who drops in every day.
“All the local ingredients we buy directly fresh every day.”
Mr Pratap said apart from the specials they also minimised letting their food go to waste by reducing the price by half just before closing.
He invited customers to try out the Thai cuisines which were available at his restaurants. “Thai food is really good food. “The taste of it is really good and we make it to the customer’s choice.”
Mr Pratap said customers could choose whether they wanted meat in their meals or to add spices.
He said customers had the freedom to have custom made meals at their restaurant which he feels was not an option in many other dining places.