Actor and F&B entrepreneur Ben Yeo shutting high-end Chinese restaurant following losses of S$1 million over 2 years

Tan Xiang Yuan, the modern Chinese restaurant opened by Mediacorp actor Ben Yeo and his four partners, will be closing its doors after two years. 

Situated in a two-storey conservation house in Little India, the restaurant, which offers mid- to high-end Chinese cuisine, has been “bleeding money” to the tune of S$1 million (US$730,000), so they decided to cut their losses and shut the business. 

“Our mistake was that we spent too much on renovations. It’s very difficult to recover our start-up cost,” admitted Yeo, 46.

The chic restaurant, which opened to much fanfare in November 2022, cost almost S$1 million to set up. The bulk of the cost was spent on renovations and outfitting the detached house – around S$800,000.

“If we had spent less, we would probably still be operating. It’s the start-up investment that killed us,” he told 8days.sg.

Yeo and his partners, who also own zi char concept Charcoal Fish Head Steamboat Restaurant, retro-themed kopitiam Tan Xiang Chai Chee and beer garden Playground, had projected the restaurant would break even within two years.

However, operating at its current location in Little India has been challenging. Not only is there a lack of parking and shelter in the vicinity, but the business takes a big hit during the rainy season as most of their seats are outdoors.

“We foresaw these problems, but we didn’t think they would affect us so badly,” shared Yeo.

“When business was good, we made money but even then, it was not fantastic. But in bad months, the losses were tremendous, around S$20,000 to S$40,000 per month. Perhaps this location is not suitable for our concept.”

The decision to shut down was a difficult one and something the team had been mulling about for a year. The business had turned a small profit in the first year and they expected the second year to be more challenging. 

“Despite this, we decided to take the risk and push on for another year. However, business took a turn for the worse, partly due to the economy and competition from overseas brands. 2024 has been bad for F&B,” he said.

Tan Xiang Yuan’s last day of operations will be on Feb 12, the last day of Chinese New Year, and Ben Yeo has invited customers to visit the restaurant for its last hurrah.

“We had initially planned to close in December, but there were a lot of bookings for Chinese New Year. We didn’t want to disappoint our customers, so we pushed back our closing. We hope to let our regulars spend the last Chinese New Year with us at this location,” shared Yeo.

Besides set menus, there are also promotions like S$1 Peking duck or free Typhoon Style Lobster (around 500g), worth S$98, with an order of their Signature Seafood Steamboat (from S$98 for about five people). This will be available till their last day (excluding the eve of Chinese New Year).

However, this may not be goodbye for good. 

Ben Yeo does not rule out Tan Xiang Yuan making a comeback in the future should a suitable location become available: “Our customers like our food, so perhaps we will offer a slightly different concept like private dining. Most importantly, it will be in a smaller space so overheads are not so high, and we can better manage the business.”

Moving forward, he will focus on growing their Charcoal Fish Head Steamboat brand, which has three outlets in Kallang, Woodlands and Chai Chee.

According to Yeo, the brand is “doing okay” and they hope to open one more outlet in 2025. 

“Our goal is to have more tourists recognise our brand, so when they come to Singapore, our fish head steamboat outlets will be one of their must-visit places,” he said.

Tan Xiang Yuan will operate until Feb 12, 2025, at 1 Dickson Road, S209493. Open daily 12pm to 2.30pm; 5.30pm to 9.30pm. Tel: 8058 5527.

This story was originally published in 8Days.