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How it all began
The creator of Muthu's Curry – Mr Kasi's father – Mr Ayyakkannu.S set up the stall in 1969 with his savings. Business picked up in the 70s and a second outlet was opened at Race Course Road. In 1984, the 13-year-old Kasi came from India to study in Singapore. While youths at his age were out playing after school and on weekends, young Kasi spent his time at the restaurant helping his father and learning the ropes - from being cashier to waiter to cleaner. He did it all except cooking.
After pre-university and national service in 1994, he took up citizenship and planted his roots in Singapore. "My father said he wanted to retire and asked me to take over the restaurant. I agreed because I already knew what I wanted, and I had my own ideas to make the shop better." Under his father's coaching, Mr Kasi learnt to make Muthu's famous curry fish head. To this day, he still cooks it himself before the start of the business day.
Bringing the business to higher ground
Looking at the new restaurant that seats 300, one can hardly tell that this is the Muthu’s Curry that used to be one block down the street. The new swanky premises sport a contemporary zen-like interior, decorated with beautiful art and crafts from India. In the centre are the open kitchen and food counters where the aromatic and colourful Southern Indian spread is dished out to customers.
Explaining the move, Mr Kasi said, “There’s just so much space in the old place. Many customers left because they had to wait too long.” He also took the opportunity to reposition and re-brand. Muthu’s Curry now has a new logo and tagline, uniforms for the waiters, and festive menus and promotions-- all in a classy and relaxing ambience, at affordable prices.
"Customers are different now; they are no longer satisfied with just good food." The forward-looking and enterprising Mr Kasi knows exactly what he wants and is moving ahead, with the help of his wife, Visha and brother, Srinivasan. Visha oversees the marketing and catering arm of the business while Srinivasan takes care of operations.
"We want to create excitement and different experiences for our customers," explained Visha. One recent success was the Mother's Day promotion where diners received digital photographs - framed in antique frames from India - taken against a specially created backdrop. This promotion was so well-received that they will do more festive promotions, including Chinese New Year and National Day.
Besides such promotions, new dishes are introduced so that there is a constant flow of fresh and interesting items for regular customers. They also revamped their loyalty programme. "We have many regulars and we give them new privilege cards with better privileges," explained Visha. This loyalty programme even aims to identify and reward "best spenders" who spent the most in a month.
Good service is also another driver of the business. "Every staff goes through service training, from proper hygiene to the way they carry the trays, take orders from customers and serve the food," emphasised Mr Kasi, who believes that service makes a difference to business.
He also introduced other value-added services, such as free valet parking and wireless hotspot service.
The next frontier
With some 3,000 Indian restaurants in Singapore, competition is intense. "We have to keep up with the increasing expectations of customers; the mindset of our old customers who still miss the old coffeeshop; and the many food choices around," said Mr Kasi. "It is easy to reach customers' expectations; maintaining that expectation is the tough part," added Visha.
Going by the 45% increase in sales last year, the team at Muthu's Curry can congratulate themselves for making the changes. Talking to this enterprising couple, one can just feel passion and excitement in their expansion plans – with help from the government. It will not be long before Muthu's Curry is synonymous with fine dining, or another well-known Singapore brand overseas. |
