Those who remember Thomas the friendly chef at the Raffles' Hotel's Kaisen restaurant will be disappointed with where he is now, tucked in an annexe of Marina Square, which houses mid-range restaurants which tout competitive prices rather than fine dining. Thomas' new restaurant Tomo Fine Dining matches its neighbours in mid-scale quality but unfortunately at fine dining prices.
Thomas' choice of name, location and staff are all questionable. The food was mediocre and there were more than hints of trying too hard to manage costs at the price of quality. His questionable choice of using the cheapest and toughest cuts of beef for his hotpot, inability to provide quite a number of choices from the standard menu, staff who could not decide when to be attentive and when not to be, including the inability to manage just 3 outdoor tables (getting food delivered to the wrong table 50% of the time) makes this new venture difficult to sustain, I would think. I hope I am wrong but instead of sullying the goodwill which he has built up over the years, I think Thomas is better off repositioning Tomo as a mid-range family restaurant, especially since the many pictures of value sets for lunch and dinner is already consistent with the theme...
Good luck Thomas.. I hope you manage a turnaround somehow. We need you back!
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