Belimbing Superstar, Sister Restaurant Of The Coconut Club, Shutters Suddenly

Belimbing Superstar, sister restaurant of popular nasi lemak eatery The Coconut Club, has abruptly shuttered after just five months in business. It opened last August serving Peranakan-style cai png, where you can choose from an array of dishes like Ayam Buah Keluak, Chap Chye and Babi Pongteh to go with rice. The closure comes months after the two eateries’ co-owner, Lee Engsu, passed away suddenly in his sleep at the age of 40 in September 2019.

The restaurant posted a surprise announcement on Facebook yesterday (January 21) informing its fans of the immediate closure. It stated: “It is with regret and sadness to share that Belimbing Superstar will close permanently from today. From the B.Star family, we thank you for your love and support.❤️ Our sister company, The Coconut Club, remains open for business and we look forward to seeing you soon.” The post did not provide any reasons for the closure.

It seems that Belimbing Superstar’s closure came as a recent, unexpected decision. Just two weeks ago on January 11, the eatery had updated its Facebook page with its post-Chinese New Year operating hours. “We’ll be closed from 24 to 31 Jan to celebrate Chinese New Year, and will re-open for the whole week from 1 to 8 Feb (yes Sunday included!). We look forward to having you with us then!”

8days.sg reached out to Ian Lee, director of hospitality group The Main Squeeze (and Engsu’s cousin) who runs Belimbing Superstar and The Coconut Club. He tells us: “I made the decision to close Belimbing Superstar because I was not confident that it would be a viable business with the limited resources we have. So I asked the management to focus on making sure The Coconut Club continues to serve the highest quality food with the best service and keep the consistency.

When my cousin [Engsu] passed away, Belimbing had only been open for three weeks. We gave it three months, and the staff put in absolutely valiant effort but [the business] wasn’t profitable. We had great reviews, but we just didn’t have enough customers. That’s the reality. It was a strain on our limited resources. I’m not a restaurateur. I’m a businessman and I don’t have experience running restaurants. [The Coconut Club and Belimbing Superstar] are all under the same company and share the same financial resources, so I didn’t want to take on unnecessary risks with The Coconut Club. My decision is in [my staff’s] interests.”

According to Ian, some of Belimbing Superstar’s staff have been redeployed to The Coconut Club, but “the majority we were unable to recast”, including Belimbing’s head chef Ben Teo, who had previously worked at fine-dining Chinese restaurant Li Bai and Peranakan restaurant Peranakan Flavours.

Meanwhile, we observed that The Coconut Club is still doing a brisk business, and the Ann Siang Hill restaurant is usually packed. “There are still queues on most days,” Ian says. TCC opened in 2016, and got a Michelin Bib Gourmand nod in 2018. The same year, it also moved to a bigger space down the road from its original digs, but lost the Michelin Bib Gourmand accolade for 2019 as restaurants which have shifted require a new assessment by Michelin inspectors.

The Coconut Club, 28 Ann Siang Rd, S069708. Tel: 6635-2999. Dinnertime reservations taken via info [at] thecoconutclub.com.sg. www.thecoconutclub.sg.