Despite Bar Naked losing "a five-figure sum" monthly since the CB, Irene is reluctant to let the space or her staff go. Instead, she saw the crisis as an opportunity to open her third F&B outlet and give her staff “something to do”.

“I am a firm believer that in crisis there are opportunities,“ the 52-year-old tells 8days.sg. “[In my 20 years as an entrepreneur] I have been through four crises and with each one, I learned something and I took those lessons with me to prepare me for the next one. When COVID-19 hit, I felt it was different from past crises. There were a lot of things that were beyond our control and I knew I had to act fast. Since we had some savings from our F&B businesses, when the dine-in ban was lifted mid-June, we decided to open an eatery. We pumped in around $80,000.”

While she considered converting Bar Naked into Soi Candy, it was an uphill task as the bar doesn’t have a kitchen and there were also licensing issues that needed to be ironed out. “We are now trying to convert it into a bistro of sorts so we can serve both alcohol and food, but it is so difficult to convert the license. We have been writing to the government agencies but we are not getting any answers,” she sighs. “Though we’ve changed the bar’s concept a few times, we’ve been at Club Street for 15 years and it is very sentimental to me, so I don’t really want to let it go.” 

The decision to open an eatery in a new locale when her existing bar is haemorrhaging cash seems like a direct contradiction of what any business person should do. But to Irene, it makes sense as all her F&B businesses “have made money” [in the past]. “It also requires the least effort ’cos I have a passionate team [mostly from the bar] running it. I just come up with the idea and money, and I reap the fruits [of my labour] two or three years later,” she reasons. “Plus, during a crisis, people still need to eat.”

Just as quickly as she decided to open her third F&B outlet, so did the stars align. In just three weeks, Irene’s team found a chef, a space in Tanjong Pagar, and Soi Candy was born. Irene says excitedly: “Everything was very divine. My Thai chef Candy, who is one of my staff’s housing tenant, just left her job as a server in a restaurant (Candy also used to cook at contemporary Thai restaurant Tamarind Hill in Singapore and once owned an eatery back in Thailand), and we happened to see this shophouse unit was available for rent. It used to be a café that only operated for a few months before closing, so everything is still brand new. The kitchen was already set up, so we just had to buy some equipment, do minor renovations, and we opened in three weeks. It still baffles me how we managed to do it.” It helps that she managed to negotiate a “20 per cent rental discount” from her landlord for the first three months.

It was all very spur of the moment, she adds. In fact, she didn’t even know what type of cuisine to offer at the eatery until she met Candy. “I didn’t have a business plan. I just knew I didn’t want to do mookata or mala because it is a very crowded space. [Singaporeans like Thai food] so we decided to offer Thai street food and home-cooked stuff like omelette, fish cake, and otah, which are very comforting. And since we can’t travel now, we decided to create a little Thailand here. We named it Soi Candy after my chef. Soi means street, so this is Street of Candy.”

Despite the CBD area being dead as a doornail now, Irene tells us it was never an option to set up shop anywhere else: “I have an affinity with this area. I got introduced to Club Street and [the surrounding area] when I was a board member of the Singapore Heritage Board 15 years ago and I just fell in love with it. It’s so quaint and charming. And I also love shophouses.”

Despite the challenges that lie ahead, Irene says the pandemic was just the push she needed to get out of her rut. “If you saw me in December, I was very sian. Things were [too comfortable] and there was no hunger in me. But when the pandemic hit, I got scared ’cos I was responsible for so many [people’s livelihoods]. So the first thing I did for [my artiste management agency] FLY was to pivot online. We started teaching public speaking, presentation, hosting webinars, and I also invested in Zoom equipment and converted part of my home into a studio. Now my jobs have tripled [compared to pre-COVID times],” she shares.

“Everyone will tell you I am a tech idiot but you just have to learn and pivot fast enough,” she continues. “My friends say I am very energised now and they see the spark in me again. I thrive in crisis and I am thankful for this opportunity to step up.”

Top on Irene’s priority list now is getting her new F&B biz on its feet as well as on food delivery apps to reach out to more customers. Despite the gloom of the recession, business so far has been “better than expected” and reviews are “very good”. “There are days where we are full house. I am pleasantly surprised by Singaporeans’ love for Thai food,” she laughs. “There are already people who want to invest in Soi Candy, so once we stabilise operations, we might expand to the heartlands. I don’t mind opening in the heartlands as long as it’s a shophouse.”

With its yellow and pink neon sign, Soi Candy, which seats 46 pax (26 indoors and 20 outdoors) sticks out among its monochromatic neighbours. The interior, where upbeat Thai tunes blast in the background, packs an equal punch. One side of the colourful space is brightened by bold splashes of graffiti depicting a Thai street and cheeky phrases like “No drunk no go home”, while the other is a blue wall lined with retro enamel floral trays and other old-school memorabilia. The somewhat schizo décor is Irene’s idea, who wanted the space to be “Instagram-worthy and fun”, while also traditional. “Young people like to sit on the side with the graffiti and use it as a backdrop to take photos of their food, while families prefer the other side, so we put the bigger tables there,” says the towkay.

The menu is created by chef Candy, who takes street food from the different regions of Thailand and gives it her own twist. There are seven noodle dishes, but also a large variety of main and side dishes. Besides familiar favourites like Pad Thai ($8.90) and Tom Yum Seafood Soup ($8.90), there are also lesser-known offerings like Northern Thai specialties Khao Soi (creamy curry chicken with crispy noodles) ($9.90) and Esan Sausages ($9.90). According to Candy, who is from Chiang Rai in the north, northern Thai food is influenced by Burmese cuisine and the flavours are milder compared to its southern counterpart.

This dish, which is more like a slightly thicker soup than stew, is Irene’s favourite and ours too. The meat and soft bones are melt-in-your-mouth tender, but the star is the broth. Twice-cooked, first by simmering with pork and dried longan for six hours, and then double-boiled, the flavourful, slightly sweet broth is so comforting, we slurped up every bit of it. Served with homemade pork balls and your choice of carbs like rice noodles, wholegrain egg noodles, spinach noodles, or rice.

Like the Soft Bone Stew, the broth is twice-cooked with ingredients like beef shank, pandan leaves, dried longan, and ginger for a robust flavour. Candy tells us that longan is readily featured in her cooking as Chiang Rai produces plenty of the fruit. The shin beef chunks are soft and tasty too. If you want to spice things up, ask for their shiok Spicy Blended Dry Chilli Paste, which is also available for purchase for $4.90. 

A clever twist to the usual fish cake. Made with squid paste and chunks, these bouncy nuggets are bursting with briny flavours of the tender squid and crunchiness of the long beans.

Baked in a salt crust for 30 minutes, the seabass came out perfectly moist and seasoned — you can taste the freshness and natural sweetness of the fish. Eat it on its own or with the accompanying rice noodles dipped in either the garlicky and spicy green seafood sauce or sweet chilli sauce.

Fat is removed from under the skin before it is deep-fried to a delicious crisp and tossed with fried onions, garlic, kaffir lime leaves and chilli powder. Surprisingly light and not greasy, the spicy slivers are highly addictive and best enjoyed with an ice-cold beer.

They might not look like much, but these sausages, an eastern Thai specialty, are made from scratch by hand. Minced pork is marinated overnight with Candy’s secret mix of herbs and spices before they are stuffed into casings, steamed and then deep-fried. The sausages are a bit on the salty side as they are meant to be eaten with the veggie wraps like a hand roll. Tasty, but a tad too gamey for our liking.

The humble Hor Mok, or Thai otah, gets a classy upgrade here with generous chunks of salmon. Made with fish paste, Thai herbs, homemade chilli paste, and steamed on a bed of cabbage in banana leaves, the Hor Mok is moist and its flavours beautifully balanced. 

A brilliant way to get people to eat their greens. Kang kong, squid and prawns are lightly battered in tempura flour and deep-fried to crispy perfection. Great on its own, even better with the tangy sweet minced chicken chilli dip.

Not quite your typical chain restaurant Thai fare, but this is precisely why we like it. The dishes, though simple, are well-executed and comforting. The eatery’s fun vibe and affordable prices also make it a worthwhile place to check out if you’re in the CBD.  

Soi Candy is at 20 Tanjong Pagar Rd, S088443. Tel: 8875 3095. Open daily except Mon 11.30am-3pm; 5pm-10.30pm. https://www.facebook.com/soicandysg.

Photos: Alvin Teo