Pay-By-Hour At New Japanese Restaurant

By Staff

Thursday, January 15, 2009, 17:38

A new innovative idea has hit the Hospitality industry in Japan. It is the all new 'pay-by-the-hour' at Tenji, a buffet restaurant in Mont Kiara. You can pay RM29.90 for an hour to eat here or pay another RM10 for the next extra hour.

Clients will have to pay up to RM49.90 if the lunch timing requires four to five hours, that is nearly the entire lunch timings from 11.30am to 4pm.

An investment of RM7.5 million was made on the restaurant and it serves Japanese, Chinese and Western fare, including lobsters, giant prawns, lamb, soups, ice cream and fruit juices. It was inaugurated on Dec 12, when quizzed about its nnovative price mechanism, the general manager who identifies himself as Ren revealed that they wished to serve the customers well.

"The area has many office blocks, especially at Sri Hartamas, and office staff have only an hour''s lunch break," The New Straits Times Online quoted Ren, as saying.

"Our RM29.90 buffet lunch is reasonable, something which we make possible by giving back to customers what we save from not spending on advertisements," Ren added.

Ren received his training in the field from Taiwan and the promotion was held from Dec 12-19, but did not receive an ebthusiatic opening, however soon business caught up and received a large number of callers. "We then decided to extend the promotion. Within the first month of operation, we have had 10,000 customers," Ren said.

"Now on weekdays, we receive about 700 people and more than 800 on weekends when our clients bring their families. Of course, clients will have to book a week in advance for the next two weeks," Ren added. AGENCIES