THE substantial level of vacancy that has plagued the upper floor of Merchant’s Quay Shopping Centre since the closure 13 years ago of Café Kylemore is set to end with the arrival of Wings World Cuisine, an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant — with the added attraction of late night karaoke. The new Cork city centre venue, in which €1.2m will be invested, will extend across 17,000 sq ft on the first floor, incorporating the former Kylemore premises and a number of additional units, and will include a 280-seat restaurant where customers can watch chefs cooking, as well as three karaoke rooms which will remain open until 2am. The inclusion of karaoke rooms is a first for Wings World Cuisine, who already have an outlet in Dublin, as well as three in the UK.

Mariano Proietti, of Proietti Design, the architect behind the look of Wings World restaurants, and also the designer of a London karaoke bar, said, they may also seek to have live music in the main restaurant.

“Cork will be a little different in so much as we are going to fit out three karaoke rooms with a view to possibly having live music in the main restaurant as well. So after the last serving in the evening, we are hoping to extend the use to a music venue,” he said.

“We are trying something new with the karaoke rooms. They are very popular in South East Asia and have taken off quite a lot in London, and if they work in Cork, we will expand it to other venues,” Mr Proietti added.

The late night karaoke rooms — for eight customers at a time — will come as music to the ears of late-night revellers whose city centre choices have been limited since the closure of several nightclubs during the pandemic, albeit green shoots have started to emerge, with the recent re-opening on St Patrick’s Street of the Savoy as a live music venue.

The deal to secure Wings World Cuisine for Merchant’s Quay, on behalf of landlord Clarendon Properties, was negotiated by Lia Dennehy, divisional commercial director with Savills, who has signed the tenant on a 25-year lease with five yearly reviews.

It’s a big boost for the 1980s shopping centre where commercial rates – currently under review – are the highest on main street. The centre has endured very mixed fortunes in recent years, particularly since the 2020 closure of nearby Debenhams, which was accessible from the shopping centre. Its closure was a major blow to Merchant’s Quay footfall, which was at a high of 8m a year at one point. Current footfall is around 5m-5.5m pa, which is still very significant, given two substantial retailers closed in the centre in the last 15 months: discount store Dealz and more recently, liquidated clothing store Born, resulting in the closure of one of the centre’s most high-profile units. On the upside, music store HMV moved into the former Dealz units on a 10-year lease.

The pending arrival of Wings World Cuisine as well as German discount supermarket Lidl, who are taking on the 3 1,360 sq ft ground floor unit vacated by Supervalu in 2023, are further signs of an uptick in the fortunes of the shopping centre.

Ms Dennehy said Wings World Cuisine will be “a great addition”.

“It’s pretty big, in terms of what it is offering, and it’s something different for the city centre. You could envisage people going in for something to eat and staying on for a bit of craic,” she said.

Quirky fit out at Wings in Dublin by Proietti DesignQuirky fit out at Wings in Dublin by Proietti Design

Customers will be able to access the restaurant in the evening through a door from St Patrick’s Street that is not currently in use by the public, and via the shopping centre during the day.

Fit-out is expected to start “in the next couple of weeks” according to a spokesperson for Clarendon, while the Lidl fit-out is already underway. Lidl – also secured by Savills – are on a 15-year lease with five-yearly reviews and are “hoping to open at the end of October”. The unit is next door to anchor tenant Dunnes Stores.

While customers know what they are getting with Lidl, Wings World Cuisine — whose directors are listed as Ho Wing and Ran Kang on a planning application to reconfigure the Merchant’s Quay units — is quite a different dining concept for Cork city.

The all-you-can-eat for a fixed-price buffet will include Asian and international cuisine, a pizza oven, a chocolate fountain, popcorn, candy floss and much more, with cooking spread between a main kitchen, a desert kitchen, live cooking stations and prepping stations. Pitched as a lively dining experience, it’s intended to be entertaining, whether through the atmosphere, open food stations, décor, or occasional live events or performances.