'We weren't informed of anything': New Udon Mookata closes second outlet suddenly, months after opening

When it rains, it pours.

That must be how the owners of New Udon Mookata must be feeling over the last few weeks. On Aug 14, a fire broke out at its popular Golden Mile Complex outlet. 

A few days later, its other outlet, located in Hoa Nam Building on Foch Road, had another issue to deal with when the coffee shop housing it shut suddenly, Jin, who is in charge of running the outlet, told AsiaOne. 

The coffee shop, 51 Kopitiam, was put up for sale for $28 million on Aug 17.

While it has yet to change hands, the freehold coffee shop shut its doors that very same day.

The coffee shop master operator told local news publication Shin Min Daily News that the coffee shop closed because of "internal problems" but did not elaborate further.

When AsiaOne reached out to Jin, she confirmed that New Udon Mookata's Foch Road outlet has been closed since Aug 17.

According to Jin, a representative for the coffee shop had told her on Aug 17 that there "wasn't any electricity in the shop". This did not bother her too much as it was an issue that had happened before.

"But on the night itself, I was informed that I wasn't able to operate the next day.

"We didn't even know that the coffee shop was up for sale until we saw some articles. We weren't informed of anything from the main or the sub landlord," she said.

It was her friends who forwarded her articles about 51 Kopitiam going up for sale.

It's truly heartbreaking to have this outlet close down barely three months into its opening, Jin added.

In fact, New Udon Mookata's most recent Facebook post on June 17 was in celebration of the outlet's grand opening.

As of now, Jin is looking for a suitable location for a reopening. But given how tough it is, she is even considering "selling the business away".

With regards to the sudden closure, Jin mentioned that this will be settled "in a legal way".

In recent months, there have been a number of coffee shops changing hands for eight-figure fees.

Within the same week in June 2022, a Yishun coffee shop went for $40 million while another in Tampines was sold for $41.6 million.

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amierul@asiaone.com