Upper floor of Cork's Merchant's Quay Shopping Centre to become an all-singing, all-eating venue

The substantial level of vacancy that has plagued the upper floor of Merchant’s Quay Shopping Centre since the closure of Café Kylemore 13 years ago is set to end with the arrival of Wing’s 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.

It will also 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 Wing’s World Cuisine, which already has an outlet in Dublin, as well as three in the UK.

Mariano Proietti of Proietti Design, the architect behind the look of Wing’s restaurants and 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.

“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 said.

Music to the ears

The karaoke rooms — for eight customers at a time — will be 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 reopening of the Savoy on Patrick Street as a live music venue.

It’s a big boost for the 1980s shopping centre where commercial rates — currently under review — are the highest on Cork’s main street.

The centre has endured 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 to 5.5m a year, which is still very significant, given that two substantial retailers have 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.

Uptick in fortunes

The pending arrival of Wing’s World Cuisine, as well as German discount supermarket Lidl, which is taking on the 31,360sq ft ground-floor unit vacated by Supervalu in 2023, are further signs of an uptick in the fortunes of the shopping centre.

Customers will be able to access the restaurant in the evening through a door from Patrick 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 under way. Lidl — also secured by Savills — is on a 15-year lease with five-yearly reviews and is “hoping to open at the end of October”.

The unit is next to anchor tenant Dunnes Stores.

While customers know what they are getting with Lidl, Wing’s World Cuisine is quite a different dining concept for Cork city.

The buffet, offering all-you-can-eat for a fixed price, will include Asian and international cuisine, a pizza oven, chocolate fountain, popcorn, candy floss, and much more, with cooking spread between a main kitchen, dessert kitchen, live cooking stations, and prepping stations.

Pitched as a lively dining experience, it is intended to be entertaining, whether through the atmosphere, open food stations, decor, or occasional live events or performances.