Business booms for restaurant positioned outside Brics summit venue

Restaurants on Maude Street across from the Sandton Convention Centre are well-positioned to attract Brics summit delegates and have been busier than usual this week.

More than 50 heads of state and scores of delegates descended on Sandton on Tuesday for the 15th Brics summit which concludes on Thursday.

From day 1, The Royal India restaurant, situated right across from the heavily-guarded entrance to the convention centre, was filled with guests in the afternoon.

As delegates trickled in before the Brics leaders’ opening address, tourists, delegates, guests and journalists had already filled the restaurant.

The Royal India saw the summit as an opportunity to offer wine-tasting to their guests, including the option of private tasting in their VIP section upstairs.

The restaurant is also located across from the Sandton Sun Hotel, where delegates from India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were staying.

Manager Sukchain Singh said they were overwhelmed with guests and delegates from India, Brazil and China on the first night of the summit.

“We had ministers coming from Brazil and China and the Indian chair for Brics and another minister booked a table for 10 people.”

The wine-tasting idea also attracted many, who bought several bottles and glasses of wine, Singh said.

“Our menu is No 1 and everyone likes it. The profits are looking good. We are doing well this week and most of the people are buying bottles of wine and glasses of wine, including sparkling wine. We are doing good things here,” he told TimesLIVE.

At Hotel Sky Sandton, not far from the summit venue, about 70% of the guests occupying the rooms were Brics summit attendees.

Its Eclipse restaurant only operates between Tuesdays and Saturdays but opened this week with bookings for private events, keeping the staff busy for the first two days of the summit.

Guests were offered a breakfast and lunch buffet, while others held gala and private dinners.

“No specific event was held for them as they were mostly on their own arrangements during this time. They all had breakfast with us and some returned for dinner. Our boardrooms were used a lot for breakaway meetings among different groups during the time,” said banqueting operations manager Lana Lauderdale.

But this was not the same for restaurants in Nelson Mandela Square or other parts of Sandton.

The Raj restaurant at Nelson Mandela Square said there was nothing unusual about the week. Despite having a few guests from the summit, the week was normal and did not attract many delegates due to its location.

This was similar to Aurum restaurant inside The Leonardo building.