As the clock struck midnight in Singapore, it marked the first time in more than two months when customers were finally allowed to dine in at restaurants. Excited foodies took to their favourite supper haunts with their friends to celebrate the occasion! If you would like read about what happened in the wee hours today (19th June), read on!

With a few minutes to go before the dawn of a new day, a safety officer who wanted to be known only as Bryan, 39, ordered supper for himself.

His food was sent to his table at just past midnight on Thursday (June 18), as Singapore entered the second phase of its circuit breaker exit, marking the first time customers can dine in restaurants in more than two months.

In between mouthfuls of soup, Mr Bryan whom Singapore news platform TODAY met at Supper Club 89.7 — a popular dining spot in Changi Village — said: “I’m just so excited to have my food… I wanted to eat out for so long.”

The bachelor, who lives by himself, said he regularly hunts for supper places after work. Hence, to commemorate his “newfound freedom”, he decided to dine at his favourite hangout.

Many gathered at their favourite usual supper hangout spots as Phase 2 officially ended

The move to Phase Two of the circuit breaker exit, which would see the resumption of most activities, was announced on Monday.

However, food and beverage operators have to adhere to certain rules, such as having individuals maintain a distance of 1m from each other at all times, and only allowing groups of no more than five.

TODAY’s visits to popular supper spots such as Changi Village, Simpang Bedok and Upper Thomson Road in the wee hours of Friday found them to be bustling with diners eager to gather with friends.

Within 10 minutes of opening its seating area, Supper Club 89.7 saw around 30 people seated at its tables. Another about 10 people were standing in line to get their temperature checked outside the restaurant.

A trio of friends said they waited outside the restaurant in a parked car for half an hour for the seating area to open.

“We just wanted to hang out and have supper because it’s been so long,” said one of them, 21-year-old Ngee Ann Polytechnic student Sean Nicholas.

Crowds gather at popular supper spots, such as this one the Roti Prata House @ Upper Thomson

Mr Lee Jun De, owner of Supper Club 89.7 in Changi Village, was surprised by the turnout.

“I thought it would only get crowded on Friday night onwards, when the weekend starts,” he said.

Mr Lee had asked his staff to be more vigilant in ensuring patrons observe social distancing measures.

“This is going to be the toughest part — customers may drag their chairs from one table to another to join their friends or family members. We would have to tell them off,” he said.

Equally bustling were the eateries at Simpang Bedok such as Spize and Enak Enak Hongkong Tea House. Almost every other table at the stretch of restaurants were occupied with diners, who seemed enlivened after being able to meet their friends or significant other.

Opposite them, New Mahamoodiya restaurant was also ready to welcome back its loyal customers.

Manager Abdul Karir said he received more than 30 calls from customers who asked if they could dine past midnight on Thursday. This spurred him to call two more staff in for the late shift.

“Honestly, I didn’t think there would be a crowd but we’d never know,” he said.

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This article was adapted from TODAY Online.