T2 branch and takeaways on menu at Diep

ONE MORE THING:OUR APPETITE for restaurant food might have been sated somewhat by the recession, but that hasn't deterred Thai food group Diep from expanding its restaurant chain in Dublin.

Diep will open a noodle bar at the new Terminal 2 at Dublin airport when it fully opens in January. Owner Matthew Farrell also plans to open two more Diep At Home takeaways in the capital – one on the southside, one northside – over the next three months, to add to outlets in Ranelagh and Blackrock.

In all, these will create 30 jobs and bring Diep’s headcount to more than 100.

With staying in being the new going out, Farrell wants to build a chain of takeaways.

“Our plan would be to roll them out as franchises over the next 12 months,” Farrell said. “It’s recession proof to an extent.”

The recession is proving to be both sweet and sour for Diep. The downturn has knocked average spend by about 30 per cent in the past couple of years. Its €5 million revenues are down about 25 per cent.

But there is much better value to be found from renting property for new operations. “There’s no key money any more and the rent reductions are about 30 to 40 per cent,” Farrell told me yesterday.

Diep paid a chunky €170,000 in key money for its noodle bar in Ranelagh in the boom. It started for Farrell in 1999 with Diep Le Shaker in Pembroke Lane – still “the jewel in the crown”.

Business there is “good”, but Farrell laments the departure of neighbours Bank of Ireland and Anglo Irish Bank’s private banking arm. “They were good customers.”