Since 8days featured Ah Pui Satay’s reopening after a long hiatus, the Toa Payoh stall has attracted super long queues, selling out of satay within two to three hours. Netizens have reported waiting up to an hour for their food, saying “must go early to avoid the ‘sold out’ ah (sic)”.
The business, set up by popular ex-itinerant street hawker, Ang Boon Ee (nicknamed Ah Pui), 66, and his disciple, Ang Thiam Seng, 57, marks the duo’s first hawker venture since they shut down their previous Chinatown eatery due to Ah Pui’s poor health one and a half years ago. Ah Pui is famous for his plump Hainanese-style charcoal-grilled pork satay.
But just two weeks after their opening on Apr 12, the 8days team heard unfortunate news that Ah Pui suffered a relapse after his illness was in remission. This was shortly after Seng, the de facto spokesperson for the stall, initially told 8days that “Ah Pui is well rested and ready to make a comeback”.
He has since shared more about Ah Pui’s illness off the record, but declined to publicise the details. “I want Ah Pui to rest more now because he’s unwell,” he said simply.
Is the future of the stall on shaky ground?
Satay hawker 'Ah Pui'. (Photo: Facebook/Don Leow)
HIRING A GRILLER TO REPLACE AH PUI
Seng said he is “trying to find some workers to replace uncle (Ah Pui) as he does the grilling most of the time”. Though Seng has also been trained to grill satay, he explained that “our plan was for uncle to handle the grilling side while I handle the outside (orders)”.
“Grilling is like that – once you stand there, it can be for a few hours and you can’t move,” he explained.
They are looking for a part-time griller to take over Ah Pui’s position, though they haven’t had any luck yet. “We need to train the guy, because different people grill in different ways. So we’ll observe, and when he’s better (at the job) then maybe we’ll let the worker do the grilling most of the time,” said Seng.
Ah Pui's satay. (Photo: Facebook/Benny Soh)
AH PUI IS NOT RETIRING
That being said, Ah Pui isn’t retiring anytime soon. Though he will eventually step back from working the grill (because being enveloped in heat and smoke for hours can’t be helpful in his condition), Seng said Ah Pui “prefers to come down to the stall because he doesn’t want to stay at home”. He added: “He’ll still go down to do light duties”, like slicing the meat. Seng marinates the pork.
Until they find a replacement, Ah Pui and Seng currently take turns to grill the satay. “Sometimes uncle grills halfway and he’ll ask me to take over, ’cause he needs to rest,” shared Seng.
REVISED OPENING HOURS
Due to the exceptionally long queues, Ah Pui Satay has revised its opening hours from the initial 1pm to 10pm to 3pm to 5pm (or until sold out). They’ve also put up a sign informing customers of the one-hour waiting time.
Despite the overwhelming response, Seng said they haven’t recouped their investment yet as they’ve only been open for half a month, but he hopes they’ll be able to do so soon.
“Now, the main problem is that I’m trying to increase the number of satays we can sell,” Seng said. If all goes well, he added that he and Ah Pui hope to expand their business to open more hawker stalls in the future.
Ah Pui Satay is at #01-13 Blk 75 Lor 5 Toa Payoh Food Centre, 75 Lor 5 Toa Payoh, Singapore 310075. Tel: 8393 1669. More info via their Facebook and Instagram.
This story was originally published in 8days.
For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/
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The business, set up by popular ex-itinerant street hawker, Ang Boon Ee (nicknamed Ah Pui), 66, and his disciple, Ang Thiam Seng, 57, marks the duo’s first hawker venture since they shut down their previous Chinatown eatery due to Ah Pui’s poor health one and a half years ago. Ah Pui is famous for his plump Hainanese-style charcoal-grilled pork satay.
But just two weeks after their opening on Apr 12, the 8days team heard unfortunate news that Ah Pui suffered a relapse after his illness was in remission. This was shortly after Seng, the de facto spokesperson for the stall, initially told 8days that “Ah Pui is well rested and ready to make a comeback”.
He has since shared more about Ah Pui’s illness off the record, but declined to publicise the details. “I want Ah Pui to rest more now because he’s unwell,” he said simply.
Is the future of the stall on shaky ground?
Satay hawker 'Ah Pui'. (Photo: Facebook/Don Leow)
HIRING A GRILLER TO REPLACE AH PUI
Seng said he is “trying to find some workers to replace uncle (Ah Pui) as he does the grilling most of the time”. Though Seng has also been trained to grill satay, he explained that “our plan was for uncle to handle the grilling side while I handle the outside (orders)”.
“Grilling is like that – once you stand there, it can be for a few hours and you can’t move,” he explained.
They are looking for a part-time griller to take over Ah Pui’s position, though they haven’t had any luck yet. “We need to train the guy, because different people grill in different ways. So we’ll observe, and when he’s better (at the job) then maybe we’ll let the worker do the grilling most of the time,” said Seng.
Ah Pui's satay. (Photo: Facebook/Benny Soh)
AH PUI IS NOT RETIRING
That being said, Ah Pui isn’t retiring anytime soon. Though he will eventually step back from working the grill (because being enveloped in heat and smoke for hours can’t be helpful in his condition), Seng said Ah Pui “prefers to come down to the stall because he doesn’t want to stay at home”. He added: “He’ll still go down to do light duties”, like slicing the meat. Seng marinates the pork.
Until they find a replacement, Ah Pui and Seng currently take turns to grill the satay. “Sometimes uncle grills halfway and he’ll ask me to take over, ’cause he needs to rest,” shared Seng.
REVISED OPENING HOURS
Due to the exceptionally long queues, Ah Pui Satay has revised its opening hours from the initial 1pm to 10pm to 3pm to 5pm (or until sold out). They’ve also put up a sign informing customers of the one-hour waiting time.
Despite the overwhelming response, Seng said they haven’t recouped their investment yet as they’ve only been open for half a month, but he hopes they’ll be able to do so soon.
“Now, the main problem is that I’m trying to increase the number of satays we can sell,” Seng said. If all goes well, he added that he and Ah Pui hope to expand their business to open more hawker stalls in the future.
Ah Pui Satay is at #01-13 Blk 75 Lor 5 Toa Payoh Food Centre, 75 Lor 5 Toa Payoh, Singapore 310075. Tel: 8393 1669. More info via their Facebook and Instagram.
This story was originally published in 8days.
For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/
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