‘Profitable’ Hae! Prawn Claypot Closes After 18 Months, Replaced Overnight By Top-Rated Guangzhou Eatery
When viral hotpot concept Hae! Prawn Claypot announced on social media it was closing on November 18 after just one and a half years, regulars were taken aback. After all, the biz, started by siblings Tommy Pang, 28, Nicolas, 25, and Ashley Tan, 26, seemed to be doing well.
Just three days later, in the very same Eunos industrial canteen unit, a brand new concept appeared: Dudu Cantonese Cuisine.
So what happened?
Closing Hae! was an “opportunity cost”
Tommy, who is also the second-generation owner of popular decade-old yong tau foo chain Bai Nian, and pork leg rice hawker chain Shi Nian, stresses that Hae!’s closure wasn’t due to poor business.
“Hae! was earning all the way, around $10K a month,” he tells 8days.sg.
“It's not that fantastic for an operation that big but it was profitable, but still I chose to close it because I see the potential in the new brand.”
He describes the move as “very last-minute”, sparked by what he believed was an opportunity to introduce something fresh to Singapore’s F&B scene after months of hunting for new ideas.
Partnership with an award-winning Guangzhou restaurant
Dudu is a partnership with hugely popular Guangzhou restaurant 滋啫食堂 Zi Zhe Shi Tang, famed for its modern spin on classic Cantonese dishes.
Tommy stumbled upon the eatery earlier this year while travelling through Guangzhou to look for ideas for a new concept.
He was so blown away by the food that he made it a personal mission to bring the brand here. Over four months, he visited multiple times, tracked down the owners, and eventually persuaded them to collaborate. Tommy declined to elaborate on details of the partnership, only revealing he spent $90K on the new biz, mostly on ingredients.
The credentials speak for themselves: Zi Zhe has ranked among the Top 80 restaurants on lifestyle portal Dianping’s must-eat list for three consecutive years (2023–2025). Within the Cantonese cuisine category, it sits within the Top 26 — no small feat in a city with over 200,000 restaurants.
Though the Singapore outpost uses a different name (“the original name is a bit difficult to read,” he says), everything else stays faithful to the OG — dishes, recipes and even chefs.
To launch Dudu, the two Guangzhou bosses, both veteran chefs with about two decades’ of experience, flew to Singapore to help set up operations and train staff. Two of Zi Zhe’s chefs have also joined the local crew full-time.
Why start a new concept during such tough times?
Launching an F&B biz now might seem like swimming against the tide, especially after a brutal year that saw over 3,000 closures in 2024, the highest in nearly two decades.
Even Tommy’s own brands took a hit. His pork leg rice chain Shi Nian lost half a million dollars in just six months. He and his family also run porridge joint Peng Jia Zhou, Hae! Mee, Nic & Tom Eatery, and Bai Nian Food Court.
Still, he isn’t rattled.
“Though the situation is not good, it doesn't mean that our business won't do well,” he insists.
His family remains supportive: “Whatever I do is also for the family business.”
“I truly believe that the food will speak for itself. Even if business at the start is not good, it’s okay. As long as customers return and feedback is good, one day we will do well. And I know for a fact the food is very good,” he says confidently.
“There’s a reason why they are ranked Top 80 restaurants in Guangzhou — and that’s out of more than 200,000 restaurants.”
Why Dudu took over Hae!’s location
The initial plan was not to close Hae!. Tommy wanted to find another location for Dudu, but the new concept’s claypot-heavy cooking made that almost impossible.
About 90 per cent of Dudu’s dishes are cooked in claypots, many heated to around 300°C, and some dishes “dry-steamed” at 500°C without water — techniques that generate intense fire, smoke, and heat. This made typical hawker or food court stalls out of the question.
After two months of searching, he found most industrial canteens either poorly ventilated or too small. Dudu needs three and a half stalls to operate efficiently.
Hae!’s Eunos unit, however, already had everything he needed: space, ventilation, and the industrial fans he’d previously installed.
Tommy even considered running both brands out of the same space, but the kitchen simply wasn’t large enough.
Sis who conceived Hae! Prawn Claypot no longer involved in biz
With the Christmas and Chinese New Year rush approaching, he made the tough call to close Hae! and launch Dudu before year-end.
“It was very last-minute. Internally, we also didn’t expect it,” he says.
“It was a tough decision. Hae! had around 13K followers [on Instagram and TikTok combined], it's not easy to build that kind of following for an F&B brand in such a short span of time.”
He adds that his sister Ashley, who helped run Hae! and created the brand's concept, left the family business earlier this year and is now working in finance.
“But who knows? Maybe one day we will bring it back. But my focus is now on Dudu.”
What’s on the menu at Dudu?
Dudu opens with 26 curated dishes, narrowed down from the Guangzhou menu of over 100 items.
Tommy streamlined the Singapore menu for smooth operations and will introduce new dishes every couple of months.
“I want to keep things fresh. I don’t want to show all my cards first,” he says.
The focus is on hearty, homestyle Cantonese flavours.
Crispy Orh Luak, $23.80
One of Tommy’s must-tries, and the dish that convinced him to bring the brand here.
Touted as Singapore’s first crispy orh luak, it is made with fresh oysters and bits of sotong.
Golden Nest, $28.80
Fried egg dish with a crispy crust and molten centre.
Baked Yellow Croaker Fish with Lantern Chilli, $39.90
Dudu Cantonese Cuisine is at 29 Eunos Ave 6, S409619. Open daily from 4.30pm to 1pm. For reservations, call or WhatsApp 8760 1111. More details on Instagram.
Photos: Kelvin Chia, duduyuecai/Instagram, haeclaypotsg/Instagram, 大众点评, 956706870/XHS, shaniatsing/Instagram, jeanhojiak/Instagram
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