Katong Mei Wei Chicken Rice’s 2nd-Gen Hawker Once Auditioned For Star Search
When we visited Katong Mei Wei (previously known as Delicious Boneless Chicken Rice) on a late Saturday afternoon after lunchtime, there was still a 20-minute wait for its famous chicken rice. After all, the hawker stall owned by couple Goh Boon Hua and Tricia Cheng, both in their sixties, has been around since 1988, and is considered one of the most popular chicken rice joints in Singapore. It’s known for its fried garlic-strewn chook, peanut soup and yellow fat-slicked rice.
The brand currently has two outlets - its OG hawker outlet at the basement food court of the dingy Katong Shopping Centre (a few units away from popular banana pie shops Dona Manis and Auntie Peng), and a fancier 46-seater eatery that opened last February at East Village. The newer outlet is a standalone joint that’s more hip, with wooden furniture and cartoon murals.
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Meanwhile, the no-frills Katong stall’s only distinguishing factor is its efficient collection system: customers receive a queue number upon ordering, and collect their food once their number is flashed on the TV screen outside the stall. It was put in place by the hawkers’ son, Soki Wu, who joined his parents’ biz in 2019.
Soki Wu is a little different from your typical second-generation hawker. As it turns out, the 33-year-old is an aspiring actor with over 9K followers on TikTok.
Why an aspiring actor took over his parents’ hawker biz
Soki graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) in 2018 with a diploma in Mandarin Theatre Studies. Though he tells 8days.sg that his lifelong passion is to become an actor, he decided to join Katong Mei Wei in 2019, shortly after graduating from NAFA.
At the time, Soki was already 27, and he shares that it was hard to make it in the entertainment industry at that age. “If I continued down the entertainment route, it would be a bit of a struggle, because nowadays they want younger people and new faces. Because of that, I know I may not be the priority, so for survival’s sake, and to continue my parents’ legacy, I chose to take over my parents’ business over my dreams first,” he says.
He adds: “I’m the youngest in the family, I have an elder brother. My brother doesn’t want to take over the business as he doesn’t have any interest in it. I find it a waste if my parents retire and let go of the biz, that’s why I took the initiative to take over”.
Though he has currently put his acting career on the backburner, Soki tells us that he’s open to re-entering the scene if any opportunities arise.
Six years into joining his parents’ business, Soki says he has no regrets putting his acting career on hold. “I see improvements and progress [in Katong Mei Wei], so I have no regrets,” he explains.
Currently, Soki co-owns Katong Mei Wei together with his parents. He tells us that he doesn’t mind taking over Katong Mei Wei eventually, though he doubts his parents will retire any time soon. “According to my parents' pattern, they won’t retire as they will feel bored at home if there is nothing to be done. I will still assist them meanwhile,” he shares.
Auditioned for Star Search
Prior to this, the aspiring star had played a supporting role in theatre production Masters of Comedy, and even auditioned for Star Search back in 2019, though he didn’t make it past the first round of auditions.
On his experience, he shares: “I didn’t want to waste my talent and have whatever I studied for the past three years go to waste. [My mindset was] when there’s an opportunity, I should just go for it. I only went for the first audition [for Star Search], but didn’t go through [to the second round]. But at least I tried, and got some exposure from it”.
Some customers recognise him from TikTok
While he might not be an actor, Soki displays his love for performing on social media. He has over 9K followers and 62.8K likes on TikTok, his most viral video is of him dancing outside Katong Mei Wei back in 2019. These days, Soki still films skits and dances at his chicken rice joint at Upper Changi.
According to him, this has actually helped his family’s business: “The impact [of the videos] is quite big. Some customers came down [after seeing the TikToks], as those videos reminded them of their own times in Katong, and they made a special trip down with friends and family to have our chicken rice again,” he says.
Says business improved by 10 percent since he joined
Since joining Katong Mei Wei, Soki tells us that he has managed to increase Katong Mei Wei’s sales by around 10 percent.
Beyond posting viral TikTok vids, the 33-year-old has also introduced more efficient and modern ordering systems, and opened the brand’s second outlet, which cost over $100K to set up. He declines to comment if they have broken even.
Soki shuttles between both outlets, though he stations himself at the East Village branch on most days. While he says he knows how to cook the chicken rice, Soki mostly deals with inventory at the Katong outlet (his parents are still in charge of operations there), but takes charge of operations, inventory and R&D at the newer outlet.
The chicken rice
We ordered a two-pax portion of mixed roast and steamed chicken ($15.10), paired with a bowl of chicken rice ($1.10). Each order comes with soup, and free-flow achar.
We were slightly disappointed that KTMW’s chicken no longer comes de-boned at their Katong branch, apparently due to the overwhelming number of orders here (it’s still deboned at the East Village branch). Nonetheless, our portion of chook comes with a generous amount of meat atop a tasty sweet-savoury sesame oil and soy-based sauce, garnished with spring onions, carrot strips, and fried garlic bits for crunch.
We do, however, enjoy the generous serving of robust and nutty peanut soup. Considering that it’s complimentary, we were pleasantly surprised by the chunks of tender chicken in it. Soki says that both the Katong and East Village outlets serve up different soups on rotation. The Katong outlet offers either peanut soup or white cabbage soup, while the East Village branch serves either peanut, white cabbage, ABC or winter melon soup.
Meanwhile, the accompanying achar, which mainly consisted of pineapple chunks and a few cucumber slices, was tangy and refreshing - a good counterpoint to the rice.
Katong Mei Wei’s flagship Katong outlet is at 865 Mountbatten Rd, Katong Shopping Centre, S437844. Open Tue 10.45am - 7.15pm; Wed - Sun 11am - 7pm. Closed Mon. Tel: 9789 6073.
Katong Mei Wei’s East Village outlet is at #01-07 East Village, 430 Upp Changi Rd, S487048. Open Mon - Wed; Fri - Sun 11am - 9pm. Closed Thur. Tel: 9789 6886. More info via website.
Photos: Katong Mei Wei, Gwyn Lim
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