Satay Hawker Ah Pui Suffers Relapse 2 Weeks After Reopening Stall, Looking For New Griller To Take Over Position
Since 8days.sg 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 biz, 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.
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But just two weeks after their opening on 12 April, the 8days.sg team heard unfortunate news that Ah Pui suffered a relapse after his illness was in remission. This was after Seng, the de facto spokesperson for the stall, initially told 8days.sg that “Ah Pui is well rested and ready to make a comeback”. Presently, he tells us more about Ah Pui’s illness off the record, but declines to publicise the details. “I want Ah Pui to rest more now because he’s unwell,” he says simply.
Is the future of the stall on shaky ground?
Hiring a griller to replace Ah Pui
Seng says 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 explains 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 explains.
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,” says Seng.
However, 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 says Ah Pui “prefers to come down to the stall because he doesn’t want to stay at home”. He adds: “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, ’cos he needs to rest,” shares 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 says they haven’t recouped their investment yet as they’ve only been open for half a month, but hope 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 says. If all goes well, he adds that he and Ah Pui hope to expand their business to open more hawker stalls in future.
Ah Pui Satay is at #01-13 Blk 75 Lor 5 Toa Payoh Food Centre, 75 Lor 5 Toa Payoh, S310075. Tel: 8393 1669. More info via their Facebook and Instagram.
Photos: Ah Pui Satay, Facebook/Don Leow, Facebook/Benny Soh
No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.
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