Mention New Ubin Seafood and you instantly think of an eclectic mix of steak, "heart attack" fried rice and zi char faves such as Hokkien mee. The well-loved zi char group started out as a canteen in the Sin Ming industrial estate in 2007. “My wife was a partner in Ubin Seafood group, whose original restaurant was in pulau ubin, and we started New Ubin when the partnership broke up,” says 63 year-old restaurant COO Pang Seng Meng, or SM, as he's usually called. “In the beginning, I felt the food was okay but not unique. I kept pushing the chef to do things my way — and then the chef quit.” However, the ex-corporate consultant persisted and eventually developed his own style of zi char cuisine — which boasts punchy flavours mixed with some Western dishes, all tinged with the comforting quality of home-cooked food. Not long ago, SM’s eldest son Alexander Pang, 34 (pictured in main photo) quit his job in litigation to join the family business. But more on that later.
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1/161/16From heartland canteen to atas eatery -
2/162/16Why Ramada at Zhongshan Park for its fourth outlet? -
3/163/16Growing up -
4/164/16A foodie family -
5/165/16For the love of beef -
6/166/16The food -
7/167/16The look and vibe -
8/168/16Special lunch rice bowls -
9/169/16Beef Rice Bowl, $26.50 (8 DAYS Pick!) -
10/1610/16Chicken Satay Rice Bowl, $15 -
11/1611/16Pork Jowl Rice Bowl, $15 -
12/1612/16Brinjal Delight, $15 a small portion (8 DAYS Pick!) -
13/1613/16Hokkien Mee Special, $15 for small; $30 large -
14/1614/16Smoked Pork Curry, $29 (8 DAYS Pick!) -
15/1615/16Bottom Line -
16/1616/16The details