01 Jul 2007, ST
Singapore-style Hong Kong cafes, anyone? The wildfire success of the concept here has spurred some enterprising Singaporeans to open outlets overseas
By Mak Mun San
TREND-WATCHERS scoffed that it was a foodie fad that would go the way of coffee buns and - remember this? - bubble tea.
But unlike that short-lived Taiwanese tea treat, the craze for cha chan teng - cafes serving Hong Kong snacks - is still bubbling along, almost three years after appearing in Singapore.
From zero outlets back then, the number has grown to about 25, with most run by Singaporeans. Turnover from cha chan teng outlets here is estimated to have hit $40 million a year.
Not bad for a simple idea: a menu packed with comfort-food snacks served in casual surroundings.
Think dishes like baked rice with pork chop, instant noodles with luncheon meat and thick toast with peanut butter.
With many outlets either operating round the clock or till dawn, cha chan teng are giving late-night makan venues like Newton Circus food centre, Geylang and roti prata places a run for their money.
Tong Shui Cafe in Zion Road, for example, is so bustling after 2am that it is like a mini-Zouk, as hungry revellers head there after clubbing.
And both Hong Kong Cafe and Old Hong Kong Tea House in East Coast Road have become popular hangouts for night-owls and celebrities such as actor-host Adrian Pang and deejay Dennis Chew.
However, Singaporeans are not only eating Hong Kong for breakfast - as well as lunch, dinner and supper - but some enterprising types are now also exporting the food concept overseas.
At least two local chains have already set up cafes in Indonesia. Others are also eyeing that market and further afield.
Hong Kong Cafe and Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe have each opened one franchised outlet in Jakarta, and Central is looking into entering the Indonesian market soon.
LifeStyle understands that Singaporeans are the first to introduce cha chan teng there.
Ms Gayle Phua, 32, the brand and marketing manager for Thai restaurant operator ThaiExpress - which runs the Xin Wang chain of five outlets here - says: 'Jakarta is a big and ready market. Proximity to Singapore plus consumer readiness also ups the success factor.'
Interestingly, Xin Wang in Jakarta serves the full menu that it serves here and is not halal-certified, as the chain hopes to become a 'viable alternative' in a market that already has many restaurants serving halal cuisine.
Another major player, Tong Shui Cafe, is negotiating to open five outlets in Indonesia, two in Russia, 20 in the Middle East and 200 in the United States through franchising, says its managing director Raymond Khoo, 43.
The irony is, of course, that the cha chan teng concept originates from Hong Kong - a long-standing rival of Singapore's, but more usually in the realm of finance hubs rather than grub.
The export of these Hong Kong-style eateries by Singaporeans is equivalent to a Hong Konger starting a string of kopitiams in the territory, then introducing the model to, say, Vietnam.
Hong Kong Cafe's owner Benny Foo points out that his Indonesian partners spent a year researching the scene here before deciding on his chain.
'They did not approach chains in Hong Kong because the food tends to be more bland there,' says Mr Foo, 37, a Singaporean who lived in Hong Kong for several years in the 1990s.
'We have modified the food to suit Singaporeans, and the spicier and more exotic tastes will appeal to Indonesians.'
Both Central and Hong Kong Cafe claim to be the original cha chan teng, having opened their maiden outlets in October 2004 in Holland Village and East Coast Road respectively.
Central's owner Jun Low, 42, chanced upon the idea after she noticed cha chan teng sprouting in Kuala Lumpur.
The former stockbroker runs a bakery chain, Bread Story, that has outlets in Malaysia, Indonesia, Kuwait and Australia.
'Singapore is usually a few steps ahead of Malaysia when it comes to food trends and I was very surprised that there was no cha chan teng here yet,' she says.
She adds that she felt the cha chan teng concept would make it here as it sells a range of comfort food that people can eat 'round the clock, from breakfast to supper'.
Similarly confident of the business potential is Mr Foo, despite reminders from friends that back in the mid-1990s, a concept similar to cha chan teng that was launched here by Hong Kong's Fairwood fast-food chain failed to fly.
'People told me selling instant noodles won't work here,' he recalls with a wry smile. 'They said Singaporeans will not pay $5 to eat instant noodles.' But eat and pay they did.
Now, his regular customers happily fork out $16.80 for a plate of XO sauce fried lobster instant noodles, the latest creation in a long menu consisting of over 200 items.
Indeed, industry players say the secret to the staying power of cha chan teng lies in the sheer variety of food offered.
Any self-respecting cha chan teng will have at least 100 items on offer, while Tong Shui Cafe set a new record by coming up with over 600 items at its latest outlet.
Called TSC, it opened just over a week ago at Changi Airport Terminal 2 and is the first halal cha chan teng here.
HK-style but local taste
WHILE a signature characteristic of cha chan teng is the quantity of food available, the same cannot be said of the quality.
The proliferation of outlets means that the standard is uneven, although many operators say some of their ingredients like tea leaves and sauces are sourced from Hong Kong, and that their chefs are either from Hong Kong or Hong Kong-trained.
However, an industry source who declines to be named claims one operator has resorted to training foreign students - who are not from Hong Kong - and passing them off as 'chefs' after only a few months.
And then there is the oft-raised question of authenticity.
Hong Kong-born translator Irene Chan, 27, says she gave up on cha chan teng here after visiting a couple of eateries.
'The food here is packaged too nicely and the taste is modified. It just doesn't have the flavour of cha chan teng in Hong Kong,' she says.
But Xin Wang's Ms Phua says that unadulterated Hong Kong cha chan teng food 'may not be everyone's cup of tea', adding that there is a need to incorporate and cater to local tastes while featuring some 'Hong Kong-ness' in the food.
In fact, it was this lack of 'the real thing' that prompted Hong Kong-born businesswoman Victoria Li, 41, to open Old Hong Kong Tea House last August.
She is one of the few - if not the only - Hong Kongers to run a cha chan teng.
At over 10,000 sq ft, the Katong eatery is the largest cha chan teng in Singapore. Business has grown three times since the launch and a new outlet opened in Marina Square just two weeks ago.
'I was disappointed many times when I ate at cha chan teng here,' she says, likening the experience to a Singaporean eating laksa in a mainland Chinese-run restaurant in Beijing.
'I once ordered Hong Kong wonton mee and was served instant noodles with fried wonton. Hong Kong wonton mee is not like that,' she says with an exasperated look.
Although all the operators LifeStyle spoke to say the market is not saturated, with Ms Li boldly predicting that cha chan teng will 'replace food courts one day', most of them are taking it one step at a time.
A popular sentiment is echoed by Mr Foo, who says he will not expand aggressively at the expense of quality.
'Food quality is always the priority. Not any Tom, Dick or Harry can open a cha chan teng,' he says.
'This industry has many more years to go, but people have to be innovative and come up with something that is different from others. Being a copycat is not enough.'
Singapore-style Hong Kong cafes, anyone? The wildfire success of the concept here has spurred some enterprising Singaporeans to open outlets overseas
By Mak Mun San
TREND-WATCHERS scoffed that it was a foodie fad that would go the way of coffee buns and - remember this? - bubble tea.
But unlike that short-lived Taiwanese tea treat, the craze for cha chan teng - cafes serving Hong Kong snacks - is still bubbling along, almost three years after appearing in Singapore.
From zero outlets back then, the number has grown to about 25, with most run by Singaporeans. Turnover from cha chan teng outlets here is estimated to have hit $40 million a year.
Not bad for a simple idea: a menu packed with comfort-food snacks served in casual surroundings.
Think dishes like baked rice with pork chop, instant noodles with luncheon meat and thick toast with peanut butter.
With many outlets either operating round the clock or till dawn, cha chan teng are giving late-night makan venues like Newton Circus food centre, Geylang and roti prata places a run for their money.
Tong Shui Cafe in Zion Road, for example, is so bustling after 2am that it is like a mini-Zouk, as hungry revellers head there after clubbing.
And both Hong Kong Cafe and Old Hong Kong Tea House in East Coast Road have become popular hangouts for night-owls and celebrities such as actor-host Adrian Pang and deejay Dennis Chew.
However, Singaporeans are not only eating Hong Kong for breakfast - as well as lunch, dinner and supper - but some enterprising types are now also exporting the food concept overseas.
At least two local chains have already set up cafes in Indonesia. Others are also eyeing that market and further afield.
Hong Kong Cafe and Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe have each opened one franchised outlet in Jakarta, and Central is looking into entering the Indonesian market soon.
LifeStyle understands that Singaporeans are the first to introduce cha chan teng there.
Ms Gayle Phua, 32, the brand and marketing manager for Thai restaurant operator ThaiExpress - which runs the Xin Wang chain of five outlets here - says: 'Jakarta is a big and ready market. Proximity to Singapore plus consumer readiness also ups the success factor.'
Interestingly, Xin Wang in Jakarta serves the full menu that it serves here and is not halal-certified, as the chain hopes to become a 'viable alternative' in a market that already has many restaurants serving halal cuisine.
Another major player, Tong Shui Cafe, is negotiating to open five outlets in Indonesia, two in Russia, 20 in the Middle East and 200 in the United States through franchising, says its managing director Raymond Khoo, 43.
The irony is, of course, that the cha chan teng concept originates from Hong Kong - a long-standing rival of Singapore's, but more usually in the realm of finance hubs rather than grub.
The export of these Hong Kong-style eateries by Singaporeans is equivalent to a Hong Konger starting a string of kopitiams in the territory, then introducing the model to, say, Vietnam.
Hong Kong Cafe's owner Benny Foo points out that his Indonesian partners spent a year researching the scene here before deciding on his chain.
'They did not approach chains in Hong Kong because the food tends to be more bland there,' says Mr Foo, 37, a Singaporean who lived in Hong Kong for several years in the 1990s.
'We have modified the food to suit Singaporeans, and the spicier and more exotic tastes will appeal to Indonesians.'
Both Central and Hong Kong Cafe claim to be the original cha chan teng, having opened their maiden outlets in October 2004 in Holland Village and East Coast Road respectively.
Central's owner Jun Low, 42, chanced upon the idea after she noticed cha chan teng sprouting in Kuala Lumpur.
The former stockbroker runs a bakery chain, Bread Story, that has outlets in Malaysia, Indonesia, Kuwait and Australia.
'Singapore is usually a few steps ahead of Malaysia when it comes to food trends and I was very surprised that there was no cha chan teng here yet,' she says.
She adds that she felt the cha chan teng concept would make it here as it sells a range of comfort food that people can eat 'round the clock, from breakfast to supper'.
Similarly confident of the business potential is Mr Foo, despite reminders from friends that back in the mid-1990s, a concept similar to cha chan teng that was launched here by Hong Kong's Fairwood fast-food chain failed to fly.
'People told me selling instant noodles won't work here,' he recalls with a wry smile. 'They said Singaporeans will not pay $5 to eat instant noodles.' But eat and pay they did.
Now, his regular customers happily fork out $16.80 for a plate of XO sauce fried lobster instant noodles, the latest creation in a long menu consisting of over 200 items.
Indeed, industry players say the secret to the staying power of cha chan teng lies in the sheer variety of food offered.
Any self-respecting cha chan teng will have at least 100 items on offer, while Tong Shui Cafe set a new record by coming up with over 600 items at its latest outlet.
Called TSC, it opened just over a week ago at Changi Airport Terminal 2 and is the first halal cha chan teng here.
HK-style but local taste
WHILE a signature characteristic of cha chan teng is the quantity of food available, the same cannot be said of the quality.
The proliferation of outlets means that the standard is uneven, although many operators say some of their ingredients like tea leaves and sauces are sourced from Hong Kong, and that their chefs are either from Hong Kong or Hong Kong-trained.
However, an industry source who declines to be named claims one operator has resorted to training foreign students - who are not from Hong Kong - and passing them off as 'chefs' after only a few months.
And then there is the oft-raised question of authenticity.
Hong Kong-born translator Irene Chan, 27, says she gave up on cha chan teng here after visiting a couple of eateries.
'The food here is packaged too nicely and the taste is modified. It just doesn't have the flavour of cha chan teng in Hong Kong,' she says.
But Xin Wang's Ms Phua says that unadulterated Hong Kong cha chan teng food 'may not be everyone's cup of tea', adding that there is a need to incorporate and cater to local tastes while featuring some 'Hong Kong-ness' in the food.
In fact, it was this lack of 'the real thing' that prompted Hong Kong-born businesswoman Victoria Li, 41, to open Old Hong Kong Tea House last August.
She is one of the few - if not the only - Hong Kongers to run a cha chan teng.
At over 10,000 sq ft, the Katong eatery is the largest cha chan teng in Singapore. Business has grown three times since the launch and a new outlet opened in Marina Square just two weeks ago.
'I was disappointed many times when I ate at cha chan teng here,' she says, likening the experience to a Singaporean eating laksa in a mainland Chinese-run restaurant in Beijing.
'I once ordered Hong Kong wonton mee and was served instant noodles with fried wonton. Hong Kong wonton mee is not like that,' she says with an exasperated look.
Although all the operators LifeStyle spoke to say the market is not saturated, with Ms Li boldly predicting that cha chan teng will 'replace food courts one day', most of them are taking it one step at a time.
A popular sentiment is echoed by Mr Foo, who says he will not expand aggressively at the expense of quality.
'Food quality is always the priority. Not any Tom, Dick or Harry can open a cha chan teng,' he says.
'This industry has many more years to go, but people have to be innovative and come up with something that is different from others. Being a copycat is not enough.'
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