SINGAPORE – It is an exclamation that has become ubiquitous in Singapore, used to describe all of life’s most pleasurable experiences, from a good head massage to a cool evening breeze.

But it is most commonly heard in the dining rooms of this food-obsessed nation.

“Wah, very shiok,” one might say about a hearty bowl of bak kut teh or a steaming plate of nasi lemak. 

Now, “shiok” is finding its way abroad too.

It has become a go-to name for overseas-based Singaporean entrepreneurs looking for a punchy way to convey the ethos of their eateries: delicious, in a distinctly Singaporean way.

Mr Ivan Lee, 41, the Singaporean owner of So Shiok! Restaurant in Dubai, says: “The idea was to find a name that could bring out the pride of being a Singaporean brand, as well as the feeling people get when they eat our food.”

For celebrity chef Cherish Finden, 56, the former executive pastry chef behind Shiok! Patisserie at Pan Pacific London, shiok conveys a sense of joy and excitement.

The London-based Singaporean says: “When I hear ‘shiok’, it just puts a smile on my face. It’s a very iconic term.”

While the word may not be familiar to those outside of Singapore, it works as a conversation starter.

“It’s pretty hard to pronounce for Americans. Most of them will call it ‘shy-ok’,” says Mr Robin Tan, 60, the Singaporean owner of Shiok! restaurant in Mountain Home, Idaho. “Most of our customers are curious about what it means.” 

Being a stranger in a strange land can have its perks – Singaporean cuisine is a unique selling point in less cosmopolitan cities, for one – but unfamiliarity makes the uphill climb of entering the food and beverage industry more gruelling. 

Still, it is a challenge that these intrepid restaurateurs have embraced with open arms. And, for some of them, the slog has paid off. 

Baking gave voice to struggling student

These days, Cherish Finden, 56, moves with the easy confidence of someone at the top of her game.

Since leaving her post at Shiok! Patisserie in April 2023, the award-winning pastry chef – who has baked for Queen Elizabeth II and Lady Gaga – has kept busy as a food festival guest star and in a consulting role.

But the London-based food consultant, teacher and judge still remembers what it feels like to be a fish out of water. 

The youngest of four children, Finden – born Huang Shurou – grew up in Singapore, where she attended primary and secondary school. The finer details of those painful years – how much she scored for tests, which academic stream she was in – have been forgotten, but the feeling of crushing inadequacy lingers. 

“Oh my goodness, it was depressing,” she says over a Zoom call from London.

“I always chose to sit at the back of the class, and when a teacher asked me a question, I would put my head down and refuse to answer because I just didn’t know how to express myself.” 

It did not help that she was often compared with her academically more able siblings. “I felt very sad, I felt behind, I felt left out,” says the Shatec graduate, who began cooking for her family when she was 12 to help her mother following her father’s stroke.

Buoyed by compliments from her siblings, she pursued a career in food and beverage, and got her start at the Pan Pacific Singapore.

Along the way, she married a British financier – with whom she has a daughter, who is now in her 20s – and moved to London in 2001 to work as a pastry sous chef at the Great Eastern Hotel.

There, her struggles with the English language intensified. “Language was my main difficulty at the start, because my English was rubbish. Londoners speak very fast, so I was often asking, ‘Would you mind repeating yourself? I don’t quite understand’,” says the chef, who is more comfortable in Teochew even after two decades in Britain. 

She decided to speak through food instead. Rising steadily through the ranks of the London pastry scene, she became known for her artistic creations, some of which were inspired by Singapore and Asia. Following her award-winning stint as executive pastry chef at the Langham Hotel from 2009 to 2017, she moved to luxury chocolatier Godiva, where, as creative development chef, she created the world’s most expensive Easter egg in 2019, costing £10,000 (S$16,900).

“When you move one of my desserts, no matter which angle you look at it from, you will always see contrasting colours and elements of differing heights,” says Finden, who was crowned Pastry Chef of the Year by Britain’s Craft Guild of Chefs in 2012, a top industry award sometimes known as the “chefs’ Oscars”.

During her time at Pan Pacific London from October 2019 to April 2023, she crafted an intricate centrepiece for its Kopi Tiam Afternoon Tea in the Orchid Lounge, featuring a coconut dacquoise with mango jelly and shortbread designed to resemble a coconut, as well as a cheongsam-inspired dessert made of matcha mousse with yuzu curd and black sesame biscuit.

These tropical ingredients are how she blended her memories of home – the menu was inspired by her late grandmother – with the delicate finery of hotel cooking.

She also served up a slice of Singapore at Pan Pacific London’s Shiok! Patisserie, which she named.

Her Chinese chocolate teapot cake – inspired by childhood memories of sipping tea with her grandfather – rested on gula melaka sponge, while her kopi tarik – a tribute to one of her favourite coffee shop drinks – paired coffee foam with mascarpone cream, kahlua and finger sponge.

She was also a judge on the Channel 4 baking competition, Bake Off: The Professionals since it started in 2016. The spin-off of the popular competition show, The Great British Bake Off (2010 to present), which sees teams of pastry chefs up against one another, first aired on BBC Two in 2010.

Despite her reputation as a formidable judge who is tough to please, she says her approach is shaped by her own painful memories growing up, and she treats her charges with a fairness she wishes had been extended to her. “You need to explain to people where they made the mistake, sit them down and show them how to do it.” 

With a smile, she adds: “If you are a very good teacher, your students will love your subject. And when your student loves the subject, they will do well at it.” 

Former pilot swoops into restaurant business

Where others saw a barren expanse of land, Mr Robin Tan saw opportunity.

Shortly after moving to Mountain Home, Idaho, in 2009 for a training stint, the former Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) major started planning for his retirement.

He liked the town’s laid-back atmosphere and friendly community, and decided to continue living there.

There was just one question: What would he do with all his new-found free time?

Mr Tan, 60, and his wife Caroline, 54, a former flight attendant with Singapore Airlines, then stumbled upon a disused barbecue restaurant, and the Singaporean couple knew they found their answer.

“Where we are over in this part of the world – in Idaho – there’s really no good Asian food. Nothing authentic,” he says over Zoom. 

Taking matters into their own hands, they opened Shiok! Ridiculously Delicious in 2012. It serves dishes that might be found at Singapore zi char joints – sweet and sour pork (US$13.50 or S$17.85) and laksa (US$17.50) – with some American-Chinese classics such as General Tso’s chicken (US$13.50) and broccoli beef (US$14.50).

The couple – who had no prior food industry experience – cast a wide net, hiring kitchen staff from Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco. 

“We were none the wiser. We just put in the money from my retirement funds and took that leap of faith,” says the father of four children aged 14 to 23.

Unfortunately, their trust was misplaced. Although the restaurant was full each night, they were not making as much money as expected.

Mr Tan soon deduced that his manager and chef were manipulating the accounts and food purchases, pocketing most of the profits.

“The manager first arrived without a car, but on the day he resigned, he drove away in a Cadillac. The chef was reselling excess purchases to other restaurants,” he says, adding that the pair were fired soon after.

Mr Tan realised then that he had to play a more active role in the restaurant. After retiring from the RSAF in 2013, he took over management of the eatery and hired new staff. 

Customers came in droves, and so did the accolades. Most recently, British lifestyle publication LUXlife Magazine crowned Shiok the Most Authentic Singaporean Cuisine in the Pacific North-western United States North America in 2023.

Mr Tan credits his 30 years in the RSAF with instilling in him a “never give up” attitude that got him through those tough early years.

He also attributes his restaurant’s success to its clientele’s sophisticated palates. “This is a military town, so the people who live here are either on active duty or retired.”

“These people have travelled widely. They have been based in Malaysia, Europe or the Middle East, so they are quite adventurous when it comes to food,” he says.

The former military man also learnt to find satisfaction in being a restaurant owner and exploring the natural wonders of his new home, skiing and taking road trips around the US.

Though being a restaurant owner is not as thrilling as flying a jet through a canyon at nearly 1,000kmh, there are small victories that make the job worth it. 

“It’s always nice to talk to the guests and see the big smiles of satisfaction when they dig into a bowl of hot spicy laksa or savoury char kway teow.” 

A slice of Singapore in the desert

Mr Ivan Lee’s job as a Singapore Airlines station manager led to him living all around the world – nine months in Jakarta, two years in Dhaka, and four years in Dubai.

Though he eventually left the airlines after nine years in July 2021, he remained in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the company last posted him. 

It was there that he spied an opportunity to carve out a niche for himself. Despite a sizeable South-east Asian population in the UAE, there was a dearth of Singaporean food options in Dubai.

This hit him especially hard during Dubai’s Covid-19 lockdown, when Mr Lee, stuck indoors, craved a taste of home but was unable to find a decent South-east Asian meal.

“There used to be more choices, but many restaurants selling Malaysian or Singaporean food closed during the pandemic,” he says.

The 41-year-old cooking hobbyist opened his first cloud kitchen, in expat district Jumeirah Lake Towers in December 2021.

Named Shiok, it was helmed by a Singaporean chef Mr Lee hired from his home country to whip up dishes like chicken rice and laksa.

“It was a calculated risk. We decided to start off with a cloud kitchen so we didn’t have to invest more into renovation, and delivery was in demand after the pandemic,” says Mr Lee.

Still, the slow growth nearly hamstrung initial operations. The bachelor says: “It took me around $100,000 to start off. I used my savings and, eventually, I sold my condo in Singapore to fund the expenses.” 

A month and a half after opening, however, his fortunes took a turn for the better. A friend who designed the Neighbourhood Food Hall in Dubai’s Motor City informed him that a vendor had pulled out – opening up a space for Mr Lee to establish his first dine-in joint, which was up and running by February 2022. 

He named the new joint Shiok as well, and added another location in November 2023, with the new outlet in the residential Jumeirah Lake Towers district replacing his original cloud kitchen. 

Mr Lee does not cook for the restaurant, but runs the show and does taste tests at Shiok, working with a team of Burmese and Filipino chefs to develop the menu, which features hawker classics such as Hainanese chicken rice (AED 39.90 or S$14.36), laksa (AED 50.40) and char kway teow (AED 39.90).

“It usually takes a few rounds of tasting and testing to get a dish right,” he says. “First, the food has to pass my tastebuds. Then, we get feedback from other Singaporeans and trial them as our monthly specials to hear from customers.”  

“We’re about 70 per cent there,” he adds. “It’s hard because we have to use only halal ingredients. So, for instance, if you fry char kway teow without pork lard or use chicken breast for char siew, you just don’t get the same taste.” 

Still, the former secondary school Chinese teacher, who picked up cooking from his father, a former chef at a Chinese restaurant, tries his best to strive for authenticity.

He imports his chilli sauce and dark soya sauce from Singapore.  He also makes some staples – such as laksa paste and sambal – in-house.

He is considering expanding his business to other countries in the region, though he is adamant about staying away from the Singapore scene for now, preferring the lifestyle and cosmopolitan make-up in Dubai.

“If I come back, I’ll be just another restaurant in an overly competitive industry. I think the Singapore market is already too saturated.”