Old-school Hakka restaurant gets fresh lease of life with change of ownership

SINGAPORE – After 42 years behind the stove, 78-year-old Lai Fak Nian has closed Plum Village Restaurant, his well-loved Hakka eatery in Jalan Leban, and handed over the reins to young restaurateur Chen Yiwen.

Mr Lai, who had originally planned to retire in two years, told The Straits Times he brought forward the decision after his wife suffered a fall. He now spends most of his time caring for her.

He reached out to Ms Chen, 40, a fellow Hakka and advocate of Hakka culture whom he had met at a clan association event. He recalled being impressed by her deep knowledge of Hakka cuisine and her culinary skills.

After a remake that took over three months, the restaurant in the Sembawang Hills area has been renamed Hakka Bond. It opened its doors on Nov 6, ahead of its official launch in December. Another outlet is planned for Funan mall by the end of November.

A design graduate from LASALLE College of the Arts, Ms Chen oversaw the restaurant’s interior design and food presentation, emphasising both aesthetics and ambience.

With some past food and beverage (F&B) experience under her belt, she sees herself as both an inheritor of culinary tradition and an innovator.

She has applied new ingredients and techniques to create unique flavours and enhance nutrition. One example is her rainbow thunder tea rice, blended with 25 grains.

Her Hakka Bond restaurants do not serve plain white rice, which is replaced with her 25 grains mix.

An active member of the Nanyang Hakka Federation and Foong Shoon Fui Kuan clan associations, Ms Chen has long championed Hakka heritage through culinary workshops and cultural programmes.

She is also the youngest council member of the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations (SFCCA), the apex body of clan associations here, and a recipient of

SFCCA’s Outstanding Youth Award in 2023.

“Mr Lai was concerned that there would be no quality successors as there are very few F&B establishments here that offer a wide range of Hakka cuisine,” Ms Chen told ST. “He hoped that I can take local Hakka food forward. I felt honoured and took up his offer immediately.”

Even before Mr Lai handed over the business to her for an undisclosed sum, Ms Chen had spent years developing her own business concept and had registered her trademark several years earlier.

Plum Village had its “four heavenly kings” – abacus seeds, pork with preserved vegetables, yong tau foo and salt-baked chicken.

While Hakka Bond offers standard local Hakka fare, the menu also includes lesser-known dishes such as hairy fig steamed chicken leg and braised duck breast with motherwort.

“The Hakka region in China spans many counties, so its food is very diverse and rich in tradition,” Ms Chen said. “What we see in Singapore is only a fraction. My goal is to introduce dishes that are less familiar to locals.”

On his choice of successor, Mr Lai said: “Plum Village was a platform for me to promote Hakka culture and cuisine. I believe Ms Chen will continue this mission and not treat the business as just a commercial entity.”

Mr Lai’s father had started the business in 1969 with five other stakeholders in Toa Payoh. It shuttered about five years later, but Mr Lai revived it in 1983 and went on to serve generations of customers.

“Ms Chen is young and capable. I hope she will bring the business to the next level,” said Mr Lai.

Looking ahead, Ms Chen plans to introduce information materials in both English and Chinese to highlight the culinary heritage of her food.

“Unlike Teochew and Cantonese cuisine, Hakka food is much less understood,” she said.

She hopes to change that – one dish at a time.