Back in 2021, Singaporeans were excited to learn that Malaysian roast duck specialist Meng Meng was opening its first outlet here. The Johor Bahru restaurant chain is popular for its dang gui-marinated ducks, which are roasted over charcoal.
Instead of a restaurant, Meng Meng entered the local market here by setting up a hawker stall in Ang Mo Kio. The brand was brought in by Singaporean management consultancy +Plentitude, which also runs Hainanese restaurant The Hainan Colony in Tai Seng. A second hawker outlet soon followed in 2022, opening at Hougang Mall.
ANG MO KIO STALL CLOSED
The Ang Mo Kio stall has since closed last September after operating for two years. Speaking to 8days.sg, +Plentitude’s managing director Owen Lau, 51, shared that he had decided not to renew the stall’s lease after it expired. Instead, he was moving the stall’s operations to a “full dining location” at a shophouse unit in Serangoon Garden Way.
He explained that overheads like ingredient costs had “increased in the later months”, and the hawker concept “won’t be able to meet our desired margins, hence we do what we do best by going back to a restaurant concept”.