1. How did Grub by ahong & friends come to be and how were the ‘friends’ instrumental to the opening of the restaurant?
This is quite a long story! I was an architect, having worked in KL for about a year or so before I decided to enter the F&B industry. At the time, my then-girlfriend and I started a small business in the University Malaya food court, and that lasted three years. When we were in the midst of opening Grub, we ended up parting ways because of the strain that the heavy workload put on our relationship. When that happened, I didn’t want to do it anymore. She was the one who did up half the restaurant, and with the other details not nearly there yet, I was very discouraged. I wanted to sell the restaurant to myBurgerLab, who was going to turn the place into their delivery hub in the heart of PJ. Then Renyi, who runs myBurgerLab and is also a friend, told me that he wanted to bring some friends over for dinner. I cooked for 10, and then it became 20, and eventually, hundreds, and suddenly we were running a restaurant. So it was really the ‘friends’ that got me to start Grub.
2. What inspired your decision to open Grub in a residential neighbourhood?
I actually hated this place at first — I didn’t want to be here. We were looking up Happy Mansion, which was quite a trendy location at the time, but I found the rental too expensive for the space. There wasn’t much room for a kitchen or a washing area. My former business partner took a drive around this area and found these row of shops that were up for rent. She went in, saw the courtyard and said yes right away (cannot fight with your girlfriend right, so I just signed the tenancy). I thought this place wouldn’t be a good fit — it was rather dirty, and there were a lot of economy rice stalls in the area. Simply put, it wasn’t my first choice, but it’s worked out!
3. Grub’s identity as a restaurant is deeply rooted in classic Western dishes with a local twist. Tell us about your approach to creating the menu.
When I studied in the UK, we cooked with any Malaysian ingredients we could get — even if it wasn’t the ingredient traditionally used, I used it anyway. Our cooking was really more of an accidental fusion. We applied that same approach when I came back here — any ingredient I didn’t have, I replaced. I don’t dictate the menu, the ingredients do. If I can get fresh fish in season, I’ll do fish. If I can get good lamb, I’ll do lamb.
“No-nonsense, hearty plates at fair prices.”
The Burpple community raves about your honest, good food, and especially its reasonable prices. How do you maintain that affordability while still serving quality grub?
With our three years’ experience doing this in a food court, we were advised to run a lean startup, which means we do not invest heavily into the business when we’re getting on our feet. We also tried to cut down on what I call ‘luxuries’ in F&B, things that I don’t think many people realise are luxuries –– you have your waiters, the air-conditioning, these big spaces. We stripped our store down to the bare minimum. Luckily, my former partner and I were architects, so we knew what we were doing. We made our tables and renovated the place on our own. Having said that, it’s always a struggle because people expect certain things when they come to a restaurant, but ultimately, keeping our prices low also comes down to meticulous costing.
5. Grub serves Kobe beef, which is something not many would find in restaurants in Malaysia. How did that happen?
The Kobe beef came into the menu by accident. I have one very loyal customer who has been with us since day one, back when we would only serve four tables a night. He asked if we could cook a Kobe beef meal for him and his girlfriend. I said: ‘Okay, I’ll cook it for you, but you’d have to source the beef yourself.’
At the last minute, he called to say his supplier couldn’t get the beef on time. I called up all my friends and I figured the biggest beef buyer I knew would be the guys at myBurgerLab. They connected me to their supplier, who stocks premium cuts and only buys in small quantities, and she happened to be my customer as well! The Kobe I wanted went for over RM1,000 per kilo and they couldn’t sell it to me in slices, so I decided, heck, I’ll buy the whole chunk — that was a RM10,000 block of beef! I thought to myself that I’ll just do Kobe beef at the restaurant at cost price, until it runs out. But even after I was done with that chunk, people kept asking for it. It’s stayed on the menu since.
6. Is there anything you’d like to see change in KL’s restaurant scene?
I do think the local workforce is heading in the wrong direction. A lot of budding cooks now receive their training in hotels, and I wish more young people would actually come out and start their own restaurants. We (restaurateurs) are always ready to share what we know; they just have to take the first step. I wouldn’t want to see a whole generation of cooks babysat by hotels and culinary schools. Sometimes, you have to start from ground zero, as was the case for us.
7. When did you first fall in love with cooking?
Before I went abroad to further my studies, I never cooked. My mother’s Cantonese and traditionally, that means the duty of feeding the family falls on her shoulders. She would never let me step foot into the kitchen, and I wasn’t about to deprive her of her duty either. I only started cooking when I was a student abroad, but what really kept me interested was the availability of fresh produce in Europe. You’d go to any market and you’ll get really good quality vegetables, fish, meat on a daily basis. In places like Italy or France, you’ll even have access to world-class stuff. That’s when I started cooking regularly for my friends and I, and gradually, just immersed myself in it. Now I tell people, “You can be whatever you want — you don’t have to wait till you go to culinary school or anything.” I got my cooking skills from YouTube.
8. We're seeing more and more chefs and restaurateurs like yourself, who come from non-conventional backgrounds. What would you say is the biggest challenge in taking this leap of faith in your career?
I think the biggest challenge is understanding that F&B is never about just running a business, it’s pursuing a passion. It’s one of those careers that is not going to make a lot of money for you –– it’s simply not as profitable as other ventures — and yet, you have to accept the fact that it comes with a rigorous lifestyle change. Like it or not, the industry puts us in the position for long hours and constant training. When you take on this job, the time and energy are costs to factor in. Some of us make it, others don’t.
9. Who are your culinary inspirations?
Marco Pierre White, Keith Floyd, Gordon Ramsay and Pierre Koffmann.
10. Tell us about your go-to dish as a university student — one that you still love making (or eating) to this day.
My favourite dish to make is still roast chicken. As a student in the UK, the cheapest protein you can get your hands on is chicken — you can get a whole one for just five pounds. Roast the chicken well with a couple of nice sides and you have yourself a complete meal. I’ve actually become quite good at roasting my own chicken over the years, so I’m thinking of doing a Sunday roast at Grub.
11. What is the greatest lesson you’ve learned since opening Grub?
There are no hard and fast rules in life; everything can be negotiated. We weren’t doing anything by convention at Grub, and at first, that gave us a lot of backlash to deal with. But I’ve come to realise that even the rudest and most stubborn customer can be won over, so long as you put your time and effort into communicating with them. This is the one thing most restaurants lack — communication. You need to talk to your customers, and by doing so, you get an insight into what people like, the latest food trends, plus you can get them to try new stuff!
12. If you were to host a cooking show, what would it be called?
Pornography. Let’s face it; nobody in KL cooks anymore. Look at the way we’re designing our kitchens — not for cooking! You can’t actually cook anything in these new condos without having your entire place covered in oil.
So every cooking show out there today is really, just for show — a form of pornography. The food shows that I do respect are those like Anthony Bourdain’s, which really delves into the culture of food. So maybe I’ll host that kind of cooking show, but I would still call it pornography; it is what it is.
13. Where do you see Grub in the next couple of years?
I remember when I first started working for myBurgerLab, they had this dream to build an empire of restaurants that are vastly different — one burger joint, one steakhouse, one pizza place. Almost like a Momofuku in Malaysia. I don’t want to have a replication of Grub; I want to be more diverse.
Keep up with ahong here and read the latest recommendations on Grub here! Want to get the scoop on a buzzy restaurant? Drop us a suggestion at [email protected].
