“Can you not reveal my address?” asks roast meat hawker Ah Poon, 64, when 8days.sg meets him at his stall, Poon Kee Traditional Roasted Duck, for an interview.
“I’m afraid we cannot manage,” he says earnestly. “It’s just my wife and me running the stall. We are getting old, even if we want to, we can’t make too much food. So I just make enough and when it’s sold out, that’s it.”
His stall, tucked away in an ulu canteen at the Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC) Recreation Club in a Jurong industrial area, recently went viral after a food influencer featured it on TikTok.
Why he doesn’t want too much business
The result? A snaking queue outside the canteen and a very stressed-out Ah Poon.
“I felt so paiseh,” he recalls. “I only had three strips of char siew left and kept apologising to customers ‘cos a lot of people went home empty-handed. I don’t want such a situation to happen again. You understand?”
But after some coaxing, the affable towkay relented because good things must share right?
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Learned the ropes at Fatty Weng, who’s his ex bro-in-law
Ah Poon has almost five decades experience under his belt. He picked up the trade at 16 working at Fatty Weng, the famed Cantonese restaurant once run by the titular Fatty, his former brother-in-law.
There, he trained under a Hong Kong shifu, though he’s quick to add that the old masters “would never pass down [all] their skills to you.”
What he didn’t learn, he picked up on the side from his brother-in-law and other family members and through plenty of trial and error.
By the late 1980s, Ah Poon was confident enough to strike out on his own, opening his first roast meat stall. He’s run several stalls since, from cai png to wonton mee, all in industrial areas.
“At one point I had four stalls — some successful, some not — then about 10 years ago, I decided to scale back ’cos it’s not worth it,” he shares.
“I had to wake up at 5am and knock off at 9pm. These days, I still get up at 5am but go home at 2pm. My wife and I run the stall entirely on our own.”
Semi-retired… but still hustling
Ah Poon deliberately chose this ulu Jurong location when he opened Poon Kee in March 2024 because he “didn’t want too much stress”. Nearly all the cooking is done by him. His wife helps with simpler tasks like wrapping dumplings and taking orders.
Even before the stall’s viral fame, business was steady thanks to his long-time regulars from the area. His prices remain modest, starting at $4 for a bowl of wonton mee.
Why he opened shop in an ulu workers’ recreation club
“There is little walk-in business as a lot of people think there is only South Asian food here because of the nearby workers’ dormitory,” he notes. Out of 17 stalls in the canteen, only two serve Chinese or local food.
The low rent and easy-going landlord also sealed the deal. “He is fine with me opening five days a week and even going on vacation. I went on three trips last year,” says Ah Poon, who lives in Geylang with his Malaysian-born wife.
He calls this “semi-retirement” and most days, he sells out before 2pm. And if he’s too tired, he might not open shop, though that’s a rare occurrence.
“My goal is just to earn enough and keep my days occupied,” he says simply.
Though his two daughters, both in their 30s and “doing well in their corporate jobs”, have urged Ah Poon to retire, he admits he gets restless without work.
“Stay at home also nothing to do,” he shrugs. “Before opening here, we took a six-month break but after a while, I got a bit bored, so I told my wife let’s find a space and start a business. Don’t necessarily have to make money.”
“If someone says my food [is] not nice, it bothers me the whole day”
Despite the humble setup, Ah Poon is a stickler for quality. Describing himself as a perfectionist, he says: “The food must pass my own standard first.”
He finds motivation in the feedback from customers. “If someone says my food [is] not nice, it bothers me the whole day,” he admits.
From the Cantonese-style roast meats to the wonton and chilli, everything at Poon Kee is made from scratch. And every roast is done the traditional way over charcoal.
Charcoal is the only way to go, says the perfectionist
“This is my specialty. When people come here, I tell them very proudly that I use charcoal,” he says.
To him, there’s simply no substitute. “With gas, the roast duck and char siew might look nicer because it cooks evenly but there is no fragrance. Charcoal gives that slight char — that aroma you can’t fake,” he explains.
Listens to Chinese novels from YouTube while cooking
Interestingly, when he’s at work, Ah Poon wears large headphones — not to block out noise, but to keep himself entertained.
“I listen to Chinese novels from YouTube,” he shares with a grin, adding that it’s also convenient to answer calls from customers.
Mixed Roast Pork & Char Siew Rice, from $5 (8 DAYS Pick!)
Despite the stall’s name and huge roast duck on the signboard, it’s the char siew and siew yoke (roast pork) that steal the show. Poon Kee’s flavours lean heavily Cantonese, just the way Ah Poon likes it.
The siew yoke is equally good — thickly cut with a golden, crisp crackling. Marinated overnight, the pork belly is tender and well-seasoned, without being overly salty or heavy on five spice.
The meats come draped with a dark savoury-sweet gravy consisting of sugar, roast duck drippings and other “secret ingredients”. It can mask the natural taste of the meat, so if you prefer a lighter touch, ask for sauce on the side.
Wonton mee, $4 (8 DAYS Pick!)
Each bowl comes with two fried and two boiled wontons, plus six slices of that excellent char siew.
The medium-sized wontons are nicely seasoned and studded with bits of water chestnut for crunch, while the fried ones, though a little light on filling, are simple yet moreish. They remind us of the old-school wontons we used to eat in our school canteen: crunchy, savoury, and addictive. Also available as an add-on at $1 for five pieces.
But the real star here? The noodles. They’re springy, eggy, and wonderfully coated in a slick of fragrant lard oil, dark soy and light soy sauce — that classic Malaysia-style sweet-savoury mix that hits all the right notes. So tasty, we can eat it on its own. Crackly fried bits of lard adds an extra crunch and fragrance to every bite. It’s no wonder Ah Poon sells over 100 bowls of noodles each day.
Free-flow Cantonese-style soups
Help yourself to the free soup of the day, available from around 11am from the steel pot at the front of the stall. Ah Poon offers five Cantonese-style soups on rotation such as peanut soup and white fungus soup, cooked fresh daily.
“Free refills — I don’t care how much you take,” Ah Poon says.
“Some people joke that they come not for my roast meat, but for my soup. Some will call first to check what’s the soup of the day. If it’s not to their taste, they won’t come.”
Our salted vegetable soup, boiled with yellow beans, ikan bilis, chicken feet and tomatoes, isn’t your double-boiled type, but it’s flavourful and homely. Nice.
Dumpling Soup, $4
For $4, you get four plump dumplings, generously stuffed with a savoury mix of dried sole fish-infused pork, crunchy bits of water chestnut and a whole prawn. You can taste the freshness of the ingredients.
Roast Duck Noodles, from $5; $45 whole
A well-executed roast duck made from fresh Malaysian birds weighing about 2.6kg. Massaged with a mix of herbs and spices including dang gui (angelica root), star anise, cinnamon and five-spice powder, the meat is tender, succulent and well-seasoned. It’s not too greasy, with just enough fat under the skin to keep things moist. The flavour’s well-balanced and aromatic, and pairs nicely with the QQ noodles and dark soy dressing.
Bottom line
If you don’t mind the journey to the far west, Poon Kee is well worth the trip for great roast meat at reasonable prices. Go for the char siew, stay for the aromatic wonton noodles — one of the yummiest we’ve tried. Visit in the morning for freshly roasted meats, and try to get your hands on the popular dumplings before they sell out.
Poon Kee Traditional Roasted Duck is at 51 Soon Lee Rd, MWC Recreation Club, S628088. Open Mon-Fri 8.30am to 2pm.
Photos: Dillon Tan
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