How a Singapore pharmacist launched a rustic restaurant brand, and his ambitions for hawker food

Pang Seng Meng opened his first restaurant serving seafood and hawker favourites 15 years ago. He expanded to mainland Singapore, and refined the concept

Now he’s looking to food courts to grow, and experimenting with new dishes and wine pairings for hawker food. ‘The thing about Singapore is we adapt,’ he says

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New Ubin Seafood’s restaurant at Zhongshan Park in Singapore. The chain’s founder, Pang Meng Sang, considers it is easier now to open in the city’s food courts than to launch full-fledged restaurants.

Published: 1:00pm, 27 Jan 2020Updated: 2:04pm, 27 Jan 2020

Pang Seng Meng was a pharmacist for most of his life before launching what became a chain of Singapore restaurants, New Ubin Seafood, 15 years ago.

The 64-year-old has led New Ubin Seafood from its humble beginnings on the largely rural island of Pulau Ubin to sparkling upscale establishments in mainland Singapore, boasting expansive and “truly Singaporean” menus.

Pang credits a large part of his success to realising that New Ubin is not “just a restaurant”, but a brand.

The breakthrough came in October 2019, when New Ubin decided to open a rustically styled outlet at Tampines, a suburban town near Singapore’s airport, that tries to recreate the feel of the old Ubin Seafood.

Pang Seng Meng is looking to expand New Ubin Seafood but says young cooks “don’t have the passion”. Photo: courtesy of Facebook

Pang says this allowed for flexibility in branding and made future expansion prospects easier.