Boon Lay Raja's recipe for success

Owner cites 3 'ingredients': affordable prices, quality food and sterling service
By Amelia Tan, The Straits Times, 10 Oct 2014

THE owner of the popular Boon Lay Raja Restaurant, Mr Henry Tan Kweng Nam, 73, has a confession to make: He cannot cook. But he makes up for it by poring over recipe books and diligently studying the menus of other restaurants.

He then gets chefs at Boon Lay Raja to whip up new dishes based on the ideas that come to him. He is also the resident guinea pig whenever his chefs experiment with new flavours.

"The chefs tweak the flavours, based on my feedback. That is how I ensure that the food is good," Mr Tan told The Straits Times in Mandarin during an interview on Wednesday.

It was announced this week that the 60-table Chinese restaurant, a short walk away from Jurong East MRT station, is selling its 11,248 sq ft space for $15 million.

When the original outlet opened in 1979, it was located in Jalan Boon Lay and most of its customers hailed from nearby factories. It moved to the site in Jurong Gateway Road in Jurong East in 1989.

Mr Tan, a former secondary school principal, was encouraged to enter the food and beverage industry by three university classmates who later became Boon Lay Raja's main shareholders.

But they leave him to run the place, and he has single-handedly crafted the restaurant's menu all these years.

His determination to ensure that Boon Lay Raja offers only quality food has not wavered, said his wife, Alicia, 70, an insurance agent.

Trademark dishes such as Red Garoupa in Nonya Sauce, Roast Duck with Mango and Buddha Jumps Over the Wall came about through Mr Tan's suggestions and experimentation by his cooks.

However, as Mr Tan admits, the work is draining - that is why he and the other shareholders have decided to sell the restaurant.

It is a pity, he adds, that he has not been able to find someone to take over. His two daughters - one is an engineering professor at the National University of Singapore and the other is a cardiologist in Perth, Australia - are not interested.

He asked some of the restaurant's chefs if they wanted to give it a go, but they said no.

"My staff said they were not confident they could do it. It is true that being in the restaurant line is not easy," he said.

His wife notes that the tightening of hiring policies for foreign workers has made it more difficult to get good staff. 

Despite escalating costs, Mr Tan has stayed firm in his resolve that the restaurant should absorb the 10 per cent service charge commonly levied by food and beverage outlets. Even so, the waiters are no less attentive, customers pointed out.

Long-time patrons said Boon Lay Raja is well-known in Jurong for serving quality food at reasonable prices.

Housewife Tan Boon Hwa, 58, ate at the restaurant in the 1980s when she was working as a human resource executive at a factory in Boon Lay.

She recalled: "We would hold our company functions there. Some people held their weddings there too; others celebrated their babies' first-month parties. The food was delicious and reasonably priced."

Mr Tan said his recipe for success boils down to three "ingredients": affordable prices, quality food and sterling service.

He hopes whoever buys the eatery space will continue to run the restaurant.

"The buyer could even use our restaurant's name and our staff could continue to work for him if he wishes," said Mr Tan.

He has decided to keep the restaurant open at least until after the next Chinese New Year.

He said: "I want to give my customers a good Chinese New Year meal - one last time."

Post by The Straits Times.

Boon Lay Raja goes on sale for $15m
Partners put old-time foodie favourite on market due to lack of successors
By Mok Fei Fei And Amelia Tan, The Straits Times, 9 Oct 2014

THE owners of the popular Boon Lay Raja Restaurant in Jurong East are looking to sell the space for around $15 million and enjoy a well-earned retirement.

The four friends who started the eatery in 1979 are in their late 60s and 70s and want to put their feet up.

"I am getting on in years and my partners and I all want to take a break," said managing director Tan Kweng Nam in Mandarin.

Mr Tan, 73, told The Straits Times last night that business is doing well.

Sales reaches $30,000 on a good day but, with no successors in sight, he said this was an opportune time to look ahead.

"The venue is in a good location, which makes the decision for us to sell the restaurant an easier one," he said.

Mr Tan hopes a new owner will run the business. Much, however, depends on the eventual outcome of the bid.

He has also pledged to keep running the restaurant until Chinese New Year so customers will not be disappointed.

The 11,248 sq ft premises in Block 135, Jurong Gateway Road has 69 years left on its lease from the Housing and Development Board (HDB).

Its reserve price of $15 million works out to $1,334 psf. The tender closes at 3pm on Nov 6.

Real estate agency Savills Singapore said the space is zoned for restaurant purposes, but that the HDB may allow a change of use.

"This is a rare opportunity for restaurateurs facing escalating rentals to operate on their own premises, and establish or consolidate their presence in this highly sought-after location," said Mr Derrick Tan, Savills Singapore's associate director of investment sales, in a statement.

Boon Lay Raja is a proudly old-fashioned Chinese restaurant that has long been a popular venue for wedding dinners.

Its dining room seats up to 600 people and guests are served traditional fare such as dim sum, shark's fin soup, and braised pork trotters.

Some long-time patrons dined there last night after learning that the restaurant was for sale.

Mrs Kai Tan, 29, who has been eating at Boon Lay Raja since she was a child, said: "I thought, what if the owner is not able to find a buyer and decides to shut down the business? Then I would not be able to eat this food again."

Her husband, Mr Tan Wei Jie, 32, said most of their family dinners are held at the restaurant, which they like as it serves good quality food at a reasonable price.

"We pay $100 for a dinner for five adults," he said. "We have soup, a poultry dish, vegetables and tofu. It is simple food, but it tastes good and that's why we keep coming back."

Other patrons described the food as having "a flavour of home".

Engineer Eileen Yap, 31, who was at the restaurant with two colleagues, said: "The steamed fish and steamed prawns have the flavours of home-cooked food. There is something about their freshness and simple cooking style."

Patrons listed spring chicken, shark's fin soup and mango roasted duck as must-try dishes.

Engineer Tan Seu Guan, 37, said: "My friends and I always order the spring chicken. But it is not just the food that brings us back; this place feels like home."