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Singaporeans living in the North region will surely have heard of the famous White Bee Hoon Restaurant in Sembawang, which always has snake lines.
Its signature white beehone is a dish made from rice noodles soaked in a rich and thick broth with seafood, eggs and vegetables.
The restaurant, known as the White Restaurant, started at a Zi Char Hawker stall in Chong Pang Market in 1999.
Founder Tay King Huak later moved the company to Jalan Tampang in Sembawang in 2000 and developed it into a casual restaurant.
Photo credit: White Restaurant
Its official name was You Huak Restaurant, but the popularity of the signature dish led customers to refer to it as "Sembawang White Bee Hoon Restaurant".
This led Tay to label the brand as "White Restaurant – The Original Sembawang White Beehoon", thereby strengthening the brand's image and ensuring a clear but recognizable identity.
Today the White Restaurant has grown from a 30-seater café with just five employees to a stall with six restaurants and a central kitchen.
The company is also currently run by Tay's 39-year-old son, Victor Tay. Vulcan Post spoke to the second generation owner to learn how the restaurant grew from a humble street vendor to a successful restaurant chain.
Learning the ropes from his father
Victor Tay / Photo credit: White Restaurant
Since his time in the army and polytechnic, Victor has been helping the Jalan Tampang coffee shop on weekends to remedy the labor shortage.
He did everything – from learning to cook with his parents to waiting for tables, clearing the clogged floor trap to cleaning the toilets.
During his internship at an oil drilling company in the final year of his polytechnic degree, it became clear to him that he was not entirely suitable for the everyday nine-to-five office job.
Then he decided to spend more time learning culinary skills from his parents and has never looked back since.
Despite the hard and long hours, his passion for cooking, serving good food and building good relationships with customers kept him going.
Founder Tay King Huak / Photo credit: White Restaurant
His father not only taught him culinary and managerial skills, but also taught him the important value of remaining "honest and humble".
Years of training with his parents in the shop came in handy when he took over the business from his father a few years ago.
Victor had to fill the shoes of his father's inheritance. As the brand that invented the white beehoon dish, he knew it was his responsibility to uphold his father's standards.
Even as Victor expanded the business and menu, he always kept the consistency of their white Beehoon dish.
Grow to a chain of 6 sockets
White Restaurant at Jewel Changi / Photo credit: Seth Lui
Under Victor's leadership, the White Restaurant Group has seen steady and rapid expansion from one to six branches across the island in less than six years.
The most recent store opening is at Punggol Waterway Point – a departure from the popular store in Punggol Settlement.
To meet demand and ensure the quality and consistency of the food, Victor also oversaw the establishment of a central kitchen.
In addition to the typical white Beehoon dish, the White Restaurant also offers other Zi-Char dishes such as muesli prawns and salted egg squid.
Image credit: CapitaLand
Victor also kept pace with the trends by innovating with new flavors to appeal to the younger generation with dishes like truffle white porridge and mala white beef.
The brand redesign proved a success as the group continues to attract younger fans. No wonder, then, that White Restaurant has group sales of over S $ 1 million each month.
According to Victor, he plans to launch the White Beehoon Dish in Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines in the near future.
China could potentially be in the pipeline to Southeast Asia, he added.
I think of white beehoon as an iconic Singaporean dish, much like our chilli crab, chicken rice, and kaya toast. I would love to put this dish on the world map.
It's a cozy dish that all Singaporeans are familiar with. There is no debate about whether it is a Singaporean dish.
– Victor Tay, chairman of the White Restaurant
Dealing with imitators
Victor Tay / Photo credit: White Restaurant
Victor told Vulcan Post that one of the biggest challenges in this highly competitive industry is staying relevant.
"Although we are the first to introduce this dish, the dish has been so popular that there have been many similar products on the market over the years," he continued.
At first I was very angry when friends and regulars sent me pictures of them. However, over the years I realized that I should take all of this at my own expense.
It just meant that it was so good that people were copying us, and I was kind of flattered that the dish was worth having people trying to repeat.
– Victor Tay, chairman of the White Restaurant
Regardless of the "imitators", he thanked the Singaporeans, who recognize them as "the original, the rightful inventor of the court".
Indeed, this is where maintaining the quality and consistency of the food can help stave off competition.
Look at new growth paths
During the Covid-19 period, White Restaurant saw an increase in takeout and delivery orders from customers looking for smaller menus as large group gatherings and food sharing are not allowed.
This has prompted them to put together individual individual bento sets and bento bundles.
"This trend is one of the reasons that have shaped our business direction to open more self-service stores in 2021," said Victor.
Adding express outlets is a strategic move for the group. These outlets would be smaller self-service restaurants that require fewer staff and offer a curated selection of the White Restaurant's most popular dishes.
Labor restrictions have plagued the service industry, particularly with the reduction in the quota of foreign workers and the closure of Malaysia's borders.
Opening these self-service stores would allow us to meet takeout and delivery requirements and reach customers in parts of Singapore that our current restaurants cannot serve.
– Victor Tay, chairman of the White Restaurant
In addition to expanding their restaurant fleet, they are also doing research and development here to sell condiments such as pastes, sauces, and a ready-to-eat version of their popular white Beehoon dish.
They hope to eventually export these products to other countries for sale.
Photo credit: White Restaurant
Again, this is a strategic move for the company as it works to expand its presence in Singapore and overseas.
To take the group to the next level, his brother-in-law, Alan Wah, was recently appointed as the company's CEO, who oversees and directs the company's expansion plans.
We trust that the group will see more exciting expansion plans in the near future under the leadership of these two brothers.
Selected image source: White Restaurant / Shopsinsg
