Porridge Kings

Chew Chor Meng and Dennis Chew have opened a porridge stall called THE FAMOUS ZHOU.

- Yip Jieying

After setting up three successful coffeeshop stalls selling their 888 Mookata brand of Thai barbecue-steamboat, Chew Chor Meng and Dennis Chew want you to eat clean now. Just last week, the duo soft-launched their new Ang Mo Kio kopitiam porridge stall called The Famous Zhou, aka ‘Zhou Chu Ming’ in Chinese, which literally means ‘Porridge Gets Famous’. It’s also an epic pun on Chor Meng’s Chinese name. For non-Mandarin speakers: ‘Zhou’ is the Chinese hanyu pinyin for both porridge as well as Chor Meng and Dennis’ surnames. “I want to make porridge famous, hence the stall’s name,” laughs Chor Meng.

Why porridge? He explains, “I wanted to open a porridge stall 10 years ago and did some research, but ended up putting it aside. I like porridge. What do you eat for breakfast besides things like eggs and noodles? Porridge. The profit margin [for selling porridge] is low [’cos it’s priced inexpensively], but it is simple, honest good food.”

So much pun

There are eight types of homely, comforting chok served at the stall, with a side of you tiao (fried dough fritters) on the menu, all with elegant-enough Chinese names. But their English names are a whole lot more fun. “Obviously Dennis is the one who gave the dishes their English names, ’cos my English cannot make it!” chortles Chor Meng.