Two young Singaporean hawkers behind the stall Beng Who Cooks will be opening a new restaurant at 39 Neil Road.

28-year-old Jason Chua — a self-professed "ah beng" — and 27-year-old Hung Zhen Long previously served up Singaporean-style Poké bowls at their stall at Hong Lim Food Centre.

They made the news for offering free meals to the needy people in Circuit Breaker, no questions asked.

Opening new restaurant in November

Now, it seems the pair are moving on to bigger things — a new restaurant.

Their new space at Neil Rd is currently still in the midst of renovation works.

Chua estimated that the new restaurant would open in mid-November, as they have yet to obtain licensing from the Singapore Food Agency.

The place has a capacity for 30 diners with safe distancing measures in place.

Snippets of the construction process were previously revealed on their Facebook page three weeks ago.

A peek at the new space recently shows furniture in place and the large sign with their logo in front of the glass storefront.

Chua gave some hints about their upcoming menu, stating that lunch would include food like salad and rice and would roughly be priced between S$8 and S$12.

They will be revamping their menu but their signature broccoli will remain.

Dinner items, including full course meals, would be a tad pricier but still "reasonably priced".

Bigger prospects

Beng Who Cooks previously gained fame for starting an initiative to give out free meals to the needy during the circuit breaker. Chua and Hung did not require any "proof", and would offer their food to those who simply wanted a free meal.

They also offered meals to children who have been unable to have proper meals due to school closures.

Chua shared with Mothership that they already had the idea of opening a new restaurant since January earlier this year. However, Covid-19 put a halt to their plans and they were forced to adapt to the circumstances and open a hawker stall instead.

He described their previous situation "stagnant". As Beng Who Cooks only serves lunch, Chua felt it was "boring to be doing the same thing".

"I mean I personally have already plan[ned] to do it big. [...] We really wanna work harder and put our name and brand out there."

The duo has since closed down the hawker stall at Hong Lim Food Centre to focus on this new endeavour.

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Top photo from Beng Who Cooks / FB and by Ashley Tan