Satay hawker ‘Ah Pui’ reopens stall in Toa Payoh after two-year hiatus

Ah Pui’s larger-than-usual Hainanese-style charcoal-grilled satay boasts a good meat-to-fat ratio — apt for a stall named ‘Ah Pui Satay’. It’s also a cheeky nod to the hawker’s ‘pui’ (chubby) build. But compared to when we last saw him almost two years ago, we must say that Ah Pui looks a lot less pui now. 

His satay comes with peanut sauce topped with freshly-grated pineapple. 

The ex-street hawker started his career back in the ’80s when he (illegally) hawked from a wooden pushcart at Tiong Bahru. After getting fined four times, the once-elusive hawker ended up selling his sought-after skewers at a cafe called 195 Pearl Hill Cafe in Chinatown in 2021, set up by a former regular customer.

His satays were so in demand back then that it had a six-month waiting list. But shortly after that, Ah Pui and his disciple, Seng, who worked as a kitchen assistant at Pearl Hill, left to open their own restaurant at Smith Street. Sadly, it operated for just over a year – with no longer any waitlist required for the satay – before shutting down. 

After his nearly two-year break to recuperate, Seng told 8days that “now, Ah Pui is well rested and ready to make a comeback”.