Boss of Mr Burger now sells popular 'Ramly' burgers at MRT stations with Ananas Cafe

The last time 8days spoke with Penang-born chef Wong Kok Chin, 36, we mentioned how much we enjoyed his cafe-quality Ramly-inspired burgers at his humble food kiosk called Mr. Burger at Bugis Street. Back then, the shop drew long queues of up to an hour.

However, plenty has happened since. Wong had to relocate his shop multiple times and he’d lost a whopping S$700,000 (US$517,500) in investment together with his partners over these three years.

Moreover, the brand Mr. Burger has been sort of subsumed under homegrown halal food chain, Ananas. While the brand has 20 stores spread across various MRT stations – only four offer Mr. Burger’s Malaysian-style burgers now. 

What happened?

MR. BURGER'S FIRST OUTLET AT BUGIS STREET

First, a bit of backstory. Wong used to work as sous chef at the now-defunct Jones the Grocer Aussie cafe in Dempsey until 2014, before he joined no-frills local food chain Ananas as a cook.

Six years later, he left Ananas to open Malaysian-style burger stand Mr. Burger in October 2021. The humble kiosk along Bugis Street hawked the beloved Ramly-inspired burgers reminiscent of those found in pasar malams.

FYI: The word 'Ramly' refers to the beef patties first sold from a street stall in 1979 by Haji Ramly Monki, who was looking to fill the niche for certified halal burger patties. It proved popular enough for him to turn it into Ramly Food Processing later, where the patties are made in a factory and supplied to vendors.

The burgers are also known for patties wrapped in a sauce-filled omelette – hearty, sloppy pasar malam fare popular in Malaysia and Singapore. 

According to Wong, business was booming at this first outlet. “Sometimes customers needed to queue for almost an hour just to get the burger,” he exclaimed. 

The friendly, chatty owner also gushed: “It’s really difficult to find Ramly burgers in Singapore that taste like those from Malaysia. I can’t say our burgers are 100 per cent similar to Malaysia’s, but at least 90 per cent.” 

Wong’s buns and sauces are all imported from across the border.

He also shared that he has found a Singapore-approved supplier whose meat patties are “about 80 per cent similar in taste to that of the original Ramly Brand”, which he has been using till today. Singapore bans imports of the original Ramly burger patty as one of its sources for beef is from India, which isn’t approved by the Singapore Food Agency.

MR. BURGER'S FIRST RELOCATION NINE MONTHS LATER TO FANCIER EATERY ON ROCHOR ROAD

Unfortunately, when Bugis Street underwent major renovations in 2022, Wong had to cease operations at this outlet a mere six months after opening.

But Wong, along with his two shareholders, expanded Mr. Burger to a more spacious, standalone air-conditioned eatery with 70 seats at 159 Rochor Road later that year.

This second outlet was featured in Mediacorp variety show Pasar Malam Stars (夜市星手), where Wong taught the artistes how to prepare Ramly-style burgers.

However, while it seemed like the standalone eatery was thriving, high rental costs caused Wong to once again shut its doors barely a year later.

MR. BURGER'S SECOND RELOCATION TO A KOPITIAM ON WATERLOO STREET

Wong’s never-say-die attitude secured him yet another location in under three months – this time a smaller coffee shop stall in Bgain Eating House at Waterloo Street. 

Unfortunately, this location had very little footfall, and caused him to “lose a lot of money”. He closed shop on Apr 15, 2024.

According to Wong, the total amount of money that he lost cumulatively over these three outlets amounted to almost S$700,000. He shared: “I lost more than S$600,000 at Rochor Road and around S$80,000 at Waterloo, so total about S$700,000.”

Despite encountering roadblock after roadblock, Wong is undaunted. He shared: “Just because I’ve encountered unsuitable business locations does not mean that an authentic Ramly burger should disappear.

"Every time I order a Ramly burger from a pasar malam (in Singapore), I get very disappointed because the taste just falls short of the Malaysian standard. They anyhow put the sauce, some don’t even toast the buns. I have to preserve this authentic taste no matter what, so that everyone can find a good Ramly burger in Singapore.”

S$700,000 DEBT FULLY PAID OFF

Wong says with relief that he and his partners have since paid off the money lost in the business. “I opened the Rochor outlet with two shareholders, and part of the total sum invested was theirs. They have their own (other) businesses too. But yeah, we’ve paid it off.”

BACK TO ANANAS IN A FULL CIRCLE MOMENT

While on holiday in Taiwan with his beautician wife, Wong, who has three children, received a call from his former boss in the Ananas Cafe group, who just wanted to touch base with him. 

After hearing the obstacles that Wong faced in his business venture, his ex-boss shared that he happened to need manpower urgently. Wong was invited back to work for the company, with the chance to introduce his burgers at one of their newly-opened outlet’s menu. 

FIRST ANANAS OUTLET SELLING MR. BURGER'S GRUB AT REDHILL MRT STATION

On May 5, Mr. Burger relocated for the third time, to Redhill MRT station. Well, kinda.  

While the burgers from Mr. Burger are sold here, the shop is still branded under Ananas. Does it bother Wong that Mr Burger’s name is gone – at least for now?  “No,” he said simply.

When asked about his current role at Ananas, Wong replied: “Consultant and chef – everything included.” But he is only in charge of the burgers on the menu (Ananas also sells rice dishes and more). 

RAMLY-STYLE BURGERS SOLD FOR S$3.50 AT SELECTED ANANAS KIOSKS

What’s great is that Wong's burgers now cost S$3.50 each, lower than the S$4.90 at his previous location, despite all the ingredients being the same as before. He explained that the customer flow at these MRT station locales is good, and they recover their costs by selling more burgers here. 

On the menu: The classic Ramly-style burger (spelled "Ramily" here) with a beef or chicken patty, loaded with vegetables, cheese and an omelette. A fish burger and sausage burger will be introduced soon.

Shortly after the Redhill outlet opened, Mr. Burger’s Ramly-inspired burgers also made their way onto the menus of three other newly-opened Ananas outlets – at Bukit Gombak, Eunos and Tampines MRT stations. 

When asked about his plans for the future, Wong said he might open independent outlets under the Mr. Burger name again, separate from Ananas – but only if the location is right.  

For now, he hopes he will soon be able to sell his Ramly-style burgers at all Ananas outlets island-wide. 

Mr. Burger’s Ramly burgers can be found at these four Ananas outlets:

• Redhill MRT, 920 Tiong Bahru Road, Singapore 158792
• Bukit Gombak MRT, 802 Bukit Batok West Ave. 5, Singapore 659083
• Eunos MRT, 30 Eunos Cres, Singapore 409423
• Tampines MRT, 20 Tampines Central 1, Singapore 529538

This story was originally published in 8Days.