Fuiiiyoh! Comedian Uncle Roger to open first restaurant in Malaysia ‘later this year’

Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that Uncle Roger knows how to do a grand reveal on social media. The 33-year-old Malaysian comedian, whose real name is Nigel Ng, shot to fame aggressively critiquing BBC Food’s egg fried rice recipe in a mock Cantonese accent, and later made netizens all over the world go “awww” when he went IG-official with his girlfriend earlier this year.

The fried rice roast spawned his iconic catchphrases like “fuiyoh” and “haiyah”, which are respectively used to denote Uncle Roger’s approval and disapproval of something. Oh, and his well-documented love of MSG, the controversial cornerstone of Asian cooking.

DROPS “LITTLE SECRET” IN ANTHONY BOURDAIN REACTION VIDEO

Uncle Roger now has some 9.35 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, where he recently uploaded a video of himself reacting to the late Anthony Bourdain eating street food in Penang in a Season 8 episode of his hit docuseries No Reservations.

After expressing his exasperation when Anthony did not elaborate on the ingredients that go into Penang’s iconic assam laksa, Uncle Roger said: “See, niece and nephew, that’s why if you like food you have to travel to Uncle Roger’s country Malaysia. Because so many ingredients we don’t export. You can’t get it outside of this country.”

Then he casually drops a bomb: “And by the way, another reason to go Malaysia. Uncle Roger gonna open my very first restaurant there. Fuiyoh!”

It’s not a joke, though, as he continued: “Coming soon later this year, but sssh don’t tell anyone okay? Just for loyal niece and nephew watching this video.” He did not elaborate further on the restaurant, like its concept and specific location, and whether every dish will be MSG-laden. Haiyahhh.

Like how he soft-launched his relationship by posting faceless photos of his girlfriend, Uncle Roger teased his restaurant factoid in the comment section of his video (or in Uncle Roger speak, weejio): “Shhhh niece and nephew. Remember to don't tell anyone the little secret I mentioned in middle of weejio.” Too late, Uncle Roger.

HE ALREADY HAS HIS OWN FROZEN CHILLI CRAB PASTA

But he is currently selling his own food collab with Chinese-American brand MiLa, “a Singaporean-inspired frozen Creamy Chili Crab Pasta” (we'll take that as a compliment, Uncle Roger).

At US$29.99 (S$40.50) a box, his fans expressed dismay at the pasta’s price. In his Bourdain reaction video, he explained: “This not instant noodle. This restaurant quality product you can make it at home, make it with real crab. You can’t compare with instant packet of cup noodle. Haiiiyah!”

According to MiLa’s website, the chilli crab pasta also comes in “three heat levels to challenge your tastebuds”, and can be cooked and served in 10 minutes. Fuiyoh?

This story was originally published in 8days.