Fourth-generation owners of Ming Chung Restaurant open their first food court stall at ION Orchard’s revamped Food Opera
When Nicholas Ho was around eight to 10 years old, he was helping out at his family’s restaurant, Ming Chung, during the school holidays when disaster struck.
“I was bringing some cups out to the front when I accidentally broke a whole bunch of them. Wah, my grandfather scolded me like crazy,” he recalled with a laugh.
However, that didn’t stop him from returning to the job. In an interview with MS News, he said, “the allowance was very good”.
More than two decades later, Nicholas, now 32, has gone from breaking crockery as a kid to running the family business alongside his younger sister, 30-year-old Amanda.
The siblings are the fourth-generation owners of Ming Chung, a Henghua restaurant that has been serving Singaporeans since 1933.
From competitive swimming to running the family business
What started as a way to earn extra pocket money has since become a much bigger responsibility: keeping their family’s 93-year-old legacy alive.
The siblings’ great-grandfather, the late Ho Ah Tong, founded Ming Chung after migrating to Singapore from Putian in China’s Fujian province.
Over the decades, the restaurant became known for its traditional Henghua dishes, particularly its signature white lor mee.
For Nicholas and Amanda, Ming Chung was practically a second home while they were growing up.
Like her older brother, Amanda began pitching in at the restaurant in primary school, alongside their cousins, who were all around the same age. They would earn pocket money before heading off to buy toys together.
Given how much of their childhood was spent at the restaurant, one might assume the siblings were destined to take over.
Their parents, however, had other ideas. “They told us not to come into the business because it’s very hard work,” Nicholas said.
The two listened, at least for a while. Before returning to Ming Chung, both pursued very different paths.
Nicholas was a national swimmer who represented Singapore at the 2009 SEA Games in Laos and the 2017 World University Games.
He also signed on as an Air Force pilot trainee during National Service before moving into automotive consulting.
Although he had always wanted to take over Ming Chung, Nicholas felt it was important to gain some experience elsewhere first.
“I wanted to come out and learn some skills outside before bringing them into F&B,” he explained, adding that his consulting experience taught him valuable lessons in managing people and business strategy.
Amanda, meanwhile, studied business management at SIM-RMIT before joining the Health Promotion Board.
Despite carving out careers of their own, the siblings eventually found themselves drawn back to the family business.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, they became more involved in Ming Chung’s daily operations. The siblings eventually took responsibility for steering the restaurant into its next chapter.
“We didn’t want to let go of the legacy that our family had built,” Amanda explained.
Source: @mingchung.sg on Instagram
Taking over came with its own challenges
Of course, wanting to preserve the family business was one thing. Actually running it was another.
Although Nicholas had spent much of his childhood helping out at Ming Chung, he had mainly served customers rather than cooked.
So when he finally stepped into the kitchen, he had a fair bit to learn.
Even the physical demands of cooking took time to get used to.
“Holding the wok for the first three months was very painful,” he admitted. Thankfully, his muscles eventually adapted to the strain.
Still, the siblings weren’t starting entirely from scratch. Years of watching their parents and grandparents run the restaurant and interact with customers had given them a good understanding of how the business worked.
With that foundation, Nicholas and Amanda began exploring ways to bring Ming Chung’s food to more Singaporeans.
In 2023, they expanded beyond the original restaurant along Maude Road, opening a stall at Buangkok Hawker Centre.
Source: Google Maps
According to Nicholas, the initial plan was to open another restaurant, but the costs proved too steep. A hawker stall offered a more affordable way to test a smaller-scale concept, with a streamlined menu of just six or seven dishes.
Fortunately, the experiment paid off.
“The hawker stall worked pretty well,” Nicholas shared, explaining that its success encouraged them to explore food courts as a way to expand further.
That eventually led to Ming Chung’s first food hall outlet at the revamped Food Opera in ION Orchard. The brand reopened in late September after a three-month makeover.
The 20,000 sq ft food atrium welcomed 18 new brands as part of its revamp. These included several longstanding hawker names such as Wah Eng Beef Noodle and First Street Fried Prawn Noodles.
However, Ming Chung’s growth wasn’t without its challenges.
For one, training new cooks was tricky in the cramped stalls, where there was barely enough room for one chef.
Unlike in a full-sized restaurant kitchen, new staff had little choice but to learn on the job while preparing food for customers.
Manpower shortages at the hawker stall made things worse, and at times things got so tough that the siblings even considered walking away.
“When there weren’t enough people to help us, we felt like just giving up,” Amanda admitted. “But in the end, we pushed through.”
Nicholas, who still makes time for swimming and badminton, believes the determination and perseverance he built through competitive sports have carried him through the harder stretches in F&B.
Keeping the food the same while changing where it’s served
Despite the setbacks, Nicholas and Amanda have continued pushing ahead, with a little help from the older generation.
Their parents remain actively involved in the business, with their father serving as head chef, overseeing the family recipes, and regularly dropping by to “make sure everything is in check for quality control”.
As for the siblings, Nicholas continues to cook at the hawker stall while overseeing operations at ION Orchard. The two also split their responsibilities, which helps keep disagreements to a minimum.
“We don’t really fight. Whenever there’s a question, we just talk it out,” he said.
That doesn’t mean working with family is always easy, of course. Nicholas admitted that business discussions often follow them outside the restaurant, although it also means problems can be resolved quickly.
Still, the whole family agrees on one thing without question: keeping Ming Chung’s traditional flavours intact.
“Our customers still want traditional food; they want the taste that brings back memories,” Nicholas explained.
Take the restaurant’s signature Henghua white lor mee, for instance. Unlike the darker version many Singaporeans know, its noodles are cooked in a rich, pale gravy.
The noodles are still handmade daily using just wheat flour and water, while the lor bak is braised in-house.
Source: @mingchung.sg on Instagram
For Nicholas and Amanda, it comes down to one thing: making the dishes that generations of customers have grown to love more accessible, without compromising on taste.
Those keen to try Ming Chung’s Henghua fare can now head to its new stall at Food Opera in ION Orchard.
And there’s plenty more to explore at the revamped food atrium, which brings together 24 stalls. These include heritage hawker favourites, Michelin-recognised names, and newer culinary concepts.
Food Opera ION Orchard
Address: 2 Orchard Turn, B4-03/04 ION Orchard, Singapore 238801
Opening hours: 10am – 10pm daily
Nearest MRT station: Orchard
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Featured image by MS News. Photography by Chloe Heng.
