Some might say the young hawkers behind Japanese rice bowl hawker stall Kinobe at Amoy Street Food Centre, Lee Yong Wen (far right in pic), 29, and Benjamin Quah (left in pic), 30, chose to expand their business at a most inconvenient time. Their new hawker venture – Overcooked Mookata at a coffee shop in Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 – opened last year a few days before the two-month-long circuit breaker. And just as business picked up for the new stall this year, along came Phase 2 (HA)’s dine-in ban in May.

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The duo, who had invested around $30,000 into Kinobe, broke even seven months after opening their beef rice bowl stall in 2018. That gave them the confidence to launch a new hawker venture. “We wanted to try something new and challenging, away from Japanese rice bowls,” Yong Wen explains. From lok lok to Korean BBQ, the duo had long dwelled on a communal-style dining concept.

After finding a suitable shop space in Ang Mo Kio, they eventually settled on launching Overcooked Mookata in March 2020, forking out an additional $30,000 for the new biz. “Both Benjamin and I enjoy having company whenever we eat. We like the idea of a communal-style dining concept, like mookata, where the focus will be on the interactions over the dining table,” he adds.

“How can one have mookata without dining in? The business was straight-up not possible. Confirm die,” he recalls thinking during the Circuit Breaker.

Initially, they offered island-wide delivery services, where Yong Wen would drive to his customers’ doorstep with everything needed for the mookata. And yet, it didn’t take long for them to realise the strategy was doomed to fail. With a lack of manpower, delivering the mookata equipment and all its relevant dishes proved to be increasingly challenging. Furthermore, when Yong Wen returned to retrieve his equipment from customers—which were unwashed and placed in trash bags, the grease and leftovers emitted an unbearable stench that stank up his car boot.

“It was really disgusting,” says Yong Wen.

In the end, the duo had to temporarily stash away their few-days-old mookata business and bring over part of Kinobe’s operations of selling rice bowls to make ends meet. Even so, the new business model did not take off as smoothly as they had anticipated.

“On the first day, we had four orders. We only earned $26,” says Benjamin.

When they finally re-opened the Mookata biz in June 2020, things didn’t turn out for the better. “On the first day of reopening, we only had one order,” adds Benjamin, shaking his head.

Once, the eatery saw zero customers until Yong Wen’s mother and brother dropped by for a meal. For him, it was a disheartening sight to behold. “As a hawker, having only your family supporting you is a demoralising feeling,” he says. Nevertheless, the duo remains grateful for the support their friends and family members had given them during the trying period.

Despite the setbacks, the two remain passionate about the hawker trade. Rather than winding down the mookata biz and focusing on their first venture at Kinobe, they decided to weather through the storm.

“When the same [no dining in] news broke a year later during P2HA recently, we were shocked. No hawker would welcome this, but we had no choice,” says Yong Wen.

With lesser foot traffic in the CBD, the duo deployed the same strategy this year: temporarily closing Kinobe at Amoy Street Food Centre, ceased selling mookata in Ang Mo Kio, and consolidated their manpower and resources to sell rice bowls for takeaways and deliveries from the larger kitchen in Ang Mo Kio during P2HA (from 16 May 2021).

Overcooked Mookata eventually reopened on 21 June 2021 when dining in (up to 2 pax) was reinstated. But the business did not see an immediate upturn. Perhaps largely due to mookata being a communal dish that fares better with larger groups. “Business fell 80 per cent (since P2HA) despite the new 2 pax dine-in rule [and has remained that way],” Benjamin shares.

“We were fortunate for Overcooked Mookata to eventually break even after 10 months but with all the closing, reopening and restrictions, we have since lost around $18k due to things like perishable goods, stall rental and staff salaries for over a month” Yong Wen adds.

The team at Overcooked Mookata has since expanded to become a four-man operation. The two fresh faces are 23-year-old Loh Wei Xuan (second from left), who joined the team when he had just completed his NS in May last year, and 30-year-old Jerry Goh (far right), a civil servant who is passionate about the hawker scene and helps out for free in the evenings as he wanted to get a taste of the hawker life.

The founders are at Kinobe in the mornings daily and help out at Overcooked for dinner service.

As with most mookata joints, Overcooked Mookata serves an extensive selection of meats, seafood, and greens. Sides, such as King Oyster Mushroom and Luncheon Meat, start from $1.90 a serving while meat offerings, such as Garlic Chicken and Marinated Pork, start from $2.20 a plate. Sharing platters begin from $24 for 2 pax and $42 for 4 pax.

There are also premium offerings too. From Wagyu Beef and Kurobuta Pork to Truffle-marinated Chicken and Pork, the price of each plate of these premium goodies ranges between $5.90 and $9.90 per serving.

At $9.90, we were presented with six slices of Japanese Wagyu Beef (approximately 100g), which have been doused with yakiniku gravy. According to Yong Wen, the outlet’s Wagyu Beef is a “Rostbiff” cut from the rump (which boasts little subcutaneous fat and renowned for being flavourful when roasted) from Australia.

On the metal skillet greased with lard, the beef shrivelled up slightly when lightly grilled. In the mouth, it was reasonably tender and sweet.

While many places pour truffle oil in lavish quantities (which, unfortunately, overpowers the dish), Yong Wen and his team are scrupulous when marinating their meats with truffle oil.

When cooked, the shreds of chicken thigh become tender and moist. Each bite boasts some earthy truffle flavour. But it pales in comparison to its other truffle-marinated counterpart: the sliced pork collar. The grilled pork collar, with its streaks of pork fat, melts in the mouth.

At Overcooked Mookata, the special Mentaiko Dip is made fresh daily (or whenever it runs out) with Yong Wen’s secret recipe. Creamy and rich in umami, mentaiko lovers are bound to enjoy this. Our only gripe is that it comes in a smallish container for $3. What’s free though, is the house-made chilli sauce. Fiery and lightly tangy, it’s unlike the typically sweeter Thai chilli you get at most mookata outlets. It goes well with the savoury meat and seafood offerings.

While hawkers selling mookata are a dime a dozen these days, much of the appeal at Overcooked Mookata lies in its dips (they have recently launched a Blue Truffle Mayo Dip) and seasonal premium meats. Prices are fairly reasonable too (about $10.50 per pax for a large sharing platter).

Overcooked Mookata is at 530 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 S560530. Open daily 5pm -1am.

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Photos: Aik Chen