How Robert Ngo and his wife Mel have built on their street food brand, Eat Lah, to open a new restaurant in Wood Wharf’s emerging Harbord Square area
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“I want Malaysians, Singaporeans and south-east Asians to feel at home here and for people who have never tried Malaysian food before to have a really great experience,” said Robert Ngo, co-founder and director of Ong Lai Kopitian – set to open its doors at Harbord Square in Wood Wharf soon.
“I knew I didn’t want a simple place with four walls and a kitchen where we would just cook food.
“We’ve spent a long time and a lot of money and effort on the fit-out.
“I believe restaurants are really important, not just places to eat, but places to hang out at – somewhere for the community.”
Ong Lai is joining a rapidly emerging part of Canary Wharf based around independent businesses.
Already Italian bakery Signorelli is drawing Wharfers down to Union Square, with another new restaurant – Nora – coming later this year.
There’s also Wayne Hairdresser Salon, floristry from The Flower Club and beauty services from Awe London as well as recent arrival The Island Studio offering Reformer Pilates classes.
So what does Ong Lai bring to the mix?
Well, firstly, kopitiam means coffee shop, so there will be plenty of robusta-based brews on offer with beans imported from Malaysia.
But there’s also the food and hospitality, something that’s in Robert’s blood.
a journey into food
“I’m a first generation Chinese immigrant child – I was born in Hackney and raised in Leyton,” he said.
“When I was five, my dad opened up his first restaurant and, at his peak, he had about four takeaways – I was already in the kitchen from a very young age.
“By the time I was seven I was washing dishes, even though I was only as tall as the sink, so I was always around my parents doing business in the food and beverage environment and my dad was always getting me ready to take over the operation after my studies.
“But being young and naïve, I told him I had other ideas.”
After realising aerospace engineering wasn’t for him, Robert embarked on the lengthy training necessary to qualify as an architect.
But then the Credit Crunch dealt a double blow.
The family business suffered a serious financial hit and Robert took a break from his studies to work as an architect’s assistant.
By the time he returned to education part-time, he realised the recession had damaged the industry to an extent that made finishing his training financially unattractive.
Instead, after a brief flirtation with estate agency, he went back into architecture working his way up in computer aided design to run a team of five people, rounding off the first decade of his career.
“I’d always been creative but that working environment wasn’t,” he said.
“People were coming in, doing the hours and getting paid silly amounts, but the environment was quite toxic. I needed a different outlet.
“I came home everyday hating my life and myself.
“My wife, Mel, got the worst of it – hearing me complaining.
“She said I should quit my job and start my own food business.
“The lowest point of entry was street food so I went all-in and spent about £7,000 getting a van and gazebos – I did everything properly, buying all the right equipment and created a decent brand.
“That’s how it all started.”
Eat Lah and blue rice
Co-founded with his wife, Eat Lah began serving Nasi Kerabu, a dish built around vibrant blue rice flavoured with herbs and spices that originated in Mel’s native Kelantan in Malaysia.
Following a steep learning curve that has included street food markets as well as spells at Boxpark in Croydon and Canteen at Design District, the brand now operates around a professional prep kitchen, allowing it to trade at multiple locations as well as at events.
It’s a regular at Canary Wharf’s Thursday pop-up Lunch Markets, for example.
Positive feedback from customers on the quality of the food, plus a desire to offer something more complex than street food setups can has driven the couple to establish Ong Lai.
Menu experiments in Croydon and, more recently, at a pop-up in Canning Town, proved the viability of the concept and Robert and Mel began searching for a space in 2024.
opening Ong Lai Kopitiam
“We looked all over, but mainly in east London and then we were approached by an agent for Canary Wharf Group who was looking for independent businesses for Wood Wharf,” said Robert.
“We wanted somewhere that we could build the new concept from the ground up.
“Ong Lai means: ‘Prosperous fortune come my way’, but it also translates as ‘pineapple’ in Chinese. At New Year they have big pineapples as decorations, so we’ve used the fruit in our branding.
“The reason we created that name is that Malaysians and Singaporeans know what it means – it’s an inside joke.
“For people who don’t know, it’s a good conversation starter.
“The design is based on a traditional kopitiam with interior design by a Malaysian agency.
“Ong Lai is about being creative,” said Robert.
“Doing festivals, markets and office catering, Eat Lah always revolves around the blue rice, but we’ll be doing much more than that in the restaurant.
“We will be doing an elevated version of it as well as Kolo Mee – noodles flavoured with soy sauce and shallot oil, Hainanese Chicken Chop and Malaysian Fried Chicken Wings.
“We’ll also be serving really good pork.
“The name shows we’re leaning more towards the country’s Chinese food – we didn’t want to be a Malaysian restaurant that tries to do everything.
“But this will be somewhere people can come in for an Egg Tart or Kaya Toast with a coffee.
“The beverage side of Malaysian cuisine is not that celebrated over here, so we really wanted to do that.
“We’ll be serving the Kopi black with sugar or with condensed or evaporated milk as well as Teh Tarik.
“These are wonderful flavours that I drink every day when I’m visiting Malaysia.”
key details: Ong Lai Kopitiam
Ong Lai Kopitiam is set to open soon at Harbord Square in Wood Wharf.
The restaurant will seat up to 30 diners and will be open daily.
Find out more about the restaurant here
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