Air crew bid farewell to century-old restaurant Wing Seong Fatty’s, Life-style Information

SINGAPORE — As a younger Royal Australian Air Force pilot in 1974, Ronald Haack obtained a primary style of the “best Chinese food” he had eaten, at Wing Seong Fatty’s first location in Albert Street.

For the subsequent 5 a long time, the Australian returned to the restaurant every time he was in Singapore.

Haack, 74, who went on to turn into a Boeing 747 pilot with Australian airline Qantas and is now retired, didn’t discover the restaurant by likelihood.

Patronising the restaurant was a longstanding observe begun and sustained by his fellow air drive servicemen.

The Cantonese restaurant was famed amongst pilots of the Royal Australian Air Force and Qantas, because the founder Au Yuen and his son Au Chan Seng — endearingly nicknamed “Fatty” — had secretly given meals to prisoners of struggle throughout World War II.

It additionally grew to become a hang-out for crew from different carriers reminiscent of British Airways and Emirates.

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The restaurant introduced on Facebook in April that it could be shutting down on June 28 after 100 years, because it was unable to discover a successor to proceed the enterprise.

After studying about its impending closure, Haack and his spouse instantly made plans to fly from Sydney to Singapore, to dine at Wing Seong Fatty’s at Burlington Square in Bencoolen one final time.

It had operated throughout three places, first from a shophouse in Albert Street, then at Albert Complex, and at last, from Burlington Square.

Two of the restaurant’s dishes — crispy spring rolls and nuclear hen — will endure at Qantas’ lounges at Changi Airport, albeit for a restricted time.

Describing this as “a way of carrying something of Fatty’s forward”, Qantas stated its lounge cooks learnt to cook dinner the dishes from the Au household and the restaurant group.

Nuclear hen, affectionately named by the crew, refers to claypot curry hen.

To be launched on July 1, the spring rolls will likely be out there on the Qantas first-class lounge for about three months, whereas the hen will likely be on the menu at its business-class lounge for no less than a month.

These dishes might be out there for an extended time if they’re well-liked amongst guests, the airline stated.

When the Haacks went to the restaurant on June 20, they may not get a desk throughout dinnertime. 

The snaking queue would take no less than two hours to clear, they have been instructed, so they’d no alternative however to go away hungry and gutted.

But the couple have been decided to have one final meal on the restaurant. 

On June 23, the day they have been because of fly again to Australia, they arrived greater than an hour earlier than midday, when the restaurant opened for lunch.

They obtained themselves a desk and handed a rigorously wrapped present — an air drive medallion — to Au Kok Wing, a grandson of the restaurant’s founder.

“I can’t imagine Singapore without Fatty’s,” Haack instructed Au Kok Wing, who’s in any other case referred to as Skinny due to his leaner construct in contrast along with his father, Fatty.

The week earlier than, a bunch of Qantas crew organised a non-public farewell dinner there.

At the June 19 dinner, an entourage of some 20 pilots — fronted by Qantas chief pilot Dick Tobiano — introduced Skinny and three different Au siblings with scrapbooks of images and notes.

Among the pilots was Tony Waters, coaching captain for the Qantas Boeing 737 fleet, whose fondest reminiscences of the restaurant have been from 2004 to 2012, when he took his youngsters there.

As his household relocated to Singapore throughout that point when he was seconded to the now-defunct Jetstar Asia, Waters stated his youngsters spent many evenings on the restaurant, with Skinny treating them to ice cream after dinner.

“They grew up knowing Skinny, Kelvin (Skinny’s brother), and the rest of the family,” the 56-year-old added.

Noting that his 22-year-old daughter not too long ago made a visit to Singapore simply to eat on the restaurant earlier than it closed, Waters stated it confirmed how a lot Wing Seong Fatty’s meant to her.

Through the a long time, the restaurant grew to become a cornerstone for social gatherings amongst Qantas crew, a lot in order that Skinny curated a “Qantas menu” to make it simpler for the crew to position orders.

It included dishes reminiscent of spring rolls, nuclear hen, candy and bitter pork, black pepper prawns, greens, barbecued pork and fried rice, along with beer.

Captain Brett Walker, who flies Qantas’ Airbus A330 planes, welcomed this menu, because it “took the thinking out of ordering”, since Skinny knew what dishes the pilots loved.

The 45-year-old stated: “Despite (Skinny) not having a conventionally welcoming demeanour, he would always give us a smile and make space for us.”

The restaurant’s historical past means one thing to Walker on a private stage, as his grandfather was interned at Changi Camp throughout the struggle.

“My grandfather used to tell me stories of the local Chinese who snuck him extra rice, claiming it kept him alive… (This kindness) is a very real and special thing,” he stated.

When The Straits Times visited the restaurant on June 23, all tables have been reserved, however there was nonetheless a queue of about 15 individuals ready to enter as walk-in clients at midday.

It can also be well-loved by some Singaporeans, together with retired trainer Daniel Ng, 82, who has frequented the restaurant month-to-month for the previous six a long time. He had visited its first retailer in Albert Street along with his mother and father.

Ng described his final meal there as a approach to give the restaurant “a final send-off”.

Lu Jiahui, a 36-year-old software program developer, had joined the queue after discovering the restaurant on social media. He was prepared to attend as much as an hour, on condition that it was closing.

As for Au Kok Wing, he stated he has made plans to satisfy some Qantas crew members in Australia when he’s there on vacation in November.

On his retirement plans, he instructed ST: “It is finally time for me to relax and eat, gain weight and… not be ‘Skinny’.

“It’s time to enjoy life.”

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This article was first revealed in The Straits Times. Permission required for copy.