Managing partner Phang Yew Kee talks about the importance of keeping up with the times in the restaurant business
It’s a balmy Saturday afternoon, with still a few hours to go until dinner time. The staff of Sek Yuen Restaurant, however, are already hard at work.
Leading the team is Phang Yew Kee, Sek Yuen’s managing partner in charge of operations. A second-generation member of the family who founded this restaurant, he’s been working here since the 1960s. While he now sports a distinguished head of silver hair, he still moves and speaks with youthful vigour.
“We used to prepare everything by ourselves here during the old days,” reminisces Yew Kee, 62, as he walks through the place. “Ingredients like crab meat were prepared by steaming the crabs and extracting its meat by hand. Such laborious work! We used to have a machine here to mill our own noodles for our wantan mee. I think it’s still around here somewhere,”
One of Kuala Lumpur’s oldest surviving restaurants, Sek Yuen has been serving hungry diners since pre-Independence days. Their signature dish is the mouth-watering pipa duck, so-named for its resemblance to pipa, the classic Chinese string instrument.
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Today, the restaurant occupies five shoplots along Jalan Pudu, and can seat up to 800 diners. At its peak, it had almost 150 staff members. Its food comes from three kitchens: two are for standard use, while another is always on standby should things become overwhelming.
It’s hard to believe now but Sek Yuen started off as a pushcart selling wantan mee, run by brothers Phang Shue Tang, Phang Chew Kan and Phang Meng Yun, who is Yew Kee's father. Pre-independence Kuala Lumpur proved an ideal place for the trio to start up a food business, with hungry workers piling in from everywhere to help build the nation. Business thrived, and in 1948, they decided it was time for a more permanent location. They set up a shop that eventually became Sek Yuen, which has remained in the same location until today.
The restaurant has stood strong through the decades, with many people drawn to its authentic Cantonese cuisine and merry atmosphere. In the 1970s, it was one of the first restaurants in Kuala Lumpur to offer air-conditioned dining. It remains a family business to this day, maintained by the descendants of the original founders.
“It’s always been a cohesive family effort. We have a big family, and everybody knows what to do here. Whenever it's Chinese New Year, or a big event, everyone comes back to help out. That way, we can expand easily when there’s a sudden expanse of business, and shrink when things aren’t so good,” says Yew Kee.
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