Wok Wok — Your Passport to Southeast Asia
Eric Cheah, co-founder of Wok Wok Southeast Asian Kitchen
Note: I originally wrote this piece for Welcome to Chinatown.
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Erik Cheah (a.k.a. “Shamu”), one of the founders of Wok Wok Southeast Asian Kitchen, emigrated from Malaysia at the age of 15. After graduating from culinary school in New York, Erik worked in some of the most well-known kitchens in the culinary scene, including at Thomas Keller's Per Se. In 2015, Erik, together with his wife and brother, decided to open their own restaurant to bring their childhood memories to life and to share Malaysian cooking with those who may not be familiar with Southeast Asian cuisine.
Tell us about your business and who you are!
Hi, my name is Erik. My friends like to call me “Shamu” because we used to watch a lot of Japanese shows, and my first name is pronounced “Isamu” in Japanese, which means “brave”. As first-generation immigrants from Penang, Malaysia, my wife, brother, and I wanted to open a restaurant specializing in Malaysian street food and traditional Southeast Asian dishes.
What inspired you to start your restaurant?
We missed the delicious flavors of our parents’ and grandparents’ home cooking. We loved eating home-cooked meals while growing up in Penang, and we wanted to share the food that we ate growing up with people who may not be familiar with Malaysian cuisine. Our goal is to make food that is so good that you can’t help but share it with your friends and family.
Could you please provide us with some background on yourself?
Growing up in Malaysia, my siblings and I always helped our Grandma in the kitchen. She would instruct us to get mise en place (French for “everything in its place”) and set up the kitchen so that things would be ready for when she started cooking.
I immigrated to New York when I was 15 and graduated from a high school in New Jersey. Shortly after graduating, I was very lucky to be accepted into The Art Institute of New York City as a full-time culinary student. After completing culinary school in 2010, I interned at the famous restaurant Per Se under Michelin-starred Chef Jonathan Benno. I met my wife while working in restaurants in New York City. After a few years of working in the industry, we opened Wok Wok with my brother in the summer of 2015.
What are your favorite dishes from your menu?
My favorite dishes are White Curry Laksa (yellow egg noodles and rice vermicelli) and Penang Har Mee (prawn noodle soup). My parents used to own a food stall in Malaysia that sold noodle soup every morning at 6am. Every bowl of White Curry Laksa and Penang Har Mee that we serve at Wok Wok takes me back to my fond childhood memories of Malaysia.
When COVID first hit NYC, what kinds of thoughts were running through your head?
We were very afraid of losing the business to COVID. We knew we had to adapt, but we did not expect the pandemic to spiral so far out of control.
How have you been faring with the impact of COVID?
We’ve remained open for business throughout all of COVID. When the shutdowns first happened, we worked with nonprofit groups to send food to hospitals and adult care centers in the city.
With our family’s help, we were able to keep the business going and started focusing more on our customers’ needs. For example, we started doing contactless delivery for customers who were in quarantine and couldn’t leave their homes to pick up food.
How has Welcome to Chinatown (WtC) helped your business?
Welcome to Chinatown has helped spread the word about our business. As a result, we’ve been seeing an uptick in orders since we began working with WtC. They have also provided us with many resources on how to apply for PPP programs and grants. We were able to use the Longevity Fund grant to build outdoor seating and alleviate business expenses during the recent downturn.
Any advice you would like to give to other small businesses trying to survive during COVID?
First, use social media to get the word out. We need to rally locals to support local businesses or else Chinatown will become a ghost town. Second, reduce all unnecessary expenses and work smart.
What have you been the most proud of as a business owner?
I’m very proud that we were able to remain open during the COVID shutdowns last year while 95% of the restaurants in the neighborhood were closed. That is a reflection of the commitment and passion that we have for our restaurant. We truly love going to work every day.
What is a fun fact about Wok Wok?
It’s very hard for new customers to find our restaurant because we are located in a basement. However, once you step into our restaurant, the space is cozy, warm, and inviting. Wok Wok is your passport to Southeast Asia.
Any plans for the future?
No future plans for now. We’ve been dedicating our time to our single location. Making sure that everything runs smoothly during a pandemic is not an easy task! We remain optimistic about the future and hope that the pandemic will be over soon. We cannot wait to meet and interact with our customers again.
What do you hope your legacy will be?
Hopefully, we can keep the business open for the next 50 years and beyond. New Yorkers deserve to have the best Southeast Asian food at Wok Wok, and we hope that we can be remembered for providing a memorable, delicious experience for all our customers.
How can people support your business?
Our menu is pretty big, so there is something for every palate. Come dine in with us 2 times a week, and we will become very good friends!
Our business is all about happy customers coming back and recommending our food to their friends — it's really that simple! Word of mouth advertising is especially important in Chinatown, since the mom and shops here don’t get a lot of visibility. We are so appreciative of the customers who spread the word about our restaurant and helped keep our doors open for business during the pandemic. Don’t be afraid to stop by and say hello. :)
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Chinatown establishments like Wok Wok are what makes the spirit of our neighborhood. We need your support — now more than ever before — to keep that spirit alive. Please consider making a donation to our small business relief fund, The Longevity Fund, or help us spread the word of what’s at stake. Together, we can preserve Chinatown businesses and help say Chinatown will always be open for business.
Photo Credit: Fuxuan Xin, Wok Wok Southeast Asian Kitchen