The Coconut Club gets a new owner and fresh direction

ONE and a half years after the untimely death of Lee Eng Su, founder of The Coconut Club, The Lo & Behold Group (TLBG) has picked up the gauntlet to carry on his legacy as the new operator of the famous nasi lemak eatery.

Back in 2016, Mr Lee - who died in Sept 2019 at the age of 40 - made waves as the first chef/hawkerpreneur to devote his entire restaurant to the humble nasi lemak, spending more than a year researching till he had perfected his recipe from the sambal to the kind of chicken and even coconut milk used. The Coconut Club (TCC) opened to long queues and raves from local diners, sparking a renewed interest in 'gentrified' hawker food where better quality ingredients are used and higher prices are charged.

But the future of TCC became uncertain after Mr Lee's sudden death, and its offshoot, Belimbing Superstar, closed down soon after. TCC continued operations under Mr Lee's brother Un Su before he decided to hand over the reins to Wee Teng Wen, TLBG's founder and family friend. "We took over an important legacy when Eng Su passed, but we are not restauranteurs," says Mr Lee. "Lo & Behold came along at the right time."