Village Roast Duck Sdn Bhd

April 08, 2021

If the four Choo siblings, Kennix and Tienna (we call her Tina), Kok Wai and Kelvin, had remained in Ipoh, Perak and not took a flight to London about 20 years ago to try to make something out of their lives, Village Roast Duck would not have happened. Tienna tells us that “we just had to take the chance of our lives because being poor was not an option we were prepared to accept as fate.” For more than 8 years the siblings scrimped and saved and learned every aspect of running a restaurant, serving customers, knowing their preferences and how they want their roast duck to be for example, remembering people by their surnames and greeting them personally everytime they patronise the restaurants where they worked, stood them in excellent stead when they finally decided to return to Malaysia to start their own restaurant business. A fifth member was added to the family when Kennix Choo married chef Liew Sin Mun, and they became partners in life and in business. Choo Kok Wai who learned all the skills of roasting and expertly slicing the roasted duck to perfection, is the other pillar of the family business. Everyone one of the siblings threw in all their savings, their time and dedication to the Village Roast Duck business. It has served them well. The siblings haven’t changed in their friendly service and efficiency in serving customers despite the fact that they are now restaurant owners. Tienna, Kelvin and Kennix still serve alongside their trained managers and waiters and always welcome their regular patrons by name.
  
They now have a third party investor to help them in their expansion plans. “It is still a big grind,” Tienna tells us. “The working hours are long and we have to be in tip top control of inventory, prices of ingredients, service excellence, and training our staff to do their best.” Unlike many restaurant owners who didn’t work as waiters for years, the siblings know exactly what the ground staff are up to and nothing escapes their eyes. We should add that the siblings are quite good looking and Kennix, Tienna and Kelvin who are in the front line of service, look very presentable in their dark blue suits and white shirt tops. Without any airs, many customers do not know they are dealing with the bosses of the restaurant when the siblings serve them alongside other waiters and waitresses.   

Currently, business is almost back to normal after a long pandemic holding out. Village Roast Duck is at Bangsar Village, Pavillion, Sunway Pyramid, and the Gardens Mall Mid Valley.  

Read more 

  1. The Star Online. 29 July 2011. Esther Chandran. As Good as it is Quacked out to be. https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/food/eating-out/2011/07/29/as-good-as-its-quacked-out-to-be 
  2. Hungry Onion. Klyeoh. https://www.hungryonion.org/t/penang-malaysia-london-duck-at-gurney-plaza/19784 
  3. Friends with the Choo siblings since Queensway, Bayswater days when we frequented Four Seasons during our London trips. Regular customers of Village Roast Duck since they  first started in Bangsar Village, Kuala Lumpur.