Malaysian YouTube phenomenon Nigel Ng talks about his career trajectory and why he decided to open his first Uncle Roger restaurant in Kuala Lumpur.
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00:00MSG!
00:04Nigel Ng, best known for his alter ego Uncle Roger,
00:07is a stark contrast to the character he plays,
00:10who is famous for his slouch, quirky speech
00:12and humorous mockery of culinary icons
00:15like Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver.
00:18Uncle Roger is a composite of all the Asian uncles
00:22I grew up with, you know.
00:23You see them at the kopitiam,
00:25they just sit like they talk a lot of crap,
00:27then they have an opinion on everything,
00:29will roast you to your face.
00:32But ultimately, I think that they're just kind people
00:34on the inside, although they are stuck in their ways.
00:37Born in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur,
00:39Ng pursued engineering in the United States
00:42before settling in England,
00:43where he worked as a data scientist.
00:46His passion for stand-up comedy
00:48eventually led him to quit his job
00:50and pursue comedy full-time.
00:52Ng became a viral sensation in 2020 as Uncle Roger,
00:57following his critique of a BBC egg fried rice tutorial.
01:00His success brought both fans and critics,
01:03with some accusing him of perpetuating Asian stereotypes.
01:08Despite this, Ng believes Uncle Roger connects
01:10with people in ways he couldn't as himself.
01:13I view Uncle Roger as a character
01:16that allows me to reach more people
01:17than I would be able to.
01:19Stand-up is great, you know, it has its own audience.
01:21It's a different art form,
01:23but playing a character reaches different people,
01:26being on YouTube also reaches different people.
01:29And as a character, it's easier to lean your comedy
01:33into a certain niche, right?
01:35So Uncle Roger is known as this guy
01:36who talks about food a lot.
01:37And I feel like if I talk about food as myself,
01:41it will come across a little less credible
01:44because I didn't go to a culinary school.
01:46I just did some, I just learned how to cook by myself.
01:48I just researched dishes.
01:50But Uncle Roger, it's a character
01:52who's very opinionated about food.
01:54And when he talks about food,
01:55it's more entertaining and it's more authoritative.
01:59Recently, Ng opened his first restaurant, Fuiyoh.
02:02It's Uncle Roger at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur,
02:04a project a year in the making.
02:06Why would Ng choose to open a restaurant
02:08and jeopardize everything he has built,
02:10especially his reputation as a pseudo food critic?
02:13I think there's always gonna be people criticizing,
02:16you know, and that's just a normal part
02:18of being a creator online.
02:20So when I was doing stand-up,
02:23you know, people are like,
02:24yeah, it's good, but you talk about Asian stuff too much.
02:28But then when I created Uncle Roger,
02:30people are like, okay, well, this is not really stand-up.
02:33Why are you making these cringe videos?
02:35And then now when I open a restaurant,
02:36now they're like, don't open a restaurant,
02:37stick to YouTube.
02:39People are always gonna say things,
02:40but as long as I put out a good product,
02:42whether it's like a book I'm working on
02:45or my videos or this restaurant,
02:49if the food, if I believe the food is good
02:51and we really do believe the food is good,
02:53we've done a lot of research,
02:55and as long as I'm putting out a good product,
02:56stand-up tours, books, whatever, content,
02:59then I can breathe happy, I can sleep easy.
03:02Eng said he was deeply involved
03:04in the concept and menu development.
03:06I think if there's a title called fried rice scholar,
03:09I think I'm deserving of one
03:10because I've eaten all different fried rice
03:13from all different countries.
03:14I even tried fried quinoa.
03:16With dishes starting at 16 ringgit for egg fried rice
03:20and add-ons like grilled unagi priced at 29 ringgit,
03:23Eng believes the pricing is fair
03:25considering the high traffic location
03:28and premium rental costs.
03:30It's nice, it's bougie, it's classy,
03:32it's above a Chanel, you know?
03:37It's good for the brand, you know?
03:38And Pavilion, because it's such an atas mall,
03:42I think we can come in with a dish
03:44that's competitively priced.
03:47While the restaurant has received mixed reviews
03:49on food, pricing and wait times,
03:52Eng has taken the criticism in stride
03:54and remains focused on improving.
03:56In terms of the people saying too much MSG, too oily,
03:59it's like, yes, I can see everybody
04:03has a subjective opinion about food.
04:05I won't be able to please everyone, right?
04:08But I think we did that for a reason
04:11because that fits our palate and we like that.
04:14And fried rice, yeah, you need oil to fried rice.
04:17And MSG, yes, it's the brand.
04:19I personally love MSG.
04:20I think it's the brand, it's the Uncle Roger persona.
04:23He's gonna use MSG.
04:25Yeah, you just need to be able to roll with the punches,
04:27take the positive comments,
04:29read the positive comments, you know,
04:30and read the negative comments,
04:32but just analyze where the constructive parts
04:34of the negative comments are,
04:35learn from them and just move on.
04:37At just 33, Eng already has plans
04:40to expand the Uncle Roger restaurant brand.
04:42Well, I'm from here, so I feel, you know,
04:46I think because the food here is so good,
04:47if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.
04:49So if I can nail the concept here,
04:51then we expand, continue expanding in Asia,
04:53and then hopefully Australia as well, UK, US.
04:56That's future plans.