Hawker’s viral Rolls-Royce video boosts Seven Claypot sales

The car owner runs a marine fuel trading company. Ezam previously worked there as an operations co-ordinator for six months before quitting in July to return to F&B.

Ezam’s aunt, who has run the Upper Boon Keng stall since 2004, first sold nasi padang before switching to nasi ayam. She later hired a cook to sell Western food, but the stall shuttered after two months and was left vacant for nine months.

She asked Ezam to help her in July after learning that he had successfully partnered a Malaysian friend to start Markaz Cafe & Bistro, an open-air foodcourt in Kampung Seri Purnama in Johor Bahru, a 10-minute drive from Woodlands Checkpoint.

He also opened a cafe called Seven Coffee Seven Claypot next to the foodcourt. Both opened in July.

Ezam, whose parents used to sell nasi padang in Tampines, is no stranger to F&B.

The Secondary 4 dropout used to work as a hawker assistant at a claypot fish-head stall and a commis cook at The American Club. He later worked as an assistant cook at Plaza Parkroyal Hotel from 2004 for 15 months.

Over the years, he has also worked as a club bouncer and Lalamove driver.

In August, he renamed his aunt’s stall Seven Claypot, after a defunct entertainment spot called Club 7 that he used to run with several friends at Concorde Hotel.

Impromptu shoot

He says the video shoot was spontaneously put together on Sept 6. His car-dealer friend roped in his daughter’s friend as the host, drove the Rolls-Royce to Upper Boon Keng and filmed the video on an iPhone. The shoot took under 15 minutes.

Ezam says he parked the Rolls-Royce briefly in the accessible lot because the carpark was full and it was difficult to reverse such a large vehicle into a standard lot. His friend moved it to another carpark as soon as he alighted.

The marketing stunt has paid off. About a week after Seven Claypot opened on Aug 15, his takings were around $600 a day. After the video went viral from Sept 15, daily sales surged past $1,200. 

By the end of September, he had recouped the $35,000 savings he had sunk into revamping the stall. He had anticipated it would take at least nine months to break even.

Before the video, his customers were mostly residents in the Boon Keng area. After it gained traction, customers came from as far as Woodlands, Jurong and Choa Chu Kang to try his claypot assam pedas, which starts at $8 for a slice of stingray or red snapper tail.

Many curious customers asked to take photographs with “his” Rolls-Royce, which his friend subsequently lent him another three times.

He is unperturbed by the negative comments the video has elicited and laughs at suggestions that he is a money launderer. He says his relatives rang his mother to ask how he could afford such a car.

Ezam, who is single and lives with his parents in a four-room HDB flat in Bedok Reservoir, says they chided him over the stunt but later had a good laugh about it.

He says the recipe for the assam pedas is from his mother, who helps out at the stall in the morning, along with his aunt, who assists in the afternoon.

Ezam does most of the cooking, along with a friend who works part-time.

He hopes to hire a full-time cook and rent a nearby shop to open a cafe called Seven Coffee. His goal is to have five outlets in Singapore within two years.

Every morning, he drives to Geylang Serai Market to buy fresh fish in a leased Audi A3 that costs $2,000 a month. He says he is saving up to buy a second-hand Mercedes-Benz CLS.

While he enjoys driving his friend’s Rolls-Royce on occasion, he laments that parking it is a headache. His own dream cars are an Audi RS5 or BMW M3, preferably brand new.

Despite having little interest in social media, Ezam now has ideas for a sequel following the response to his video. He is planning another post featuring the same Rolls-Royce, as well as other supercars belonging to his friends.

But he is not about to turn influencer any time soon. He says, grinning: “The whole point of doing videos is to get people to come try our assam pedas.”

Seven Claypot 

Where: 01-02 Upper Boon Keng Food Centre, Block 17 Upper Boon Keng Road
Open: 11am to 10pm, Tuesdays to Sundays