Heartland by Enjoy: Chef Joel Ong’s casual retro cafe serving elevated Nanyang fare

Joel’s culinary journey

Joel’s culinary roots start with his family. “I always loved to cook at home and was learning from my mother and grandmother since I was a young boy,” he recalls.

Long before opening his first eatery, he was already cooking for friends, hosting small dinner gatherings and experimenting with dishes such as Hokkien mee. However, Joel never considered a career as a chef until he entered university. 

Joel was enrolled at the National University of Singapore (NUS), studying a degree in computational biology. After two years, though, he realised it wasn’t the path for him. 

He took a gap year to follow his passions before committing to culinary arts. “I was performing recreationally in a band on keyboards, and also did a bit of hosting and sound engineering,” he recalls. 

Joel says that he never set out to cook to make money. “I love to make people happy,” he says. “Each time I step into the dining area from the war zone in the kitchen, I hear laughter from my friends and families. This is what motivates me daily.”

A year after he dropped out of NUS, Joel formalised his culinary journey with a diploma at At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy. It was during his industrial attachment that he found himself drawn to the intensity of service. 

“I realised how much I love the adrenaline rush when orders start coming in, and when the team comes together and completes a wonderful service,” he says. 

Joel’s journey as a business owner

At just 21, Joel opened his first restaurant, the now-defunct Rochor Thai. He also worked across a range of F&B setups, from event booths, to food court and coffee shop stalls. 

 “It has been a roller coaster ride in the industry,” he recalls. “There were many ups-and-downs and I learnt many painful and expensive lessons.” 

This included a failed partnership in 2019, which wiped out much of his capital.

Determined to pick himself up, Joel and his long-time business partner, James Ang, poured what little savings they had left into launching Enjoy Eating House and Bar in 2019. The restaurant offers heritage-inspired Singaporean favourites and hawker staples. 

Joel’s second concept, Canteen by Enjoy, was born in 2024 at Kam Leng Hotel in Jalan Besar, with a tighter menu focused around Joel’s popular Hokkien mee. The dish gained huge popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, as a delivery-only special at Enjoy Eating House. 

As for Heartland by Enjoy, it was partly born out of necessity. 

“During tough times, business owners have to consider two things — how to increase revenue and reduce costs,” Joel says. 

With manpower costs high and suppliers hard to cut, he saw a third food concept as the most sustainable option. 

“By opening Heartland by Enjoy, we create another revenue stream, while stretching our existing manpower to operate it, accomplishing both cost-cutting and increased revenue,” he says. 

The heartland location was intentional, too. “We want to serve the needs of the residents in Tampines, hence the name,” he adds. “This location is particularly close to our hearts as both James and myself grew up in the Tampines area.” 

Joel has also chosen to make the new concept a supper spot that opens until 2am each day.

“We hope that by sacrificing some of our own time to close late, we can provide a delicious late-night option for those in the neighbourhood,” he says.

Classic Nanyang delights

Heartland by Enjoy marks Joel’s first foray into serving nasi lemak. 

“I thought of a beloved local classic I have not done before, but always wanted to try cooking,” he explains. “Using nasi lemak as a starting point, we created the recipes and built the menu around it.” 

Despite the casual vibe, Joel’s food is far from simple. His two-day marination process is central to the meats served up at his stall, such as the fried chicken berempah.

“We actually marinade the chicken twice — it is dry marinated for one day, then we do a wet marinade on the second,” he explains.

For our plate of fried chicken berempah, we opted for Indomie, instead of the usual coconut rice. 

The Indomie option was inspired by Joel’s National Service days, where he used to order the comfort dish when visiting the in-camp canteen. 

We found the chicken to be juicy and flavourful from skin to bone, thanks to the intensive marination process. The Indomie was a satisfying touch as well, and we appreciated the additional ingredients such as the crunchy homemade onion rings. 

The two-day marination approach also applies to the pork belly berempah, to bring out its flavour, after which the pork belly is steam-baked until soft and deep-fried upon order.

“I chose to have pork belly, as it is not commonly included in nasi lemak sets but goes well with coconut rice,” Joel says.

After trying the dish, we’re inclined to agree.The pork belly emerged crisp-edged and juicy, with a tender interior. We also loved the fragrant and fluffy coconut rice. 

Joel reveals that the coconut milk used for the rice was tested extensively.

 “We tried many brands to find the best mix and ended up using three different brands,” Joel says.

The sambal that accompanies Joel’s nasi lemak rice is his pride and joy too.

“At the risk of tooting my own horn, the rice and sambal combination is the best I’ve ever tasted,” he declares. “I love how the light fragrance from the caramelised onions in the sambal brings out the rice’s coconut flavour.” 

For the Heartland laksa, Joel has swapped out the typical thick noodles for Penang laksa noodles, as he prefers its chewy texture. The laksa gravy is robust, with what he calls a “punchy and lemak coconut” profile, paired with a stuffed plant-based tau pok.

We tried the laksa and felt that it hits hard with spice and depth, without overwhelming the palate. The chewy Penang noodles gave the laksa a satisfying slurp and bite too. 

We also sampled the traditional kaya butter toast, which was a simple, satisfying classic — crisp bread with just the right ratio of creamy kaya and cold butter. No gimmicks here, just honest comfort that hits the spot. 

Determined to succeed

In a post-Covid-19 F&B world marked by closures and scaling back, Joel’s decision to open a third concept bucks the trend. 

But walking away was never an option. Many of Joel’s core team members have been with him since he started Enjoy Eating House & Bar, and he is fiercely loyal to them.

“I am responsible to my staff and their families, so quitting is not in the cards,” he says firmly. 

Even with his determined spirit, Joel knows that his new venture is a gamble. Whilst there are encouraging signs for Heartland by Enjoy (the restaurant was packed when we visited during lunch time), Joel admits that it’s still too early to say if opening a new concept will pay off. 

“Nevertheless, optimism is key in the F&B world,” he laughs. “F&B owners in Singapore have to be eternally optimistic, or go insane.” 

For more ideas on what to eat, The Soup Expert at Suntec City with nourishing herbal brews and On Ember’s pop-up at Chef X where you can savour Indonesian open-fire nasi bakar.