When Lester Pimentel Ong first launched his chao fan food stall in 2000, he had no idea how tough it would be. He had already pivoted careers multiple times—from a world wushu champion to a film stuntman, to a stockbroker—only to be hit by the Asian financial crisis. Desperate to find a stable income, he took a chance on the food business.
He found a high-traffic location in Pasay, right in front of a palengke (wet market). The rent was reasonable, and the concept—serving chao fan in a takeout box—was something he had seen in China and Taiwan.
But there was a problem—no one knew what chao fan was.
“We were in front of the palengke, talagang masang-masa yung market ko. They did not have any idea what chao fan was, and they did not know how to eat it, so I started struggling until I made it work,” he recalls.
For three months, the business bled money. Ong’s life savings—and his wife’s—were rapidly depleting.
“Sabi ko sa misis ko, ‘Isara na natin ito kasi it’s not doing well,’” he admits.
But his wife refused to quit.
“Sabi ng misis ko, ‘Hindi, sustain pa natin ng another three months, and after three months, lugi pa rin tsaka na tayo mag decide,’” he shares.
So, they pushed forward. And on the fourth month, they broke even.
By the fifth and sixth month, the stall started making a small profit. That was all the confirmation Ong needed—this could work.
Then, a breakthrough came when his sister opened the same concept in front of a medical school in Valenzuela. Unlike the palengke crowd, students were more adventurous—they lined up on day one.
Seeing the potential, Ong shifted his strategy—focusing on locations near schools instead of markets. It worked. His business grew, and even the struggling first stall became profitable.
Today, Ong’s chao fan concept, Rice in a Box, has expanded into multiple locations, proving that sometimes, all a business needs is perseverance—and the right location.
This article includes quotes from an interview originally published by Esquire Philippines, authored by Henry Ong.
