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Doris Lam

Mel Ng tosses a beef burger patty from one hand to the other. A vlogging camera sits atop a stainless steel container, filming her every move.
The 36-year-old is working for the day at The Diplomat, a cocktail bar in Hong Kong’s Central neighbourhood famed for its globally ranked Wagyu burger. Next to her, the bar’s founder, John Nugent, explains the burger components to Ng ahead of service, while passing around slices of American orange cheddar to taste.
The Diplomat was the 31st stop in Ng’s stagiaire series on Instagram; “stagiaire” is the French term for intern, commonly used in professional kitchens to describe a short-term, typically unpaid internship.
Since posting her first stagiaire video in October 2025 on her account @melngtf, the culinary creative has staged in both traditional and modern kitchens in Hong Kong and abroad, from Ha Ming Kee, a famous fish ball noodle restaurant in Hong Kong, to Salira, a modern Indonesian restaurant in Jakarta.
“The Hong Kong craft side to my staging series really resonates with a lot of diaspora people who are overseas, which is great because I feel like it’s like a way to connect people back to their roots,” Ng says.

Stepping out from behind the camera
Despite growing her account to nearly 55,000 followers on social media in less than a year, being a content creator is only a small part of Ng’s identity.
Behind the camera, she has been running food and beverage (F&B) consultancy Off Mnu since 2019, helping clients with menu research, branding and operations. She is also the co-founder of Rumah, an Indonesian dessert brand she founded with content creator Kelly “Spoon” Chan in 2023.
“I’ve never been a camera-facing person,” Ng says. “I’m quite introverted, so I actually don’t like being in front of the camera.”
Chan pushed her into making content to enhance Ng’s identity as an F&B consultant.
“She saw that I had a good network within the F&B community and thought that I could really do something with that,” Ng says.
Ng initially began staging at restaurants where she already had connections, but as the series grew, businesses began inviting her into their kitchens instead. The Diplomat was one of them.












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“I don’t think I’ve ever had their food before [the stage],” Ng says (she usually gets burgers from Shake Shack instead). “Within a 30-minute time frame, 15 burgers went out. It was right when they opened at 6pm.”
The staging series also brought her into the kitchens of local businesses, such as Chinese preserved sausage maker Yue Wo Hop Kee.
“It’s very interesting because I would have never thought that these small heritage brands would be open to something like this,” Ng says, explaining that second-generation owners of family businesses tend to be more receptive to brand building and social media.
‘It’s tough work’
Before making content, Ng initially wanted to build a food festival, which she quickly realised would not be a profitable endeavour.
“After that I was like, ‘Hmm, what else can I do?’” she says. “I started scrolling on Instagram and saw a lot of people doing behind-the-scenes chef content.”
Given her industry network, as well as a lack of similar kitchen content in Hong Kong at the time, Ng saw an opportunity to showcase more insider knowledge, “rather than a normal foodie influencer perspective where you just go and show what you’re eating at the restaurant”.
In her videos, Ng reveals the behind-the-scenes process of professional kitchens, from prepping ingredients to learning cooking techniques, such as for the hollow spring rolls at Duddell’s, a one-Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant in Central.

At the time of her first staging video in October 2025, the food services industry in Hong Kong was struggling with an unemployment rate of 5.7 per cent. That figure leapt to 6.4 per cent the following quarter.
“First, I thought [the series] would be a great recruitment tool for chefs or people who are interested in entering the industry,” she explains. “The staging series was also a way for me to help diners understand what goes on behind restaurants and the operations – and it’s tough work.”
From business to cooking
Ng did not initially plan on working in food. After graduating from Chinese International School, she moved to Boston, in the US state of Massachusetts, to study business at Northeastern University.
“I did not like it at all,” Ng recalls. “I did not feel like that was what I was meant to do or had any interest in those jobs.”
During her undergraduate studies, Ng cooked often and hosted friends frequently, which partially inspired her to enrol in the International Culinary Centre in New York.
“I’m gonna be honest. The reason I went to culinary school was that I wanted to move to New York,” she admits. “I knew that I wanted to be in the industry, but not specifically a chef. I thought culinary school was a good starting point.”

After finishing culinary school, she brought what she had learned back home and into her first kitchen at Little Bao, chef May Chow’s modern Chinese bao restaurant, in 2013.
“Little Bao was just opening on Staunton Street, so I helped with the opening – just as a part-timer because I wanted to ease my way into the industry,” she says.
After a short stint at the restaurant, Ng spent a few months at the then newly opened Nur, a plant-focused fine-dining restaurant that later earned and lost a Michelin star, and ceased operations in 2016.
At Nur, Ng realised she did not want to be a full-time cook. “I didn’t spend too much time in kitchen jobs in general because I found out very early on that doing it full time wasn’t really for me,” she says.
Moving away from full-time cooking
Nur introduced her to her mentor, who brought her onto her first menu consulting jobs. “He was a very, very good mentor to me. I learned a lot from him,” she says.
Her next gig was at the co-working company Campfire, where she learned about the operational side of F&B projects and businesses, before moving on to the now-closed F&B incubator PMQ Taste Kitchen, where chefs could rent space for restaurant pop-ups.
“There was one month where we couldn’t find a chef to do a pop-up. So I proposed, how about I try to do a concept myself?” Ng recalls.
That was how Sando Ba was born, Ng’s pop-up concept that offered one sandwich: a Wagyu sando, with slices of toasted bread sandwiching a battered Wagyu steak, cut into four tidy pieces.
“I did it for a month, and the concept took off,” she says. “It did really, really, really well to the point where there was this lady, a gallery owner from Beijing, who came to eat at my pop-up and she flew me to Beijing and was like, ‘Do you wanna open your concept in our gallery, in our museum?’”
While Ng declined the offer, other doors kept opening. From branding requests to consultations, her pop-up helped start her consulting business Off Mnu.

Today, her journey has temporarily led her back into kitchens. “There are always new ways or new roles to approach the industry,” she says. “My role is constantly changing. When the industry was at a low, that’s when I started doing content creation.”
Despite now spending more time in professional kitchens, cooking for and hosting friends is now a thing of the past.
“I’ve become even more introverted now,” she says. “I’m constantly evolving. I don’t really set anything in stone … I just go with the flow.”
Ng’s five favourite stagiaire experiences
Kamcentre Roast Goose
“Siu mei [roast meats] is something we all grow up with in Hong Kong, and I think it’s definitely a dying trade. Everybody that you see in a siu mei shop is part of the older generation. There’s hardly any young blood entering this trade because of how tough it is. When I staged there, the sifu started work at 6am and he did everything by himself. His capacity for multitasking is crazy.”

Yue Wo Hop Kee
“This was my first experience learning about Hong Kong craft, so it was very memorable. I staged the day before it closed for Chinese New Year, so it was very special. Seeing this 50-year-old tradition of handmade Chinese sausage is a reminder of why these crafts are worth fighting for.”
Ha Ming Kee
“I’ve been eating fish balls since I was a child, and I can’t believe I didn’t know how fish balls were made. Everything is still made entirely by hand. No machines, just decades of pure muscle memory – from hand-kneading the fish paste to folding the perfect wonton.”
Duddell’s
“[This was] obviously more high-end Chinese cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, but what was memorable for me was that I have always wanted to learn how to make that spring roll puff. That’s where I learned the technique to make the puffed spring roll.”
Wah Kee/Peter Seafood
“When it comes to suppliers, it’s tied between these two: Wah Kee and Peter Seafood. It’s very interesting to see where restaurants get their produce. Peter Seafood is the bridge between the ocean and Hong Kong’s best menus. For Wah Kee, it’s intense, manual labour, but the quality of the vegetables and microgreens gives you a whole new respect for the supply chain.”


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Food and Drinks

She’s telling Hong Kong’s culinary stories through an Instagram ‘staging’ series

Mel Ng records video of a Diplomat Burger that she prepped at The Diplomat in Central, Hong Kong. The Diplomat was the 31st stop in Ng’s stagiaire series on Instagram. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Mel Ng holds a whole yellow eel, an ingredient in Ha Ming Kee’s signature fish balls. Photo: Mel Ng

At Duddell’s, a fine-dining Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong, Ng learned the secrets behind their signature puffed spring rolls. Photo: Mel Ng

Ng learns the art of sushi-making at Sushi Fujimoto in Central. Photo: Mel Ng

Ng says her role is constantly changing. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Ng prepares geese for roasting in the space oven at Kamcentre Roast Goose. Photo: Mel Ng

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Tiffany Lo at Bistrot’s Suzette at Cullinan Sky Mall in Hong Kong’s Kai Tak neighbourhood. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The rustic pâté de campagne is one of Lo’s favourite dishes. Photo: Bistrot’s Suzette

The beef Bourguignon at Bistrot’s Suzette is lighter than the typical French version, with minimal use of butter. Photo: Bistrot’s Suzette

Bistrot’s Suzette at Cullinan Sky Mall in Kai Tak. Photo: Jonathan Wong

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Lo at Bistrot’s Suzette. Photo: Jonathan Wong

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Chan and his father at Wing Lok Noodle Factory in 2018. Photo: Angus Chan

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Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Mel Ng’s series is a showcase of behind-the-scenes kitchen storytelling, from fish ball joints to Michelin-starred restaurants and beyond


Mel Ng’s series is a showcase of behind-the-scenes kitchen storytelling, from fish ball joints to Michelin-starred restaurants and beyond.


Hong Kong

Hong Kong chefs

Social media

Little Bao

She’s telling Hong Kong’s culinary stories through an Instagram ‘staging’ series

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Mel Ng’s series is a showcase of behind-the-scenes kitchen storytelling, from fish ball joints to Michelin-starred restaurants and beyond

Mel Ng’s series is a showcase of behind-the-scenes kitchen storytelling, from fish ball joints to Michelin-starred restaurants and beyond