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Hawker Anton Tan has had quite the rollercoaster in his F&B career. The UK-educated former engineer had a midlife career change when he took over his parents’ Toa Payoh zi char stall called Bliss Haven Restaurant. Not wanting to sell zi char, he decided to offer ‘ugly’ muffins, naming his business Uggli Muffins . His , comically misshapen and overflowing from their baking trays, proved to be a hit with customers. Fast forward 20 years to October 2023, and Anton decided he has had enough of the hawker life. As a one-man-show, his manpower woes went unresolved as he could not find people willing to work as hawker assistants. “My business has grown to a scale that is somewhat beyond the owner’s capability of management,” he tells 8days.sg . No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg . 1 4 Muffins to crepes to… muffins again After a futile hunt for a successor, the bachelor closed both his Toa Payoh stall and Jalan Besar standalone outlet, and travelled the world for two months. While in Paris waiting for a crepe, he had the idea to sell French-style sourdough crepes when he returned to Singapore in March 2024. The crepes, made à la minute, were still less laborious to prepare than muffins. But it looks like Uggli Muffins is back in business, as Anton has stopped selling crepes after three months and returned to hawking muffins. 2 4 Why?  When 8days.sg asked Anton why he had gone back to selling muffins again, he replies, indirectly, that it was due to greater demand for muffins. He explains playfully: “Every day there were so many people asking me about muffins. For every crepe I sold, there were at least five customers asking about my muffins and cookies. If I get $200 from every person who asks me about muffins, I’m pretty sure I’ll be a millionaire very soon!” 3 4 But he points out that he appreciates his customers remembering his muffins: “I’m grateful. How often do you get [support] like this? It took me 20 years to reach this stage, and it seems like I’m destined in my life to sell muffins lah.” To get around the manpower crunch, he trimmed his operating hours and also bakes fewer muffins for sale. “I have someone helping me now, but we are still finding [more manpower],” he says. 4 4 Muffin menu According to Anton, he offers a different selection of flavours every day, “depending on the availability of ingredients”. But some are classic mainstays, like Chocolate, Oreo and Cranberry. Each muffin costs $1.60 to $1.90. He reckons that it’s not so unusual to tweak his stall concept according to how he sees fit. He quips: “I have decided to run my stall like how I travelled — just go with the wind!” www.facebook.com/UggliMuffins 8days.sg . www.tiktok.com/@8dayseat