The story behind Chicken Pie Kitchen & Don Signature Crab
A short, dated timeline. Years are hedged where sources differ.
Quick answer
Chef Don Lim founded Don Pie and co-founded Chicken Pie Kitchen & Don Signature Crab, where the crab bee hoon soup is cooked today under the DonChef name. The kitchen says the crab dishes began as family cooking in the early 2000s and went on the menu when customers asked. The kitchen has served from 39 Tyrwhitt Road since 2021.
The short version
Chef Don Lim founded Don Pie, and he co-founded Chicken Pie Kitchen & Don Signature Crab. The kitchen is known for its chicken pies and for its crab bee hoon soup, and the two have always shared one brand. This page tells the crab half of that story. The pie half is told elsewhere, and we point to it below.
A timeline, with years hedged where sources differ
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1983 | Chef Don Lim creates the original chicken pie recipe, which he dates to a staff cafeteria. |
| 2000 | The first Don Pie shop opens at Far East Square, later a restaurant opposite at China Square Central. |
| Early 2000s | In the words of the kitchen’s menu, its head chef at DON begins making crab dishes for his family, and customers persuade him to put them on the menu. |
| About 2014 to 2015 | A Don Signature Crab stall opens in a coffee shop at Blk 206 Toa Payoh North. The kitchen says 2014; bloggers say March 2015. |
| Late 2019 | Don’s Pie & Cake opens at Toa Payoh North Food Centre II (1008A). |
| 2021 | The kitchen opens at 39 Tyrwhitt Road, Jalan Besar, with Chef Don Lim’s nephew. |
| 2022 and 2023 | Food writers review the new restaurant and its crab bee hoon; several posts are partnership posts, which we mark in reviews and press. |
| October 2026 | Full crab range at Tyrwhitt Road; limited range (Soup and Laksa) at AMK Hub. |
How the crab began
The kitchen’s menu introduces its crab section with this account: in the early 2000s its head chef at DON began crafting crab dishes for his family, and it was not long before customers persuaded him to feature them on the menu. The kitchen’s home page repeats the idea: the dishes were created for family, and were sold because of high demand.
That makes the crab bee hoon soup a home dish that became a menu item, not a dish invented for a restaurant. We cannot give you a date for the first sale. We say “the early 2000s”, as the kitchen does, and leave it there.
Toa Payoh, and where it went
Chef Don Lim ran a Don Signature Crab stall in a Toa Payoh North coffee shop, and later brought his chicken pies back at a Toa Payoh North food centre. Both stalls belong to the past. Where the Toa Payoh stall went explains why old listings still show them. For the longer account of those years in Chef Don Lim’s own words, see the Toa Payoh years at originaldon.com, and for the dated pie-and-crab timeline, what happened to Don Pie.
Tyrwhitt Road
In 2021 the kitchen opened at 39 Tyrwhitt Road, with Chef Don Lim’s nephew helping to revive the business. The restaurant is the only place that serves the whole crab range. The kitchen also runs four takeaway kiosks, at AMK Hub, Wisma Atria, White Sands and Tiong Bahru Plaza. Only the AMK Hub kiosk sells crab, and only two dishes.
The names, plainly
The kitchen cooks and bakes under the DonChef name today. DonChef’s Original Chicken Pie follows the recipe Chef Don Lim created in 1983, and the crab dishes are DonChef dishes. Chef Don Lim still appears at the kitchen’s events. For the heritage of the pies, see singaporepies.com.
What we do not say
We do not state a year count for the kitchen. We do not claim any award for the crab dishes. We do not describe other operators. We do not claim to be the first crab bee hoon in Singapore: Wikipedia credits Sin Huat Eating House with the dish, as what is crab bee hoon explains.
Questions people ask
Who is DonChef?
DonChef is the name Chicken Pie Kitchen & Don Signature Crab cooks and bakes under today. Every dish that leaves the kitchen is a DonChef dish, made in a kitchen co-founded by Chef Don Lim, who created the original chicken pie recipe in 1983.
Is there still a Toa Payoh outlet?
No. The Toa Payoh North stalls are part of the history. See where the Toa Payoh stall went.
Does Chef Don Lim still appear at the kitchen?
Chef Don Lim still appears at the kitchen's events.
Sources
- Kitchen about page
- Kitchen menu PDF, 28 Feb 2026 (section introduction)
- Kitchen home page