Just last month Mr Chef was in Sydney cooking alongside Singapore’s new gastro hawker sensation Hawker Chan – the world’s cheapest one Michelin star meal. Move over Tim Ho Wan – overrated dim sum franchise of the decade!
We went in search of Hawker Chan on chef’s last visit to Singapore hoping to say hello to him, but he wasn’t there. During off peak hours at 430pm, we queued up for about an hour to get a seat and waited another 20-30minutes to get our food – a little long for a fast food wait, but glad we did.
I grew up in Singapore, but never tried Hawker Chan’s soya chicken. My friends asked if it’s worth the long queue for, well I wouldn’t do it often, but I didn’t regret that we did.
It’s contrived to use all those tacky words like “succulent”, “juicy” and “beautifully tender” and “smooth” – but the soya chicken is all of those things – like a perfectly cooked sous vide chicken with the luscious herby soya sauce drizzled over it. Light on the grease and their noodles – cooked al dente, with a spring in every bite, come with a side of homemade sambal sauce – a tad too sweet for my liking.
Here’s what we ordered and finished for two. Had to make the hour long queue worth the while. Including a beer, our bill came up to $40 for two persons. That’s pretty expensive for hawker fare in Singapore, but I suppose compared to the rest of the world, given the amount of food we ordered and for the quality, it’s reasonable.
This outlet on Chinatown’s Smith Street had air conditioning and a clean toilet, so it’s definitely not a hawker stall like the original that earned it’s world’s cheapest Michelin star meal. (Move over franchised and mass produced dim sum Tim Ho Wan).
You might be interested in reading about other affordable Michelin starred restaurants around the world.
