It has become quite an apparent trend that many restaurant chefs—some even hailing from prestigious hotels—have decided to hang up their aprons to pursue their own businesses, operating in hawker stalls instead.

Perhaps it’s due to the alleviated pressure, or maybe these veterans just want to settle down and finally do something that they can wholeheartedly call their own. Either way, it’s always a new reason to get excited whenever we hear of such news. To enjoy high-ses food at low-ses prices, here is our list of 6 hawker stalls opened by ex-restaurant chefs.

A NOODLE STORY

Opened by 2 young hawkers who gained accolades from Michelin-starred restaurants such as Saint Pierre and Iggy’s, their passion and relentless efforts in creating a local-style Singapore ramen led A Noodle Story to what it is today. This Michelin Bib Gourmand-listed stall located at Amoy Street Food Centre serves Singapore-style ramen that is specially created to suit local taste buds.

Inspired by modern European techniques and Asian flavours, their signature ramen has a distinctive local flavour that kind of reminds us of our wanton noodles–with tender cha-shu, Hong Kong-style wontons, onsen egg and crispy potato-wrapped prawn that sits neatly atop the thin and springy egg noodles.

A Noodle Story
7 Maxwell Road
#01-39 Amoy Street Food Centre
Singapore 069111
Tel: +65 9027 6289
Mon to Fri: 11.30am – 2pm, 5.30pm – 7pm
Sat: 10.30am – 1.30pm
(Closed on Sunday)
Nearest Station: Telok Ayer

LITTLE BOWL

Previously known as Le Bouillon, Little Bowl is an unpretentious eatery that serves restaurant quality European grub as it is. Tucked in Clifford Centre’s NTUC Foodfare, Little Bowl is a hit among the office crowd due to the affordable prices and of course, quality food.

Started by 3 chefs who met during their time working at Saveur, they decided to start their own business after the founders of Saveur sold the business and went their separate ways. You can look forward to a delectable spread of French fare that is similar to that of Saveur’s standard, without burning a hole in your pockets.

Little Bowl
24 Raffles Place
#B1-01/10 Clifford Centre NTUC Foodfare
Singapore 048621
Mon to Fri: 10am – 7pm
Sat: 10am – 3pm
(Closed on Sunday)
Nearest Station: Raffles Place

Photo Credit: Eddie Tai

MEET 4 MEAT

With over 20 years of experience working in a professional kitchen, former Wooloomooloo Steakhouse chef, Jimmy Teo, co-founded Meet 4 Meat—a no-frills eatery that serves up premium grilled steaks at affordable prices. Located in a humble Kopitiam along the bustling East Coast Road, Meet 4 Meat offers restaurant quality fare in a casual and relaxed dining experience to people from all walks of life.

Their steaks are cooked using a flame-grill, which adds a robust smoky flavour to the different cuts of meat. One of the must-try dishes is their signature Beef Wellington, which comes with a tenderloin coated in a red wine mushroom duxelle (a finely chopped mixture of mushrooms), wrapped in a puff pastry shell and baked.

Meet 4 Meat
228 East Coast Road
Singapore 428925
Tel: +65 8290 3605
Daily: 12pm – 2.30pm, 3.30pm – 9.30pm
Nearest Station: Eunos

MR CHICKEN RICE

Opened and run by an ex-Mandarin Orchard Hotel chef who knows all the secrets to the plate of award-winning Chatterbox’s tasty chicken rice, Mr Chicken Rice is a humble and fuss-free eatery at Downtown East that serves almost the same standard of chicken rice at prices as low as a hawker stall’s.

The Signature Tofu Set comes with a plate of silky smooth steamed Hainanese chicken that sits atop the fragrant chicken rice, deep-fried tofu drizzled with sweet and tangy Thai chilli and a side of cabbage soup to wash down the spiciness of their piquant chilli sauce.

Mr Chicken Rice
1 Pasir Ris Close
#02-120 Downtown East
Singapore 519599
Tel: +65 6582 1302
Mon to Sun: 11am – 9pm
Nearest Station: Pasir Ris

Photo Credit: supremeramenxiaolongbao

SUPREME RAMEN XIAO LONG BAO

The brainchild of Chef Li — an ex-Crystal Jade chef with over 20 years of experience as a dim sum chef — Supreme Ramen Xiao Long Bao located in Holland Drive serves authentic and affordable Chinese cuisine, which is absolutely worth travelling for.

A basket of their signature Xiao Long Bao (6 for S$4.50) comes with 6 plump Xiao Long Bao—all of which came with a translucent skin that encapsulates the generous amount of pork filling and tasty pork broth. Given the size and quality of the XLBs, we have to say that it is really value-for-money and we would definitely head down to get our XLB fix if we were around that area.

Supreme Ramen Xiao Long Bao
46 Holland Drive
Singapore 270046
Tel: +65 9798 2211
Daily: 9am – 1.30pm, 4.30pm – 8pm
Nearest Station: Holland Village/Buona Vista

Photo Credit: Yokozuna Stall

YOKOZUNA STALL

Tucked in an unassuming Kopitiam in Toa Payoh, one would think that Yokozuna Stall is just like any other mediocre hawker Japanese food stall. However, this humble establishment is opened by Chef Francis, an ex-teppanyaki chef at M Hotel with two decades of experience in the F&B industry–and his wife.

Starting an eatery of his own, Chef Francis gets to enjoy the liberty of creating new flavours so be prepared to get treated to a modest selection of creative and mouth-watering Japanese delights.

Yokozuna Stall
211 Lor 8 Toa Payoh #01-01
Singapore 310211
Tel: +65 9732 8813
Mon to Fri: 12pm – 2.30pm, 5pm – 8.30pm
Sat and Sun: 12pm – 8.30pm
Nearest Station: Braddell/Toa Payoh

We Singaporeans love our hawker food – oh, yes we do. But as with all relationships in life, some love are a little more toxic than others. I got a local dietitian to help shed light on what dishes we should keep a distance from. Check out Singapore’s 10 unhealthiest hawker dishes, listed according to total calories. I do apologise for the impending heartbreak.

10. CHICKEN SATAY AND SAUCE
5 sticks of satay with 5g of sauce each (75g) = 185cal

Well, this is a small number – what’s the big deal, right? But this is a lot of calories, fat (10g) and sodium (249mg) in a small amount of food. Typically you’ll have satay alongside other dishes as well. Oh, and if you wolf down 10 sticks, you would have already hit about one-third of your daily fat allowance.

9. CHENDOL
Grass jelly, red bean and pandan jelly served in a sweet coconut milk base soup (368g) = 386cal

Who can resist the addictive combo of gula melaka and coconut milk? But it is precisely all of its sweet goodness that’s leading to the high calorie count. Plus, a bowlful has about nine teaspoons of sugar. Chendol has a high glycaemic index (GI), which means it’s digested and released into the body quickly, giving you a spike in energy that crashes, and leaves you tired and hungry quickly.

8. FRIED ECONOMIC BEE HOON
Fried vermicelli with fried luncheon meat and fried egg (273g) = 427cal

A favourite at breakfasts, this dish will almost hit your daily limit for cholesterol (300mg) at 219mg, so be careful with the rest of the day’s intake. Luncheon meats are also highly processed and contain a lot of MSG, which will make you thirsty. Try to reach for water instead of a sweet drink.

7. BLACK FRIED CARROT CAKE
Fried radish with egg and sweet sauce (295g) = 493cal

This dish scores high marks not just in taste but in all the wrong nutrients as well. There is a lot of fat in it (35g), because it’s usually cooked in pork lard. There is also a lot of sugar from the sweet sauce (up to 6 teaspoons) and about 1,289mg of sodium – this is more than half of your 2,000mg daily requirement.

6. MEE GORENG
Yellow noodle with vegetables, egg, cooked in tomato and chilli sauce (309g) = 500cal

This one’s a real danger for adults with hypertension as the salt content of 1,851mg is close to one entire day’s requirement of 2,000mg. A large proportion of mee goreng’s calories come from fat (20g), which makes the quality of the calories low. A dish with high quality calories would be a better balanced one (think salads with olive oil dressing and lean meats).

5. LAKSA LEMAK
Noodles with prawns and fish cakes in coconut-based soup (540g) = 591cal

The richness of the coconut milk which gives laksa that wonderful full-bodied mouthful is also the undoing of this dish – nutritionally. More that half the fat (32g) comes from saturated fat (17.8g), which is harmful to the heart. The sodium levels are right up there as well at 1,588mg.

4. CHICKEN RICE
“Roasted” chicken with skin, served with rice and chilli sauce (382g) = 607cal

The rice, while delicious, was cooked swimming in chicken fat. The total fat count here is at 23g, which is about one-third, or half of your daily requirement, depending on your gender. A fatty meal takes about four hours to digest – a plate of this will leave you sluggish and sleepy after you eat it, especially with a rush of serotonins (a feel-good hormone) from the high carbohydrate content. Again, watch the sodium too (1,287mg).

Read: recommendations on some of the best chicken rice in Singapore.

3. NASI LEMAK
Coconut rice with fried chicken wing, fried egg, fried anchovies and chilli sauce (306g) = 657cal

This one’s my personal favourite and I’m horrified to find it third on the list. The fat content of 25g is high and it’s all thanks to the rich coconut milk-soaked rice and deep fried accompanying dishes. At 657 calories, this exceeds your “budget” for a meal, based on a 1,800cal diet.

2. MEE SIAM
Thin, white rice noodle, hard boiled egg and dried beancurd in tangy gravy (655g) = 694cal

A bowlful of mee siam always looks so unassuming, until you find out about the high amount of carbohydrates from the noodles and sugar-laden gravy (92g). This dish also takes home the award for highest amount of sodium, clocking in a whopping 2,659mg – that’s one entire day’s allowance and a third of tomorrow’s.

1. CHAR KWAY TEOW
Rice noodles fried with cockles, Chinese sausage and sweet sauce (384g) = 744cal

This tasty plate of wok hei-heavy kway teow noodles tops the list at 744 calories. It is also extremely heart-unfriendly with it’s high levels of fat (38g) – of which 70% is saturated fat (29.2g) – and cholesterol (234mg). It gets most of its calories from the sweet sauce, highly processed meats and pork lard used. Also take note of the sodium levels, which sits at 1,459mg.

So there you go, remember that you don’t have to cut these hawker favourites from your life forever – they are after all, as Singaporean as they come. Enjoy them no more than once a week, and choose healthier dishes for your other meals on the days you decide to indulge.

Expert source: Jaclyn Reutens, clinical dietitian at nutrition consultancy Aptima Nutrition & Sports Consultants www.aptima-nsc.com

About the writer:
Ruby Tan used to write for Her World, and is now a freelance writer with a dream to travel the world. She believes that the some of best things in life don’t have to be bought. If you want to make a friend, share travel tips and advice, or even to discuss deeply about life, write to her at rubytan.work@gmail.com