Two Singapore street stalls have, for the first time in history, been selected by esteemed Michelin Guide to receive one star each.
The hawker stalls, Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle and Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle, are the first street food stalls ever to be recognised by the acclaimed award. Michael Ellis, international director of the Michelin Guides said ‘it signifies that these hawkers have managed to hit the ball out of the park. In terms of quality of the ingredients, in terms of the flavours, in terms of the cooking techniques, in terms of just the general emotions, that they are able to put in their dishes. And that is something that I think is really unique to Singapore’.
Chan Hon Meng, owner of Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle, said he was delighted and honoured to receive the prestigious award. ‘I am very excited,’ he said, talking in front of his busy and increasingly popular stall ‘I never knew hawker food can go global. Hopefully the next generation will also pick this up’. The 51 year old also said that he had no immediate intentions to raise the prices of his food.
The day after winning his star, owner of Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle, Tang Chay Seng told CNBC ‘there was a queue even before I opened my stall at 9:30am! I was very happy to win the award.’
According to Michelin’s guide, a one-star award is given to restaurants that offer ‘high-quality cooking, worth a stop’. Kenneth Lee, a food blogger in Singapore said ‘I think the impression was that [Michelin] establishments should be fancy, sophisticated, have a good décor, have fancy food with a lot of flair, so we were really excited and happy to find out that two deserving hawkers were awarded this very prestigious award’.
There are over 15,000 food stalls in Singapore, providing a variety of different dishes and cuisines. Michelin’s new guide features 29 restaurants in total and is the fourth Asian country, and first South-East Asian country to be rated by the Michelin Guide.
