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Urban Hawker is a Singapore-style hawker centre that recently opened in New York.

It is spearheaded by Makansutra founder K.F. Seetoh.

Located in midtown Manhattan, the hawker centre has 200 seats and 17 stalls, 11 of which are from Singapore.

It officially opens on Sep. 28, following a soft launch on Sep. 21.

More costly in U.S.

Even though the hawker food sold in New York is modelled closely after the fare found in Singapore to maintain the authenticity of tastes and presentation, the biggest difference is the price.

It turns out, selling affordable food to the masses from a centralised area that pools together a plethora of stalls, each specialising in their own dish, is a uniquely Singaporean thing.

A bowl of prawn noodles, which is known as "prawn ramen" in New York, has to be sold for US$18, or S$25.70 to make a profit.

High costs explained

Alan Choong, 26, the owner of Prawnaholic Collections, which is operating in Urban Hawker, explained in a Shin Min Daily News interview on Sep. 23 that his prawn noodles is expensive owing to high costs manpower, ingredients and rental over there.

Choong revealed he has to pay each kitchen assistant about US$5,000 (S$7,150) per month in salary.

There are three staff working for him now.

He added that he has two teams to work shifts to cover the long operating hours, as the law there limits the number of hours each employee works.

Recruitment has been a challenge as he has only managed to find one Chinese chef who communicates well and can cook Chinese food so far.

The other factors that influence the price are the rising cost of ingredients and rental in a prime district.

Choong started his Prawnaholic Collections at Pasir Ris Hawker Centre in 2018.

A bowl of his noodles in Singapore costs S$7.

Food in that part of New York in that range

But it is hardly surprising that eating out can be so costly in a place such as New York.

The price of food in the vicinity of Urban Hawker is reportedly around the price range of food sold at Urban Hawker.

Choong's New York stall also offers US$18 (S$25.70) wok fried hokkien prawn noodle, and US$22 (S$31.50) signature torched sesame pork rib ramen.

Food portion bigger in New York though

Another stall from Singapore, run by Victor Tay, 41, the managing director of White Restaurant, also charges relative higher prices than what is found here.

White Restaurant is known for their white beehoon with seafood.

A plate of white bee hoon with seafood in New York costs US$13 to US$14, while in Singapore it is priced at S$7 to S$8.

However, the portions in the U.S. city are about 15 per cent bigger.

Three chefs from Singapore now work in New York for Tay, with New Yorkers to be hired to take orders and work the tills.

Tay said minimum wage laws result in higher manpower costs in New York, with ingredients also costing more over there.

Background

The 14,000 sq ft food hall houses 17 vendors, all of which have been handpicked by Seetoh.

Out of these, 11 are Singaporean vendors.

Notable local names include White Restaurant, which started from dishing out plates of its famous white bee hoon at Sembawang; Kopifellas, a drinks stall with multiple outlets selling Nanyang kopi across Singapore; Ashes Burnnit, a halal burger chain that expanded from a humble hawker stall in Golden Mile Food Centre; and Wok and Staple by the heritage Chinese restaurant Dragon Phoenix, which has a 59-year legacy in Singapore.

Other Singaporean vendors include:

• Hainan Jones, a Hainanese poached and roasted chicken rice stall
• Prawnaholic Collections, a Hokkien-style prawn noodles soup stall
• Daisy’s Dream, a Nyonya Peranakan food stall
• Padi D'NYC, a Malay and Indonesian food stall
• Mamak's corner, an Indian food stall
• Smokin' Joe, a Singaporean style Western food stall
• Mr Fried Rice, a fried rice stall

The other six vendors are Yum Yubu, Jakarta Munch, Tradisyon, Lady Wong, Dim Sum Darlings and The Sling Bar, according to Urban Hawker's website.

Urban Hawker was created through a partnership between Seetoh and Urbanspace, which has multiple food halls in New York and across the United States.

Seetoh said he first had the idea of opening a Singapore-style hawker food hall in New York through the late renowned celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain.

Eater reported that Bourdain had the idea to open Bourdain Market from as early as 2012.

He announced that the food hall would open around 2015, but it never came to fruition due to leasing issues and the plan was axed in 2017.

After Bourdain passed away in 2018, Seetoh carried the torch and the project came back to life in 2019.

Top photos via Shin Min Daily News & mikedoesitall YouTube