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Margaret Drive stall with Hokkien Mee cooked by 'robot' closes, cites manpower shortage as main reason

There's one stall at NUS.

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October 08, 2025, 12:15 PM

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A Hokkien Mee stall made waves earlier this year by using a "robot" to cook up some Hokkien Mee.

@singaporefoodie A.I. cooked Hokkien Mee !? šŸ¤–šŸœ šŸ“ Wok A.I. #hokkienmee #robot #chef #local #foodie ♬ original sound - Singapore Foodie

Unfortunately, the stall closed after about 10 months.

Speaking to Mothership, Ang Chip Hong, who opened the stall in November 2024, said the closure was primarily due to his inability to find enough manpower.

Ang told Mothership that he had been trying to find manpower for one and a half months to no avail.

He decided to close it in September 2025.

This manpower shortage occurred despite the machine making Hokkien Mee.

Ang explained that the machine helped make the food more consistent in terms of taste, but there was still a need for manpower.

"Manpower is still needed to cook stock, peel the prawn, etc."

Manpower issues have been a consistent issue for them.

In a Jun. 17, 2025 interview with Zaobao, Ang said he had issues hiring staff.

In fact, the impetus for using a machine to cook the mee was because he could not find a chef, even though he offered up to S$4,000 as a monthly salary.

But if you are craving their Hokkien Mee, all hope is not lost. Ang has another outlet at NUS Yusof Ishak house.

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by hokkienmeeftw (@hokkienmeeftw)

Photo courtesy of Ang

YIH canteen, Stall 2, Local Delights.

31 Lower Kent Ridge Road .

Singapore 119078

Image from Luke Tow, Shaun Loh, Ang Chip Hong/Google Maps

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