Haute stuff - Young new hawkers & Ultimate Hawker Festival

Young hawkers are the haute things these days and with a number rising stars, there are a number of gems in hawker centers these days. In this entry, I feature 2 up and coming hawkers but both only sell one single stellar dish, all below the age of 35 and are making waves in the hawker scene.

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Fishball Story
#01-85, Beach Road Hawker Center

I expected terrible queues at Fishball Story, a stall started by 26 year old Douglas who is armed with a family recipe from his Grandma's. He is no stranger to the limelight, having been featured in a number of high profile media as the next big thing.

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Growing up in Singapore meant fish ball noodles and I are definitely no strangers but to date, they have been synthetic tasting fishballs and then Fish Ball Story comes along to redefine this humble hawker dish.

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I had the noodles dry first, the blend was a bountiful of flavours - spicy and salty altogether. I loved the mild spicy aftertaste that lingered for awhile. The generous number of fish balls and fishcakes made this dish shine, one with alot of finesse and skill.

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The soup version is also a strong contender for delicious. 

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A Noodle Story
#01-39, Amoy Street Food Center

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They lay claim on being Singapore's first and only Singapore style ramen with a plethora of toppings that gives modern to "wanton mee". In a bowl of ramen priced at $5.50, I get a photogenic dish of cha-shu, potato wrapped prawn, wantons, a fistful of wanton mee and topped with saffron even. While the looks trump the taste, I laud these brave hawkers for their creativity and perseverance in their quest to make a difference to our hawkerfood.


Catch budding young hawkers like Douglas at the upcoming Ultimate Hawker Festival on 22 November. The event honours the heritage of pioneer generation hawkers through stalls helmed by chefs from the second, third and fourth generations of pioneers.

A new generation of young budding chefs like Douglas Ng of Fishball Story, Gerald and Julyn of Penang Kia, and Wee and Adrian of Old Bibik Beef Rendang will also be present at the festival. They have been driven by their passion for food to leave jobs in other sectors to join the culinary industry.

Tickets to the Ultimate Hawker Festival can be found here.

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