Singapore hawker food hall Urban Hawker soft-opens in New York City on Sep 21

New Yorkers can now enjoy Singapore food at their doorstep as Singapore food hall Urban Hawker soft-opened near Manhattan’s Times Square on Sep 21.

Located at 135 West 50th Street in New York City, the food hall mimics the experience of Singapore’s hawker centres.

The 14,000 sq ft food hall is spearheaded and curated by Singaporean KF Seetoh, founder of Makansutra, a company that celebrates and promotes food culture all over the world. Its official opening date will fall on Sep 28.

The venue can seat up to 200 diners, with 17 different vendors to choose from. According to Makansutra’s website, 11 of the vendors will be filled by Singapore hawkers and chefs.

Urban Hawker’s variety of cuisines range from Western, Malay, Chinese and Indian, offering also dessert and breakfast items.

The list of local stalls include halal burger hawker Ashes Burnnit, Peranakan restaurant Daisy Dream, Malay and Indonesian cafe Padi@Bussorah, Indian stall Mamak’s Corner and Hainan Jones’s chicken rice.

It also features Hokkien-style prawn noodle soup joint Prawnaholic, Hainanese-style western stall Smokin’ Joe, Mr Fried Rice, beehoon chain White, Dragon Phoenix’s Wok & Staple and coffee stall Kopifellas.

In a post on Makansutra’s website earlier this year, Seetoh lauded the Singaporean hawkers who took the brave step of faith to expand into the New York market.

He said: “When something happens in New York City, the world takes note and our UNESCO class hawkers are something we are only too proud to tout. 

“I tip my hat off to them. I know they will make Singapore proud and show just how exportable our hawker culture can be. They will go down in history.”