This Singaporean hawker serves best fish and chips in New York, says US food critic. Here's what some Americans think

When you think of a standout dish in Singapore, your mind automatically wanders towards iconic staples like chilli crab, chicken rice or even laksa.

But our beloved Hainanese Western food, or to be exact — fish and chips — isn’t the first thing that springs to mind. 

In a New York Post article on Dec 16, however, US writer Steve Cuozzo hailed the dish from Singaporean hawker stall Smokin' Joe as the best in the city and said it "blew [him] away".

So much so that he returned three days in a row to the Hainanese curry and Western stall located in the Singapore-inspired Urban Hawker food hall. 

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Steve wrote that New York fish and chips, which uses mainly haddock or cod fish, tastes “mainly of oil”. 

Smokin' Joe's fish and chips, on the other hand, is "a crispy but not crunchy" piece of fish cutlet that's deep-fried at high temperatures.

Chef and owner Joseph Yeo explained that by doing so, the constant high heat "forces the oil out" and prevents the fish from tasting oily. 

Another reason Steve cannot stop raving about Smokin' Joe's fish and chips is the choice of fish and herb and spices marinade.

Utilising the neutral-flavoured swai fish from Vietnam, he said that it's the perfect choice of fish to absorb and highlight the sweet and spicy marinade of oyster sauce, soy sauce, paprika, oregano and thyme.

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At Smokin' Joe, diners get a choice of either enjoying Joseph's fish cutlet either with Hainanese curry rice or fries.

Steve has a preference for the "salty, well-seasoned fries" which are so delicious on their own that he said that it doesn't "need ketchup or anything else".

While Steve is clearly a fan of our Singapore-styled fish and chips, other netizens were sceptical.

In the comments section of New York Post's article, one netizen was unimpressed with Smokin' Joe's herbs and spices marinate insisting that he wants to taste the fish when it comes to fish and chips.

Another commenter took offence at the choice of swai fish, saying that they are "well known to be loaded with toxins". The view was also echoed by another netizen who called them "pond cleaners for other fish".

Others took Steve's claim with a pinch of salt, with a commenter saying that there's "nothing exotic" about Smokin' Joe fish and chips.

One netizen even went so far to call Steve's claim "untrue" since taste is subjective and that there are no shortage of fish and chips spots in New York.

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In general though, Smokin' Joe and the rest of the Urban Hawker food vendors have been getting the thumbs up from New Yorkers.

Despite steeper prices than what Singaporeans are used to — a bowl of prawn mee goes for $26 by the way — most diners have been raving about the hawker food on offer.

YouTube channel Hello New York interviewed Urban Hawker customers when the food hall just opened, and they described the food prices as "very reasonable".

The two hosts of Hello New York tried the succulent chicken satay which they were "impressed" by as well as the accompanying peanut sauce which they said had a "kick to it".

Urban Hawker is a Singapore-inspired food hall located in midtown Manhattan.

Local food icon KF Seetoh handpicked the 17 Urban Hawker vendors out of which 11 were from hawker centres in Singapore.

Urban Hawker opened in late September and features dishes such as chilli crab, nasi lemak, oyster omelette and more.

timothywee@asiaone.com

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