$55 for 12 sticks of satay: Maliki Osman spends over $250 trying out Singapore-style hawker food in Manhattan

Support Singapore food, especially when in New York.

Dr Maliki Osman, Second Minister for Education and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, recently tried out a Singapore-style street food market in Manhattan, New York, he shared in a video post on Facebook on Thursday (Sept 21).

"This is a place called the Urban Hawker," Dr Maliki said as he introduced the restaurant. The stalls are curated by Makansutra founder KF Seetoh.

"And if you look at what it says here - 'Singapore street food'!"

He had heard about the location and that it was established a year ago, and was very curious to find out what kind of food was sold at the restaurant.

As he toured the area, he noted that the restaurant was designed similar to food courts in Singapore, with individual stalls around the circumference of the seating area for customers.

He also spoke with some employees at individual stalls in the food court, asking about their dishes and their countries of origin. In particular, he recognised Padi and Prawnaholic Collection - brands seen in Singapore - in the New York food court.

"Very interesting to see so much of Singapore here, right smack in New York City," he commented.

A taste of home

Dr Maliki also sat down with colleagues from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and from the New York mission to try out some of the dishes available at the Urban Hawker.

[[nid:600587]]

They purchased a plate of sliced fish white bee hoon (US$16 or S$22), char kway teow (US$18), Hokkien mee (US$18), mee rebus (US$16.50), mee goreng mamak (US$18), two plates of half-dozen sticks of satay (US$20 per plate), two bowls of mee bakso (US$18 per bowl), ayam gulai (US$18) and a cup of teh tarik (US$6).

The total damage? US$186.50, or S$255.

Despite the price of their dishes, Dr Maliki and his colleagues happily chowed down on their food, with Dr Maliki even rating his mee rebus "five stars" after describing it as "lovely", "very nice" and "shiok".

He noted that the satay sold at Urban Hawker was "chunkier" than the ones at home.

He also shared that the mee goreng mamak was "same same but different", while the teh tarik earned a modest "not bad lah" from Dr Maliki.

'Business is picking up'

While they were having their meal, they were greeted by Shukor Tahir, the owner of Padi and Mamak's Corner in the Urban Hawker.

According to Tahir, his one-year experience with business in New York hasn't been easy, especially during the beginning.

"So far, now, it's good. At least I know how to market it… business is picking up now," Tahir said.

Dr Maliki is in New York for the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) together with Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan.

The UNGA opened on Sept 5 with high-level general debates beginning from Tuesday.

[[nid:610728]]

khooyihang@asiaone.com