11 Singapore hawkers to set up shop in New York City this September

A food hall modelled after Singapore’s hawker centre — the first of its kind in the United States — is set to open in New York City on Sept 21. Named Urban Hawker, the food market will house 17 F&B vendors, 11 of which hail from Singapore. 

The hawkers were specially chosen and curated by Singapore food guru and restaurateur, KF Seetoh. A wide variety of Malay, Peranakan, Chinese and Indian cuisines will be made available, in an attempt to replicate Singapore’s culinary repertoire more than 15,000km from home.

Among the hawkers featured is Daisy’s Dream Kitchen, which sells home-cooked Peranakan favourites such as laksa and nasi lemak. Part-owned by Singapore actress Selena Tan, Daisy’s Dream Kitchen started out as a hawker stall at Tiong Bahru Market and Food Centre in 2011. It has since moved to Temasek Club as a full-fledged restaurant.

Well-known Malay restaurant Padi @ Bussorah is also part of the impressive line-up of hawkers. Branded as Padi D’NYC in the Big Apple, it’ll showcase authentic Malay fare such as mee rebus, satay and beef rendang.

Padi @ Bussorah opened its restaurant at Bussorah Street (outside the Sultan Mosque) selling Malay hawker food such as nasi ambeng in 2015.

More contemporary hawkers from the younger generation will also have a spot at the food hall.

Burger joint Ashes Burnnit serves locally inspired burgers and sandwiches such as the grilled satay chicken burger with marinated chicken thighs and roti john. Known for its charcoal bun burgers, Ashes Burnnit redefined the gourmet burger wave when it opened its first outlet at Golden Mile Food Centre in 2019.

Urban Hawker is a project by Makansutra, in partnership with Urbanspace, a market-maker in New York City. It will be open daily from 8am to 11pm, and the stalls are on a three-year lease.

Below is the full list of F&B vendors available at Urban Hawker:

• Wok & Staple by Dragon Phoenix
• White Restaurant
• Daisy’s Dream Kitchen
• Mr Fried Rice
• Hainan Jones
• Kopifellas
• Ashes Burnnit
• Prawnaholic Collections
• Padi D’NYC
• Mamak’s Corner
• Smokin’ Joe
• Lady Wong
• Jakarta Munch
• Tradisyon 
• Sling Bar
• Yum Yubu
• Dim Sum Darling

Daisy’s Dream Kitchen, Padi @ Bussorah and Ashes Burnnit are on the GrabFood delivery service in Singapore. You can also book a ride to the stores.