As inflation persists in Singapore, diners are becoming more sensitive about the prices of food.
Thus, while people call out stalls for their seemingly high prices, we’re also on the lookout for cheap eats.
The latest good deal to gain interest is a beverage stall in Kallang that sells a large cup of kopi-o for just S$0.60.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
The stall’s prices were so cheap that their customers reportedly persuaded the owner to raise his prices to meet costs.
The stall in question is located at a hawker centre in Block 56 Jalan Benaan Kapal in Kallang, reported Shin Min Daily News.
The hawker centre, just a stone’s throw away from the Sports Hub, has just 10 stalls.
Source: Google Maps
The beverage stall, which has no visible signboard, is at the far-left corner.
Source: Google Maps
At this seemingly unremarkable stall, a small kopi-o or teh-o in a teacup costs just S$0.50.
Source: Google Maps
To upgrade to a bigger glass cup of kopi-o or teh-o, one just has to pay S$0.10 more.
For kopi or teh with milk, it’s another S$0.10.
Stall owner Yang Zhonghe, 74, has been operating the stall for 55 years.
The first-generation owner told Shin Min that he’d kept his prices constant for the past 20 years.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
However, two months ago he had to raise his prices due to the increasing costs of raw ingredients like milk.
Even so, he raised them by only S$0.10.
In fact, Mr Yang raised his prices only after some customers started getting worried that he earned too little.
They thus persuaded him to up his prices just a bit, he said.
Nevertheless, the stall owner says he doesn’t aim to earn more — as long as he doesn’t lose money, it’s fine.
That’s why he has no plans to increase his prices any further, intending to maintain them for now.
One reason for his cheap prices, however, is because the hawkers there are responsible for clearing and cleaning their own tableware.
If he has to pay cleaning fees like in other centres, his prices wouldn’t be what they are, he noted.
When Shin Min visited his stall on Saturday (24 June) morning, they observed a long queue of customers.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
This is despite there being no residential areas nearby.
A 64-year-old customer said he would patronise the stall every Saturday after cycling as the prices are cheap.
He pointed to his toast and egg set with coffee, saying that it cost just S$2.30, and asked,
Where else can you find this sort of price?
A group of nine friends at another table ordered five sets together with an additional toast and two beverages.
The total came up to just S$17, they said, with one person in the group pointing out that one set would cost at least S$5 outside.
They came to the hawker centre upon the recommendation of friends, they said, and would definitely come again.
Unfortunately, beverage prices have been a bane for price-conscious diners recently.
On Thursday (22 June), a customer told Shin Min Daily News that a kopitiam in Ang Mo Kio charged S$0.60 for plain water and S$0.80 for iced water. Kopi-o reportedly goes for S$1.30.
Amazingly, this means their ice water would cost more than a large cup of kopi at Kallang.
Earlier in June, a kopitiam in Eunos was called out for reportedly selling iced water for about S$0.70.
Besides that, other iced drinks like iced teh-o and kopi-o went for as much as S$2, while their hot counterparts were S$1.10 each.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook and Google Maps.
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