A bowl from Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle, Singapore’s only Michelin-starred hawker meal, will now cost at least S$8.
This is after the award-winning stall removed its cheapest bowl of bak chor mee that used to cost S$6.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
A recent photo of the stall, posted on Google Maps in June, shows that it now offers four different prices per bowl — S$8, S$10, S$12 and S$15.
Source: Google Maps
However, older photos of the stall showed that it used to have a S$6 bowl.
An Eatbook review said the S$6 bowl, while already more expensive than most offerings from other bak chor mee stalls, was worth the price.
This is because there was a generous portion of meat and noodles.
A Shin Min Daily News reader told the paper that the stall had “increased its prices” as the cheapest bowl is now S$8.
Two Tai Hwa employees however said to Shin Min that they had actually removed the S$6 bowl as it had fewer ingredients.
The S$6 bowl didn’t have dried sole fish and dumplings, one of them explained.
In comparison, the S$8 option had seven or eight kinds of ingredients, including two meatballs, two dumplings, dried sole fish and seaweed, among other things.
As customers had given feedback that the S$6 bowl “lacked flavour”, they decided to do away with it, they added.
Customers may also chose to order the S$15 bowl to have more ingredients.
However, some customers still hoped that Tai Hwa would bring back the S$6 bowl.
77-year-old Ms Wu Jiayin (transliterated from Mandarin) told Shin Min that the cheapest bowl of S$8 was a bit expensive, especially since it used to be S$6.
While she acknowledged that the S$8 bowl was indeed worth that amount, she felt that it would be difficult for seniors with no income to afford it.
A nearby resident in his 70s, named only as Mr Huang (transliterated from Mandarin), said he understood that the cheapest bowl was priced at S$8 as it had more ingredients.
But as he grows older his appetite becomes smaller, he added, so the S$6 bowl would be enough to fill him up despite having fewer ingredients.
That is why he still hopes to have the S$6 option, he added.
Tai Hwa, which is located at Block 466 Crawford Lane, is known for being one of only two Singapore hawker stalls to receive a coveted Michelin Star.
It has retained its star every year since it first received it in 2016.
Source: Google Maps
After Liao Fan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle lost its star, Tai Hwa now has the distinction of being Singapore’s only Michelin-starred hawker stall.
Also read: Owner Of Tai Hwa Pork Noodle Clarifies It’s The OG Stall With Michelin Star In Lavender
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook and Eatbook.