Ex-Cicheti Chef Serves $7.80 Spaghetti Carbonara With Crispy Pork Lard At Hip Hawker Stall In Bukit Merah

Boon Ping and Steven are longtime pals who have known each other since primary school. The former works in the fire protection system industry and the latter, kitchen equipment. Both frequent beer gardens, where they met the master tenant of Maddox Canteen Bar.

“I spent a lot of time at The Bullion [a hawker bar at East Coast Road] and the master tenant told me they were setting up Maddox and asked if I wanted to take up a stall here. [Steven and I] have always wanted to open an F&B establishment, so we asked about the rental and realised it’s quite doable,” explains Boon Ping. “The main hurdle was finding a chef as both of us have day jobs.” Though they were present at our shoot, both declined to be photographed.

Last November, the master tenant introduced them to Cheng Kai, who was also looking to start his own biz. The SHATEC-trained chef has worked at Grand Hyatt Singapore, Michelangelo’s and most recently, The Cicheti Group, which owns a few buzzy Italian restaurants. He has been with the restaurant group since 2015 and was part of the opening team for popular pasta joint Bar Cicheti as well as sous chef at the now-defunct Caffe Cicheti. His longest stint was with the flagship Cicheti restaurant on Kandahar Street, where he specialised in pastas for two years. Cheng Kai left the company in February to open Eightisfy Western.

The chef tells us keeping the prices affordable at the stall has been quite challenging. “At Cicheti, we had a mushroom gnocchi dish that requires making a puree of mushroom with truffle paste, etc. I gotta simplify things here,” shares the chef, who whips up a simpler aglio olio with pan-fried mushrooms at the new stall. Prior to meeting his biz partners, Cheng Kai was already planning to leave Cicheti to start his own business. “I just wanted to try something new. I was looking at stalls even before I was introduced to them [Boon Ping and Steven].”

“We decided to serve Western food after getting to know CK [what they call Cheng Kai] and finding out he’s good at pastas and Western food. It’s also a good fit for a canteen, as we need food that is fast, especially for the lunch crowd,” says Steven.

The three partners oversee different functions – Boon Ping is in charge of marketing, Steven handles operations and Cheng Kai helms the kitchen with two assistants.

Despite its rather ulu location, the canteen transforms into an IG-worthy spot in the evening. The alfresco area is strung with pretty fairy lights, while the interior exudes a chic dose of nostalgia with black and white flooring, geometric print tables and rattan chairs.

The first-time hawkers admit the turnout has not met their expectations yet. “It’s not that crowded yet and we’re trying to do our own promotions to see how we can draw a drinking crowd here. We’re very sure that we can get there [with the recent easing of restrictions] as more people return to the office,” says Boon Ping.

They also hope to open more stalls in future, though Boon Ping and Steven have no intention of leaving their day jobs. “First, we want to get this place up and running. Then we can look into hiring more people to run the ship here, while the three of us move into a more advisory role,” shares Steven.

So, what makes their food reminiscent of the ’80s? Big portions at reasonable prices, according to Boon Ping. “Served with baked beans, coleslaw and fries. There were no other side dish options back then,” adds Steven.

The menu features typical kopitiam Western fare like chicken cutlet, pork chop and fish and chips with a side of fries or rice, coleslaw and baked beans from $6.80. Pastas include carbonara, mushroom aglio olio and tomato ragu pasta, also starting from $6.80. For the drinking crowd, there’s a signature Eightisfy platter, which features three meats, sausages, spam fries, onion rings and fries for $38, which can happily feed four.

Tasty kopitiam-style chicken chop that hits all the right notes – the griddled-seared butterflied chicken boasts crispy skin and tender thigh meat that is well-seasoned from an overnight dry rub marinade.

Fiery and full-bodied, Cheng Kai makes a superb black pepper sauce from freshly ground peppercorns and demi-glace (a rich brown sauce used in French cuisine). You’ll want to mop up every last drop of the moreish condiment with your chook and fries. The humble coleslaw is well done, too. Fresh, crunchy cabbage and carrot tossed in a tangy dressing provides a refreshing finish to the deeply savoury main.

Cheng Kai opts for the breaded version of fried fish (as opposed to a smooth batter) as it’s more “old school”. Two pieces of panko-coated dory deliver a delicious crunch, balancing the moist flakes of the semi-fatty fish. Chips are the usual frozen shoestring type – decently crispy, but nothing to shout about.

Appearance outshines flavour in this beautifully plated dish. The spaghetti, which has been parboiled to shorten the cooking time, was too soft. There’s a decent silky coating from the gooey-yolked onsen egg, but the feeble cream sauce could do with more seasoning – we missed the umami saltiness of parmesan cheese and warmth from cracked black pepper. However, we enjoyed the combination (and very generous sprinkle) of crispy bacon with lard bits (the type you’ll find in local dishes like char kway teow), which added a pleasant smokiness – the lard lent a familiar richness to the dish as well.

Cheng Kai jokingly calls this carbonara “Singapore-style”, acknowledging that the authentic Italian version uses only eggs not cream. Understandable, since traditional recipes call for ingredients that are too expensive to keep prices hawker-friendly: such as quality parmesan cheese (instead of using cream, a large amount of grated parmesan is whisked with raw eggs to create the rich, glossy carbonara sauce) and guanciale (Italian cured pork cheek) versus the regular cheaper bacon used in this hawker dish.

This vegetarian-friendly pasta fared slightly better – the slightly limp spaghetti is not overly greasy and there’s a good ratio of assorted mushrooms to pasta to live up to the stall’s value-for-money motto.

A hearty combo that will go well with your TGIF beers on tap from the canteen’s bar. You get full portions of a grilled chicken, pork chop and chicken cutlet, chicken sausages, spam fries, onion rings and fries in this good-value set. The accompanying dips – black pepper (the same one served with our chicken chop) and a garlic sauce made with fresh cloves and rich chicken gravy – are pretty tasty too.

Affordable and hearty kopitiam-style western fare in a hidden hipster spot great for kicking back with a beer. We came to sample pastas from the ex-Cicheti chef, but were more impressed by the well-executed chicken chop and fish and chips instead. We look forward to more elevated pasta dishes once the chef acclimates to the hawker trade.

Eightisfy Western is at Maddox Canteen Bar, 3752 Bukit Merah Central, S159848. Open daily except Sun, 11am-2.30pm & 5pm-9pm. Facebook

Photos: Alvin Teo

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