First Street Teochew Fish Soup Hawkers Ink Lucrative Deal With BreadTalk Group

Aaron (middle in pic), along with brother Desmond (left), 39, and father William, 64, who founded the biz in 1988, have received a sizeable payout, plus shares from the BreadTalk folks. How much exactly? Well, we know the figure but aren’t permitted by BreadTalk to publish it — let's just say it’s pretty impressive and perhaps enough to buy two smallish suburban condominium units. Or a terrace house with a 99-year leasehold in an even quieter neighbourhood. We'll leave you to guess how small and which suburb. The BreadTalk group owns multiple F&B concepts, including Food Republic and Din Tai Fung.

The hawkers will still be very much involved in the business, helping to train cooks and oversee the cooking (even jumping behind the stove when necessary) and expansion of the First Street brand for the foreseeable future.

Desmond shares: "I hope to bring authentic Teochew Fish Soup to more young people. I don’t want the Teochew hawker culture to get lost over the years. My dad started the business but I grew up with fish — it's in my blood. We hope to make this small Teochew family business a household name."

The first new outlet under the partnership is a stall at Food Republic in BreadTalk IHQ at Tai Seng. It’ll open on 11 November, Wednesday. Of course, it’s air-conditioned and sleeker here, unlike the humble Upper Serangoon flagship stall in a humid kopitiam, where the average queue time is 45 minutes. A TV screen at Food Republic plays a video clip of the fish soup hawkers on the loop. In case you’re wondering, the original stall will remain open — a new cook has been installed there, with the three hawkers toggling between both outlets. Good news for fans of their food: prices at the snazzier Food Republic stall are same as the kopitiam’s, with a bowl of Batang (Mackerel) Fish Soup from $6, Garoupa $9 and Pomfret from $11. There’ll also be a 15 percent opening discount off all bowls of batang fish soup at the new branch from 14 to 27 November.

Chatty founder William told us during one of our previous visits to the Serangoon stall: “[BreadTalk’s founder and chairman] George Quek and I came from the same kampong when we were young. He likes my fish soup and has been persuading me to expand [the biz] for some time already!” Interestingly, the senior Mr Lim used to be a baker many moons ago, specialising in assorted breads like buns and pastries in the now-defunct Thomson Yaohan’s bakery before he became a hawker. Negotiations for the current deal took over a year, initially delayed in part by the chaos caused by the pandemic. But things are definitely off to a good start now.

Adds William: "I have known George (Quek) and key management staff at BreadTalk Group for over 20 years. I decided to partner them because I feel they can help me to make Teochew fish soup a dish that everyone knows and enjoys. George is a fellow Teochew and he shares my passion for Teochew cuisine and sharing Teochew culture with the youths of today."

There are plans to open more First Street Teochew Fish Soup outlets next year at other Food Republic venues — possibly at Nex and Ion Orchard — but nothing has been confirmed at this point. Meanwhile, you can perhaps expect to see Aaron, Desmond and dad as they flit between the two outlets.

Shares William: "Slicing, deboning and skinning fish requires skill and precision, so we have been involved in the recruitment and selection process to train cooks months before the opening of First Street Teochew Fish Soup at BreadTalk IHQ. For now, my sons and I still operate at both locations, so we can ensure the quality is the same or even better than before.

The most important are our customers — if they try it once and it isn’t the same taste, they won’t come back. So, we will not open more stalls until we are sure that we can maintain the quality."

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[COUNTING DOWN: 3 DAYS] We are excited to announce that our second outlet is opening on 11 November 2020 at Food Republic @ BreadTalk IHQ! Do you know what makes our signature clear broth so addictive? We simmer a delightful blend of chicken, pork and fish bones for a minimum of 4 hours before filtering, leaving behind a clear, fresh and silky collagen-rich broth. One of our most well-kept secrets, you’ve got to try it for yourself! Stand a chance to win attractive dining vouchers when you dine in on our opening day, see you then! #firststreetfishsoup ⁣ ⁣ P/S Our Serangoon outlet will be closed on 11 Nov as our team will be busy at BreadTalk IHQ!

A post shared by First Street Teochew Fish Soup (@firststreetfishsoup) on Nov 8, 2020 at 4:44am PST

From the brand’s newly created Instagram account (likely handled by BreadTalk executives), it appears that the fish soup moving forward will look same-ish as the bowls at the original stall.

We’re happy for the amiable, easygoing hawkers and their newfound success. But for us, does it mean we no longer have to wait forever in line with the presence of these new stalls? And would the clear, tasty soup brewed with mackerel bones, chicken bones, pork bones, mang kwang (jicama root), ti poh (dried flat fish), blue ginger, and “a bit of pig skin”, plus the impeccably fresh sliced fish (garoupa is our current fave) remain as delicious? We sure hope so.

First Street Teochew Fish Soup’s second outlet is at Food Republic @ BreadTalk IHQ, #01-06/07/08 BreadTalk IHQ, Tai Seng St, S534013. Open daily 10am to 8pm.​​​​​​​https://foodrepublic.com.sg/food-republic-outlets/food-republic-breadtalk-ihq/

Selected photos: Kelvin Chia/8 Days

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