Long Queues Remain Even After Hill St Tai Hwa Pork Noodle Removes Cheapest $6 Bowl From Menu
The one-Michelin-starred bak chor mee stall’s lowest-priced option is now $8. “In fact, some of our regulars said it was high time we increased the price," says the hawker’s daughter. However, there’s a valid reason for this change.
One-Michelin-starred Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle (not to be confused with the High Street Tai Wah Pork Noodle chain) on Crawford Lane has been a long-standing fave among bak chor mee aficionados. Recently, there has been some controversy over the removal of their cheapest $6 bowl of bak chor mee - now, customers can only buy bowls starting from $8, all the way up to $15.
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Removed $6 bowl due to multiple GST increases
Previously, workers at the stall told Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News that some customers had complained that the cheapest $6 bowls “lacked flavour”, hence the decision to take it off the menu.
However, Tang Mui Koon, 46, daughter of Hill Street Tai Hwa’s founder, Tang Chay Seng, clarifies with 8days.sg that they removed the $6 option due to the latest GST increase that started in January this year. “We’ve been maintaining the price of our noodles at $6, $8, $10 for eight years since 2016, despite various GST increases and price increases from our vendors. But due to recent global inflation and GST being increased to 9 percent, we are sad that we have to remove our $6 option as we are unable to hold on to this price anymore. And we are unwilling to compromise the quality of our product,” she explains.
She adds that while they had been absorbing the GST increments, the $6 bowl is no longer sustainable to sell.
$6 bowl (top), $8 bowl (bottom)
Compared to the old $6 option, their current most affordable offering - the $8 bowl - comes with extra toppings like pork slices, crispy dried sole fish and pork dumplings. Meanwhile, the $6 bowl came with one meatball, minced pork, pork slices and liver.
“Didn’t personally receive complaints about the price increase”
Though some customers had raised concerns about the price hike to Shin Min’s reporter, Mui Koon says: “We didn’t personally receive any complaints about the price increase. We did have customers who wanted to order the $6 version, but after we explained [why it’s not available], they were quite accepting. In fact, some of our regulars said it was high time we increased the price”.
$8 bowl
No difference in queues since removal of $6 option
Shin Min, however, reported that some customers they interviewed remarked that the $8 bowl might be too expensive for senior retirees: “This would be difficult for seniors with no income to afford,” opined 77-year-old Wu Jinyin.
Is there a chance the $6 bowls will ever return? “I doubt so,” Mui Koon says. She adds that the $6 bak chor mee isn’t the most popular item on the menu anyway. According to her, the majority of their customers order the more generously heaped $8 and $10 options.
Since they removed the $6 offering back in May, the Mui Koon says “there is not much difference” in their queue lengths or times. Currently, the average wait goes up to an hour during peak meal times, she shares. To skip the line, customers can Whatsapp their orders in advance, though this applies to takeaways only.
Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle is at #01-12, 466 Crawford Ln, S190466. Open daily 9am - 8.30pm. For takeaway orders, Whatsapp 9272 3920. More info via their website.
Photos: Hill St Tai Hwa Pork Noodle, Instagram/Clithefoodie
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