Famous Tiong Bahru Five Spice Prawn Fritter Hawker Relocates Stall, Still Operates For Only 2 Hours A Day
Its stallowner Kwok Lin Shen, 77, told 8days.sg that he had to move out as his landlord wanted the unit back. “I only want to rent the stall for half a day, from 12pm to 3pm. The [short] hours are okay for me because I have a lot of customers. But [my landlord] wanted to rent it out to someone else who could take over for the whole day,” he said.
He has since reopened his stall at a new location
After his stall’s closure, Lin Shen had planned to reopen elsewhere or, failing that, simply retire. Fortunately for his regular customers, he has found another stall at Jalan Kukoh Food Centre (also known as Kukoh 21 Food Centre) and has been operating there since Nov 1. “My regular customers can find this place easily, and it’s not hard for them to find parking here,” chortles Lin Shen.
Still open for only two hours a day
Other than his ngoh hiang, the elderly hawker is also famous for his opening hours — an elusive two-hour window from 12pm to 2pm. Back at Zion Riverside, it was because his fellow stall tenant needed the space to sell zi char at night.
Despite renting a stall full-time in Jalan Kukoh now, Lin Shen has kept to his old operating hours. “Because the hawker centre is deserted in the afternoon and at night,” he shares. His pool of regulars is also strong enough to keep him in business despite opening for only a couple of hours, and hawkers like Lin Shen typically spend way more time prepping their food before and after their regular business hours.
He also keeps his prices constant, with a wu xiang platter going for $6 (for one pax) and $12 (for two pax). Customers can also add fried bee hoon for $1. “My regulars know my prices, it has always been like this,” Lin Shen says. “Jalan Kukoh is also a neighbourhood with a lot of senior citizens, so I don’t dare to raise my prices!”
Tiong Bahru Five Spice Prawn Fritter & Fried Bee Hoon is now at #01-09 Kukoh 21 Food Centre, 1 Jln Kukoh, S161001. Open Tues-Sun, 12pm-2pm.
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