Attention foodies: 3 of our 9 new Michelin hawkers are located in Our Tanjong Pagar!
Our hawker heroes continue to receive the recognition they deserve: nine new stalls have earned a place in the Michelin Guide 2024. Naturally, we went to review the three that are located in our town.
Share to:
The 2024 edition of the world-famous Michelin Guide was released in May. This year, nine new hawkers have earned the Michelin Bib Gourmand. And you’ll be pleased to know that an impressive one-third of them are located right here in Our Tanjong Pagar.
Partly for the foodies among you – but mainly because we’ll take any excuse to check out new lunch spots – we immediately leapt at the chance to review all three. Here’s what we found.
MARGARET DRIVE SIN KEE CHICKEN RICE
40 Holland Drive, Stall 5, #01-39, 270040
Opens Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00am – 4:00pm
Even in chicken rice-loving Singapore, Sin Kee is a legendary name. They have been serving up delicious plates of this beloved dish to legions of loyal customers since 1978.
Today, numerous stalls islandwide carry the Sin Kee name–a result of efforts by the original owner’s two sons to preserve and expand upon their father’s legacy, including selling the family recipe.
Naturally, the Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition was awarded to the original stall, which is currently run by one of the sons.
While they still keep “Margaret Drive” in the name, the stall itself has moved from Mei Ling Market to its current Holland Drive location – where we went for a very late weekday lunch.
Due to the time of day, there were barely any customers there. But the speed at which our orders were served up gave an indication of how quickly they usually work when queues are long at peak hours.
Well? How was it?
At first glance, it was a very plain plate of chicken rice—snowy-white chicken and nearly pure white rice that didn’t look very oily or particularly flavourful.
The first spoonful of rice immediately shattered that impression. WOW, that rice is good! It’s light and fluffy, each of its perfectly separate grains simply inundated with rich chicken flavour and fragrance.
We’d be happy to eat the rice on its own all day long. But it’s even better with the poached chicken (tender and silky), crunchy cucumber (sliced nice and thin to the perfect bite-size), savoury grated ginger sauce, and a chilli sauce with so much kick that it made even our resident spice-lover sweat and quietly suck air through his teeth – desperately hoping we didn’t notice his urgent need for ice-cold milk.
Do they deserve the Michelin nod?
Definitely–we’d even give them a star!
Did we regret ordering medium instead of large?
Absolutely–an egregious error we plan to rectify very, very soon.
This was pretty much a perfect chicken rice experience. Actually, a few of us thought it would be even better with coriander, but the rest gave them judgemental side-eyes until they retracted that statement.
But hey, make up your own mind – pay Sin Kee a visit!
DELHI LAHORI
Tekka Centre #01-266
Opens daily, 9:00am – 11:00pm
Northern Indian food is amazing. But it’s usually only available at restaurants that have price tags as large as a Bollywood star’s net worth.
If you want to get your Northern Indian food fix more frequently than once a year, let us tell you about Delhi Lahori. They serve Northern Indian-Pakistani food at hawker centre prices, so you can satisfy your spice cravings anytime you want without having to take out an extra bank loan.
Do lower prices mean lower quality? Not according to the Michelin Guide – which honoured Delhi Lahori with a Michelin Bib Gourmand this year.
We recently went to try out some popular items on their large menu.
Well? How was it?
Lifting our food-laden tray, we were immediately smacked in the nose by the wonderful aroma of garlic and butter. We could stand there all day inhaling deep lungfuls of that vampire repellent – but the tray was heavy and we were hungry, so we quickly sat down to our meal.
Our Butter Chicken Set came with two massive pieces of plain naan, lightly charred and irregularly shaped to show they’re handmade with love. We upgraded these to one garlic and one cheese naan. The garlic one was thinner and crispier and, despite its potent aroma, had a pleasantly subtle flavour. The cheese naan was thicker and softer, with a mild cheese flavour. The naans’ restrained flavours meant they paired well with the curries, allowing the latter to play the leading role.
On to the curries, then. The butter chicken was the undisputed main star of the meal. It had a delicious sweet-savoury gravy, further elevated by the smokiness of tandoor-charred, perfectly cooked chunks of succulent chicken. We wanted to ask for its autograph, but alas, we’d already finished eating it.
We also added on a mutton keema which had a nice spicy kick and a good amount of green peas – enough to let you claim you’ve met your veggie quota for the day. 
Do they deserve the Michelin nod?
Of course – not least because they live up to the “hero” part of “hawker hero” by serving food this good at prices this affordable.
One last thing – how are Indian and Pakistani foods different?
Since they’re located so close to each other, their food is actually pretty similar. We imagine they have the same arguments over butter chicken, vindaloo and biryani that we have with Malaysia over nasi lemak, bak kut teh and laksa.
And this gives us a convenient segue to our next Michelin hawker hero – who serves Penang food!
JASON PENANG CUISINE
ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre #01-112, Jalan Bukit Merah, 150006
Opens Wednesday to Sunday, 11:00am – Sold Out and 5:30pm – Sold Out
Just like in Singapore, hawkers in Penang tend to specialise in one dish, or a small handful of closely related dishes. So when we saw that this Michelin-awarded stall serves a wide range of hawker dishes, it was like encountering a “Singaporean” restaurant overseas that offers bak chor mee alongside chendol and nasi padang. Would any of their food be any good at all?
To find out, we braved the scorching noonday sun to grab lunch at Jason Penang Cuisine – our team’s lone Penangite firmly in tow.
When ordering, we felt very encouraged when our Penang-born colleague started chattering away with the auntie behind the counter in that island’s unique Hokkien dialect – confirming that, at the very least, the stall owners are Penang lang.
To conduct a comprehensive review, we ordered the three must-have dishes when visiting Penang: char kuay tiaw, prawn noodles and laksa.
Well? How was it?
Even though we ordered the smallest $4 servings, the portions were very generous both in terms of ingredients as well as overall food volume.
Flavour-wise, the laksa was clearly their best dish. The perfectly balanced, spicy-tangy, fish-based stock was chock-full of fish flakes, crunchy veggies, sweet pineapple and slippery rice noodles. Its umami factor was boosted even further by a big squirt of prawn paste added just before serving. It tastes identical to the laksa we enjoyed in Penang.
Next up, the char kuay tiaw packed a massive amount of wok hei, with a pleasant smoky aftertaste that lingered long after the meal. Its pale colour and mild flavour triggered fond memories for our Penang-born colleague, who recalled enjoying a similar style of char kuay tiaw in his childhood. One thing different is that it was more spice-forward than usual. Uncle Jason may have overestimated the spice tolerance of Singaporeans! 
Finally, we felt that the prawn noodle was closer to the Singapore style – with a more subtle prawn flavour. What we especially loved about this dish were the beautifully tender pork slices and the perfectly cooked, whole hard-boiled egg in it.
Did they deserve the Michelin nod?
For bringing us decently authentic Penang food, we say yes!
Caution: ‘till sold out’ is not an idle flex
We originally planned to visit after the lunch rush to avoid crowds. Luckily one of our teammates was hungry and insisted that we go earlier. They had started packing up before we even finished our food – well ahead of the closing time stated on Google. Go early to avoid disappointment!
We hope you enjoyed our review, and congratulations again to our three new Michelin hawkers. Let’s give them our support so they can continue serving up world-class street food and making Our Tanjong Pagar proud!
