Urban Hawker, Brainchild of KF Seetoh, Storms NY Food Scene: Grabs Spots on Prestigious ‘Eater NY’ Lists in Less Than 4 Months

SINGAPORE — Food guru KF Seetoh flexed mightily over social media on Monday (Jan 16) after Urban Hawker was named to not one but two “Best of” lists on the Eater NY website.

“You don’t get to be on that well-regarded Hottest New Restn list nor that respected Essential 38 Restn List from Eater that easily. You can’t invite them for food testing and a rating (just like Makansutra),” Mr KF Seetoh wrote with understandable pride.

KF Seetoh added that Urban Hawker, which had a soft opening on Sept 21, 2022, made it to both lists in less than four months “despite Eater not ranking restaurants with less than 6 mths in the business.”

“I am so frikkin’ proud of our hawkers,” he added. “I salute you all. It is quite a big deal to be loved and acknowledged by New Yorkers.”

The Makansutra founder opened the Singapore-style food court in New York last year, bringing 11 Singapore hawkers to 135 West 50th Street, within walking distance of Times Square in Manhattan.

Urban Hawker is now listed second on Eater’s “The 15 Hottest New Restaurants in Manhattan, January 2023”, which was published earlier this month.

“From conception to completion, this new food court between Times Square and Rockefeller Center took several years — and involved Anthony Bourdain’s input — to try to replicate the feel of a hawker food mall in Singapore. From an eventual collection of vendors, the counters include Hainan Jones (Hainanese chicken, steamed or fried), Mr. Fried Rice (stingray fried rice), and Mamak’s Corner (Indian food as served in Singapore). Oh, and there’s a full bar specializing in gin drinks at the 51st Street entrance,” the caption reads.

On the “The 38 Essential Restaurants in New York City” list, updated on Jan 10, it says that Urban Hawker “may be the city’s liveliest and most unique food court, with a majority of its stalls inspired by — or directly descended from — the street food of Singapore.

Highlights include fragrant Hainanese chicken (either poached or roasted) served with rice and broth at Hainan Jones, coconut-laced cakes and pastries from Lady Wong, and Malaysian-style Indian fare from Mamak’s Corner.”

More recently, the food court was written up in The New York Times.

While critic Pete Wells acknowledged in his Jan 17 piece the areas where Urban Hawker may still improve, he nevertheless called it “a vivid bazaar of Singaporean dishes.”

He also wrote, “What separates Urban Hawker from all the other food halls in New York is that it puts the cooks front and center….

This is a refreshingly humane view of street food, and we have to thank Mr. Seetoh and Mr. Bourdain for it.” /TISG

KF Seetoh on manpower shortage: Singaporeans have been ‘groomed…for higher goals’

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