Singapore — Here’s something to be proud about today: there are twelve new entries on Michelin’s Bib Gourmand selection for the country for 2021, nine of which are hawkers.
According to Mr Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the MICHELIN Guides, the inclusion of hawker stalls in the selection does not come as a surprise.
He praised Singapore’s hawkers, saying that “their tenacity to brave through these uncertain times has been a source of strength to everyone and this uniquely Singapore’s hawker culture a source of pride to the nation. Now, they are inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Culture List.”
The new entrants to the selection mean that Singapore now has a total of 69 restaurants featured in the 2021 edition of the MICHELIN Guide Singapore, which is eleven more than 2019’s count.
The 69 restaurants in the guide are a combination of 21 restaurants, 42 hawker stalls and 6 street food eateries. The guide says these ‘front a range of cuisines reflective of Singapore’s identity as a cultural melting pot with a unique culinary heritage and tradition.’
The prestigious guide celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. According to Michelin, “The Bib Gourmand category was created in 1997 and granted by MICHELIN’s inspectors to the addresses that offer diners very good value for money, with a complete and high-quality menu priced at a maximum of SG$45.”
Among the new entries this year, nine are hawker stalls and three are restaurants.
The hawker stalls are as follows:
- Fei Fei Roasted Noodle and Heng Heng Cooked Food in Yuhua Village Market and Food Centre;
- Jian Bo Tiong Bahru Shui Kueh and Soh Kee Cooked Food in Jurong West 505 Market & Food Centre;
- Lai Heng Handmade Teochew Kueh (Yuhua Market & Hawker Centre),
- Hainan Zi (Chong Pang Market and Food Centre),
- Joo Siah Bak Koot Teh (Kai Xiang Food Centre),
- Jun Yuan House Of Fish (Old Airport Road Food Centre), and
- Kwang Kee Teochew Fish Porridge (Newton Food Centre).
As for the restaurants, they are Da Shi Jia Big Prawn Mee (Killiney), Kotuwa (Jalan Besar), and The Coconut Club (Ann Siang).
The announcement to the twelve additions to the Michelin Guide reads, “The selection, together with the recent addition of Singapore’s street food on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Culture Heritage of Humanity in 2020, is a clear recognition of the city-state’s commitment to protect and promote hawker culture for future generations.”
One of the restaurants on the list, The Coconut Club, said its team was “deeply encouraged” at being included in the Bib Gourmand selection, and said they will “continue to work through these hard times.”
/TISG
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