Three Bib Gourmand stalls see spike in Friday sales

SINGAPORE — Hawker stalls Zai Shun Curry Fish Head, Ah Er Soup at ABC Brickworks Market and New Lucky Claypot Rice saw a spike in sales on Friday (June 23), a day after they were awarded the Michelin Guide Singapore’s Bib Gourmand.

They were among nine new entrants who made it to the 2017 list. Thirty-eight eateries are featured this year, up from 34 in the inaugural edition last year.

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Mr Ong Cheng Kee, the owner of Zai Shun Curry Fish Head, said he served about 50 more customers during Friday’s lunchtime, a “10 per cent” increase from a typical day during this period.

His stall is located at a coffee shop at Blk 253 Jurong East Street 24. During the two hours when TODAY was there, the coffee shop, which has about 40 tables of varying sizes, was about 85 to 90 per cent full, with the seats occupied mainly by Mr Ong’s customers.

Zai Shun Curry Fish Head, which has been in business for 38 years, is usually open from 7am to 3pm daily, except on Wednesdays.

“I am very happy. Being on the Bib Gourmand list gives me confidence to do even better,” said Mr Ong, 58. He only found out about the news after spotting people trying to snap photos of his stall on Thursday.

One of his regular customers is Mr Teo Boon Tiong, a 45-year-old sales director who has been visiting the stall once or twice a month, on average, for over 10 years.

“We came down about half an hour earlier than usual to avoid the crowd because of the Michelin award on Thursday. But it’s still very crowded either way,” added Mr Teo.

Over at Ah Er Soup stall at ABC Brickworks Food Centre, the food had completely sold out by 12.55pm on Friday.

The stall is open from 11am to 2pm, and 5pm to 8pm, on weekdays, as well as from 5pm to 8pm on Sundays and public holidays.

The ABC Brickworks’ outlet sells an average of 300 bowls of soup per day.

Mr Ma Pit San, 59, a former chef and owner of the Ah Er Soup franchise, said he observed a “20 to 30 per cent” spike in sales on Friday.

Apart from this outlet, the business, which started six years ago, has seven other stalls in Singapore.

Assistant manager Harold Lim Teck Hee, 35, said: “I’m here with my colleague for lunch because we (read in the papers) about the Michelin’s Bib Gourmand list. So we came here ... just want to try and see if there are a lot of people and how nice it really is.”

At New Lucky Claypot Rice, about 45 customers had ordered their dishes when TODAY visited the stall at Holland Drive Market & Food Centre around noon.

The stall is usually open from 11am to 1pm, and 5pm to 8.30pm, daily except on Wednesdays.

Student Lynn Hong, 17, made a special trip to the stall for lunch with her parents after reading about the Bib Gourmand list in the newspapers on Friday morning.

“We’ve had it before and was pleasantly surprised to find it on the list, so we came back again,” said Ms Hong, who waited for 30 minutes to be served.

Mr Edmund Choong, the 35-year-old son of the stall owner, said the stall received 20 per cent more customers, and sold “an additional five to 10kg of rice” during lunchtime on Friday.

In an earlier interview with TODAY, Mr Choong said the stall had ordered an additional “10kg to 20kg” each of rice and chicken meat in anticipation of an increase in demand on Friday.

Based on Friday’s turnout, Mr Choong said he would continue to order additional supplies every Friday and on weekends to cope with the demand.

The other new entrants on this year’s Bib Gourmand list are European restaurant Bar-Roque Grill, Japanese eateries Man Man, Shirokane Tori-Tama and Tsuta (Pacific Plaza), as well as Hawker Chan at 78 Smith Street.

Eateries that have been dropped out of the 2017 list are noodle shop Fishball Story, Indonesian stall Wedang, zi char restaurant JB Ah Meng Kitchen, Alaturka Mediterranean and Turkish Restaurant, and Malay/Indonesian restaurant Hjh Maimunah.

The 2017 Michelin guide Singapore will be announced on June 29.