It took us a meandering trek through People’s Park Center to find Nat’s Chicks, located at #01-01. Tip: Don’t even enter the building. Nat’s Chicks is located at the perimeter of the rather dingy mall, facing the State Courts. 

Just like the journey to her shop, Natalie Lee’s journey to hawkerpreneurship is a meandering one. Her dad, Five Star Chicken Rice’s founder Lee Tai Keng, retired in 2010 and sold his business and the brand name to his partner. In 2021, he imparted his recipe to Nat and her brother, Lex. They opened Ah Five Hainanese Chicken Rice at Blk 158 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4, to a flurry of press interest because who doesn’t love a tale about 2nd gen hawkers?

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However, one year into running Ah Five where the petite 31-year-old Nat helmed the chopping station, she left to open her own 32-seater casual restaurant named ‘Nat’s Chicks’ in July. When the 8days.sg team was there, her new signboard was not up yet. (The shop has a secondary sign ‘Cuisine Better Days’. That was Nat’s old brand but now serves as her business motto. Confusing, we know.) Why did she rebrand so soon? Nat says people couldn’t tell from her previous signage that she was selling chicken rice. 

Nope, this is not Ah Five’s 2nd Branch

Why not start a second branch of Ah Five instead of debuting a new brand? Nat candidly shares that “all members in Ah Five Chicken Rice share different business directions” and “everyone  wants to hold on to the [Ah Five] name strongly". Therefore, she decided to “let go of the [Ah Five] name and start afresh.”

One thing is for sure: “Nat’s Chicks is a standalone eatery. Nothing associated with Ah Five Chicken Rice.”  

Interestingly, Nat tells 8days.sg she has not informed her parents that she had set up her own eatery. Why? “I’ll only tell them after I succeed,” she replies.  

Worked at F&B establishments to learn the ropes of running her own restaurant

After leaving Ah Five, Nat worked part-time gigs at a few F&B establishments such as restaurants and club lounges, for a few months. She wanted to learn about the operations and workflow of running a bigger eatery. “I finally settled on the zi char-style method – the ‘table by table’ method where I’ll cook everything for one table before moving to the next order.” 

A former Intellectual Property associate in a smart-lock company, the SUSS (Singapore University of Social Sciences) grad who has a Masters in Intellectual Property Management, is determinedly passionate about the hawker trade. “After being a hawker for one year [back at Ah Five], I ‘confirm’ have the passion for [going full-time into] this. Because this chicken rice is the taste I remember from my childhood days; it’s what my father cooked for us.” She is pragmatic enough to offer both traditional Hainanese fare alongside new-fangled dishes. “My aim is to let both traditional chicken rice and innovative dishes co-exist, as well as provide a cosy environment which is more hygienic: from kitchen preparation, equipment storage, to offering al fresco and air-conditioned seating for my customers.”  

She took over a former Yakiniku joint, and inherited some equipment and furniture which helped to cut down her start-up cost to $10,000.

Works from 7am to 11pm daily

She begins her day at 7am to buy fresh ingredients from wet markets, and ends as late as 11pm after washing up. “To be a boss in F&B is very difficult because there are many factors to consider, from rent, inflation of costs, manpower etc,” says Nat, who works seven days a week. She largely runs the business single-handedly, from taking orders, running to the kitchen to chop and cook, and serving and clearing tables. She is unmarried but has a boyfriend. 

But this millennial hawkerpreneur is not giving up and running back to a secure IP job, even though that can always be her back-up plan. She currently hires a helper just for the lunch peak period to run front-of-house. Once her business stabilises, she is open to hiring a full-time worker or even going into a partnership. 

The menu

There’s traditional fare like chicken rice, chicken porridge, veggies and Hainanese Chai Poh Egg. Then there’s her modern ‘Nat’s Chick’s & Chill’ menu – a pun on Netflix & Chill – with Hainanese Chicken Fries, Prata Roll, Taco and Truffle Fries (she also offers truffle onsen egg with her chicken rice.)

Traditional Kampung Chicken Rice, $5 - $14 

Nat only uses kampong chicken, which costs double the regular bird and has a deeper yellow hue. Our $10 portion for one pax came with chicken thigh which is tender enough, though we couldn’t find much of that coveted 'jelly' collagen between the skin and meat. (Nat ran back to the kitchen to find us a slice that showed a sliver of jelly.) We think it's because the cold bath we spotted her using to dunk the freshly-cooked chook lacked ice to cool the chicken down quickly to develop that yummy jelly.

It’s served with a bowl of soup and a plate of rice that was under-flavoured; it could definitely use more chicken fat and aromatics. We like the sweet-savoury soy sauce and sesame oil mix that she sloshes over the chicken liberally, which also helps to flavour the rice a little. The highlight here: Nat’s freshly-made ginger sauce and fiery chilli sauce, made with both regular chillies and chilli padi, ginger, garlic, and lime juice. Punchy, shiok, and again, they helped uplift the rice.

Perhaps it’s the downtown location and higher rent for the shop, but we thought our portion of chicken rice was rather modest for its price.

Chai Poi Egg, $12 (8 DAYS PICK!)

Our favourite dish here, Nat uses preserved radish – commonly known as chai poh or chai poi in her native Hainanese – which she imports directly from Hainan island after trying some on a trip to the motherland. 

It is chunky, juicy and packed with salty-sweet umami. We found ourselves craving for more after nibbling a sample. She roughly chops it up to add to three beaten eggs and fried shallots to fry up a yummy omelette. Our favourite parts are the caramelised chai poh. Comfort food at its best. 

Hainanese Chicken Fries, $10 

Frozen fries are fried upon order, then tossed with her shiok chilli sauce, chopped coriander, chicken sauce, fried garlic and shallot bits. The fries are topped with shredded chicken breast seasoned in the remaining sauce. 

Though slightly soggy, they make a good sharing snack and can be quite addictive. It’s too bad Nat doesn’t serve beer, though she recommends pairing it with her range of cold brewed Lychee, Passionfruit and Strawberry tea from Gryphon Tea Co.

Prata Roll, $10

Nat fries an omelette, then tops it with a frozen prata and flips it expertly. Shredded chicken breast tossed in her soy sauce and sesame mix is added to make a roll that is pan-fried to a crispy crust. Each order comes with two rather filling rolls, chopped up for sharing, and with chicken rice chilli. It’s a little oily for us and quite filling, for those who want it as a meal instead of chicken rice.

Bottom line

We appreciate Nat’s effort to forge her own path by marrying traditional chicken rice with more innovative dishes. However, she might have bitten off more than she can chew with the numerous new-fangled dishes as she’s running her eatery solo most of the time. The food, while decent, is hit or miss. But it’s early days still. Once she sorts out her teething issues, we’ll return for that yummy chai poh omelette and also to give her chicken rice another shot.

Nat’s Chicks is at #01-01 People’s Park Center, 101 Upper Cross St, S058357. Open daily 11.30am-9pm. More info via Instagram and Facebook.

Photos: Dillon Tan.

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