The price inflation of hawker food has been the talk of the town recently, with some hawkers forced to increase their prices due to rising costs. While one can find a basic bowl of, say, prawn noodles at a very reasonable average price of $6 in Singapore, you will have to shell out $26 for a similar dish in New York.

Photo: Instagram/ @urbanhawker

Pasir Ris hawker stall Prawnaholic recently made headlines for charging US$18 ($26) for prawn noodles at its Manhattan outlet called Prawnaholic Collections. The New York stall is part of Urban Hawker, an ambitious food enclave that soft-opened on Sept 21 near Times Square.

Conceptualised by Makansutra founder KF Seetoh, Urban Hawker is modelled after Singapore’s well-loved hawker centre and has 11 Singaporean hawker brands setting up shop there.

Photo: Instagram/ @prawnaholic

Prawn mee is $26 when the stall assistant’s monthly salary is $7,200

In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, Prawnaholic’s young hawker-owner Alan Choong reveals that he pays his three stall assistants in New York a monthly salary of up to US$5,000 ($7,200).

“Hawkers have long working hours, and the local laws limit each employee’s working hours so I have two teams working shifts at my stall,” explains the 26-year-old. According to New York’s Department of Labor, the minimum wage in the state is US$15 ($22) per hour.

Photo: Instagram/ @prawnaholicnyc

According to Alan, he also had to charge S$26 for a plate of prawn mee to make up for his high operational costs, which include ingredients and prime area rental. “Food prices here are around this standard,” he says.

Photo: Instagram/ @prawnaholic

In comparison, his prawn noodles at Pasir Ris Hawker Centre start from $7 for the most basic bowl, which comes with noodles, torched Kurobuta pork belly, prawn ball and a prawn. We should all feel so lucky for being able to enjoy wallet-friendly hawker food in Singapore.