At just S$2 ($1.42), Chan Hon Meng’s chicken rice dish has become the cheapest Michelin-star meal, and can now be found in two locations in Singapore.
Singapore’s Liao Fan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle is the iconic dish that it was originally found and sold at the Malaysian-born chef Hawker Chan’s food stall.
Last year, chef Chan partnered with Hersing Culinary to open Lian Fan Hawker Chan, a dine-in restaurant located meters away from Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre-based stall in Singapore.
After achieving such rave reviews worldwide for his dish, alongside high customer demand, Meng created a quick-service restaurant as a result of his groundbreaking success and induction into Singapore’s Michelin Guide in July 2016.
“I didn’t know anything about the Michelin Guide, but I knew it was for a very ‘high’ type of food,” admits Meng, but has since gone onto learning all he needs to know to live up to such acclaimed status in the culinary world.
Just like the experience at his stall, tourists and locals alike will wait in line for hours at his restaurant to get their hands on his chicken rice dish.
The new expansion does seat 80 diners, but to get your hands on a takeaway would mean joining the line that spills out onto the sidewalk.
“The customers here [at Hawker Chan] are a bit more demanding,” Meng tells CNN. “Upstairs [at the stall], they will just stand there and wait. They are more patient.”
What is it exactly that they are waiting for? The menu in both locations includes the char siew noodles, pork rib hor fun and Meng’s legendary Cantonese-style soya sauce chicken rice.
You will get a different dining experience, however, depending on which location you choose. Hawker Chan is air-conditioned, has up-to-date space, and new dishes such as Thai-style tofu and wonton soup.
You will also see the man of the hour himself, with the 52-year-old overseeing the new restaurant and cooking his in-demand dishes.
Since they are so in demand as well, the dishes are more expensive in the restaurant, with the chicken rice dish being marked at S$3.80. Meng explains that the increase in cost is to cover the overhead expenses.
While Hawker Chan missed out on Singapore’s 2017 Michelin Guide, each meal at the restaurant will be less than S$4 which, for a Michelin credited restaurant, is a true luxury.