Fatty Ox Hong Kong Kitchen Hawker Stall, Popular For Its Beef Brisket Noodles, Opens 30-Seat Restaurant In Chinatown
Burrowed in a corner stall of Chinatown Complex Food Centre is Fatty Ox Hong Kong Kitchen, well-loved for its Hong Kong-style roast meats and soy sauce chicken, served with springy egg noodles. Demand for 69-year-old Hong Kong-born hawker Cheung Sun Kwai’s grub is so high that many items – especially its signature braised beef brisket and tendon noodles – often sell out before its early afternoon closing time, with consistent 20 minute-long queues. The brand had its beginnings as a stall in a shophouse named Fatty Ox Hong Kong Roast Duck in the 1980s.
Just last month, it opened a standalone 30-seater restaurant, across the street from their stall at Chinatown Complex Food Centre. It occupies the lower level of a shophouse unit and is their first proper restaurant, with air-conditioning and crockery (the hawker stall uses disposable plates). With fancier surroundings come higher prices – for example, it costs $8.50 for a plate of Beef Brisket Noodles here, versus $5 at the hawker centre. But at least there are no queues here — for now.
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HK-born Towkay first came to Singapore in the ’80s
Chef Cheung began his culinary career in his teenage years working at various F&B establishments in Hong Kong, before finding his first restaurant job at Hong Kong chain Mayflower Restaurant. He relocated to Singapore in the ’80s to work when the chain opened an outpost here.
He left the restaurant group after two years and opened his own hawker stall on Pagoda Street in Chinatown, where he hawked HK-style roast meats under the moniker Fatty Ox Hong Kong Roast Duck in 1986. He upgraded it into a no-frills “family-style zi char eatery” (which was not air-conditioned) at Murray Street in the early ’90s till 2009, when their landlord sold off the shophouse it was in.
Fatty Ox’s convoluted history, including a slight name change
As the veteran chef and his wife were getting on in their years, they decided to streamline their menu and reopen as a hawker outfit: first at North Bridge Road for a brief stint (closing after six months as “traffic wasn’t what they expected there”) then in 2011 at Chinatown Complex Food Centre as Fatty Ox Hong Kong Kitchen, serving its now famed noodle dishes. “There wasn’t any particular reason for the change in name – I think my dad just wanted to signify that it was another new beginning,” says Cheung’s son (who works full-time in the family’s biz but declined to be named) on the rebranding.
New restaurant open for both lunch and dinner service
Plans for outlet number two began in 2021, after the younger Cheung joined his father’s business full-time (he was previously working as a graphic designer). “One thing I noticed is that many new customers tend to come to our stall a bit later, and are usually disappointed as they can’t try our signature dishes. Only our regulars know that the beef brisket noodles, for example, usually sell out by 11am,” he explains.
Tourists were also put off by the stall’s inaccessible location. “After a recent food blogger’s (Mark Wiens) video, many tourists came looking for us – and they gave us feedback that our stall was difficult to find,” he adds. Thus, the hope is that the new restaurant is more accessible both in terms of its street-level visibility and longer opening hours.
Management for the standalone eatery remains “within the family” – Cheung’s son and brother-in-law manage daily operations, including cooking. Meanwhile, chef Cheung and his wife continue to run the original hawker centre stall. There were no external investors for the minimally-decorated new outlet, which cost “just under $100K” to set up.
No GST or service charge, but prices slightly higher
While offerings at both Fatty Ox Hong Kong Kitchen outlets are similar, expect to fork out more at the standalone self-service eatery (which doesn’t charge GST or for service). “We’re still trying to keep our food as affordable as we can – these price adjustments are really just for the overheads at the new location,” declares junior Cheung. Noodle options range from $6 to $8.50 here, versus $4 to $6 at the hawker stall.
A few new dishes on the menu
A la carte meat options are pricier here too: a Roast Duck costs $48 per bird here, compared to $40 at Chinatown Complex; while the Soy Sauce Chicken costs $30, up from $24. The Honey Glazed Char Siew goes for $48 per kg, versus $40 at dad’s HQ stall. New dishes include the Spicy Chilli Oil Wontons ($7.50) and Crispy Pork Shrimp Rolls ($6), which are good for sharing.
The details
Fatty Ox Hong Kong Kitchen’s new outlet is at 50 Smith St, S058958. Tel: 9622-3062. Open daily except Mon 11.30am – 2.30pm; 5.30pm – 8.30pm. More info via Facebook & Instagram.
Fatty Ox Hong Kong Kitchen’s original stall is at #02-84 Chinatown Complex Food Centre, 335 Smith St, S050335. Tel 9638-5345. Open Wed – Sun 7.30am – 2.30pm. Delivery via Foodpanda.
Photos: Fatty Ox Hong Kong Kitchen, Bryan Fang
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