Ready To Line Up For A Meal?
That is the Halal Guys food cart – and that’s a line that goes for two blocks, with people patiently waiting for a meal. I will be reviewing my meal there soon, but did you know that New York City has more than 8,000 street carts like that one?
I am telling you this because New York also has a number of “food malls”, where multiple restaurants share a space and in this case, a special cuisine as well!
Welcome To Urban Hawker!
Urban Hawker takes up part of a city block, offering up more than a dozen mini-restaurants that serve Singaporean-inspired dishes from Singapore of course as well as Malaysia, China, and India.
It’s located on W. 50th between 6th and 7th avenues in midtown Manhattan, and having been to Singapore, I wanted to see what was on offer…which landed me here:
Welcome To “Mr. Fried Rice!”
I love fried rice, and when I saw what Mr. Fried Rice was offering, I was hooked. Here are a few options to choose from:
This is a great way to jump into their cuisine: it’s combo fried rice basically, with lots of veggies, protein and spices…but then they get much more interesting:
I was set to try this one first: I love coffee, I love pork and this looked interesting – until I saw this!
Crispy Fish Fried Rice – With “Black Monster” Sauce!
I looked up what a “black monster” sauce might entail, and I’m expecting garlic, ginger and soy, which is thickened a bit.
So that’s what I ordered. You can eat there at one of the standing counters or a table, but I took my food home and here’s how it presented itself:
My Review? Delicious!
The “black monster sauce” is slightly spicy with a tangy, slightly sweet soy sauce glaze, and the fish is nicely cooked, crisp, and plentiful.
As you saw, they give you the sauce on the side and the only thing I would do differently is ask for an extra container of it – it’s terrific on the fried rice, which is also very well seasoned and flavorful! It’s served on a small bed of fresh spinach and leaf lettuce.
I really enjoyed the dish, as well as the very reasonable price – very filling and satisfying – so I had to go back!
“Prawn Paste Chicken!
Yep, that has “me” written all over it! Still, I went a different route and bought this:
Pork Chop Fried Rice!
Any “pork fried rice” dish is heaven to me, so I went this version, served with a tangy sweet orange sauce. As with my previous visit, I took the food home before eating – here’s what I got:
The pork was still moist, and the sauce really brought it all together…another example of a very filling and inexpensive meal…
Here is the entire menu from Mr. Fried Rice, and note that each dish has options for adding things, getting a smaller portion etc – all at very reasonable prices for the size of the dish….and take a look at lucky #7:
Eater New York had a terrific report on all of the restaurants at Urban Hawker, and here’s what they said about #7 – BBQ Stingray Fried Rice, so now I have to go back for this!
Stingray fried rice at Mr. Fried Rice
EaterNY wrote:
One stall, Mr. Fried Rice, specializes in multiple forms of the dish like tom yum and salmon teriyaki. The stingray fried rice ($17), though, was one of the best dishes we tried and very Singaporean — a fish wing heavily coated with a dark paste that burst with sour, salty, sweet, and fishy flavors.
Count me in! All of the dishes I’ve tried so far are terrific and it’s a great, filling meal for a good price! I will go back for more and review them as well…
I love rice, and that means Risotto of course and here’s proof:
I took part in a cooking class via zoom and made black truffle risotto – click here for the recipe!
And here’s something to remember: rice can also be a dessert!
That’s my wife Alex, reacting to an incredible rice pudding dish from Paris…see it here!
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Categories: Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Eat This!, Food, Food Travel, Food Writing, Recipes, Restaurants, Travel, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
Am glad you are so enjoying street food ‘Singapore style’ in New York! One criticism – in Singapore one most certainly does not get that much rice on the plate 🙂 ! I first experienced these dishes in Singapore in 1959 methinks and, at first, was somewhat ‘afraid’ for health reasons – totally unnecessarily > in my 30-odd trips I have never had a gyppy tummy in SE Asia but managed a few in both Europe and the States 🙂 ! Actually most of the street food in Singapore has been in various satay forms with a variety of sauces . . . absolutely mouth-watering!
it all looks sooooo good that I wouldn’t know where to begin, I guess I’d just have to keep going back to try new things !
I like the look of all of that food, but I would never queue for two blocks for anything! 😊
Best wishes, Pete.
The name sucks you in, and the flavor obviously got you back!