Anthony Bourdain Helped Dream Up This Mouth-Watering Singapore-Style Food Hall In New York City

If you've ever been to a hawker center in Singapore, you'll know why Anthony Bourdain wanted to set one up in the middle of New York City. It's a foodie's dream. In each center, dozens of street food vendors are dedicated to turning out perfect versions of their star dishes day after day. Diners hold court in the middle, claiming a table, then taking their time to sample dish after dish, choosing their favorites from the competing stalls. It's an orchestrated food event that is not only delicious but reasonably priced, featuring Singapore's signature cultural blend of Chinese, Indian, Malay, and Indonesian flavors. Think crispy roast duck, chewy noodles, flaky rotis, coconut curries, and creamy peanut sauce.

Hawker centers are more like community dining rooms, with games of cards and chess played alongside meals. Vendors tend to be unique, producing one-of-a-kind specialty dishes often passed down from generations. Hawker culture is so integral to Singapore's food heritage that it was placed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity for the country. Inspired by Bourdain's vision, Urban Hawker has set up what it says is the only truly Singapore-style food market in New York City. The Singaporean chefs even flew in to set up shop in the Big Apple.

Urban Hawker is the vision of KF Seetoh, a food entrepreneur and staunch advocate for street food. The initial inspiration came from his friendship with the late Anthony Bourdain. Both shared a love for finding the best local restaurants. "He always lit up when we spoke about the extra-ordinariness of normal folks- their struggles, culture, joys and humble successes," Seetoh wrote about Boudain on his Makansutra website. "I can unreservedly tell you he is a champion of things authentic, the unheralded and the disadvantaged. Which was why, when I first told him I wanted to link everyone up in this rich yet quiet heritage street food culture through our inaugural World Street Food Congress in 2013, he jumped in on supporting us."

As a result, Urban Hawker is a cosmopolitan mix of Southeast Asian flavors mere steps away from Times Square. To get a sense of the flavors, follow Seetoh on Instagram and live vicariously through his foodie adventures, like slurping watermelon slushies served inside the melon itself in Malacca, Malaysia, or biting into a squirty Shanghai-fried xiao long bao dumpling in Singapore. Taking inspiration from these travels, Seetoh handpicked vendors to set up Urban Hawker, promising to teleport diners with their tastebuds. As it says on Urban Hawker's website: "Take a trip to Singapore without the jet lag!" 

Urban Hawker has a bold Singaporean vision in a pricey, midtown location. Does it work? For diners craving a taste of Singapore, the answer is yes, even if the prices are more New York than Singapore. 

So what can you eat? Hainanese Chicken Rice is a staple of every Singapore food center, and Urban Hawker is no exception. Hainan Jones is the place to get it. The vendor serves succulent poached, roasted, or fried chicken served on a bed of aromatic rice with sides of ginger, garlic, and soy. Prawnaholic is where to go for prawn noodle soup, another Singaporean classic, which gives you shrimp broth with chewy egg noodles with a roasted pork twist. Padi D'NYC serves Malay specialties like satay smothered in creamy peanut sauce or rendang, beef slow-cooked in coconut milk, and spices. All typical dishes you'd find in a Singapore hawker center. There is a reason that Singapore consistently ranks among the best destinations in Asia for foodies after all. However, for those willing to fly to satisfy their food cravings, there is simply no substitute for being in Singapore, even if it means enduring one of the longest flights in the world!