This Sin Huat Eating House hawker has strict rules for ordering his famous crab bee hoon
“If you’re eating duck rice (from the neighbouring stall), I’m not cooking for you,” says eccentric hawker Danny Lee, whose notoriously pricey Geylang zi char stall has no menu and unwritten rules.
Sin Huat Eating House’s owner Danny Lee serves crab bee hoon at his hawker stall. (Photo: Sin Huat Eating House)
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Gritty seafood stall Sin Huat Eating House’s chef-owner Danny Lee has long been known for doing things his way.
In a 2007 review, food blog ieatishootipost dubbed him a “food Nazi” for his notoriously particular approach to what diners can – and cannot – eat if they want to enjoy his famous crab bee hoon, prawns and more. The moniker was also referenced by food blogger Johor Kaki in 2020.
The straight-talking Lee takes orders himself, often rattling off a list of seafood he thinks you should get, before cooking every dish single-handedly. He has also been known to refuse to serve customers who order food from the other stalls in his Geylang kopitiam.
8days Eat host Damian Lim experienced one of Lee’s unwritten rules firsthand when the 21-year-old recently visited the Michelin Bib Gourmand-recognised joint. Lim, a third-generation hawker behind Peranakan food business Nya Nya, was there to try Sin Huat’s popular but pricey crab bee hoon.
But before taking his order, Lee had an important question.
“Are you eating duck rice?” he asked, referring to the neighbouring stall, Sean Kee Duck Rice.
When Lim said no and asked why, Lee replied: “If you’re eating duck rice, I’m not cooking for you.”
WHY THE STRICT RULE?
“I have to slaughter and cook the crabs. Once it’s done, if you’re already full, you might not be able to eat the crab bee hoon,” Lee explained while busying himself at the stove.
His reasoning echoes what he told food blog ieatishootipost in an earlier interview: Some customers would fill up on food from neighbouring stalls while waiting for their seafood, only to cancel their orders with him later.
8days.sg also previously heard of a customer who brought along curry puffs to snack on while waiting for Sin Huat’s crab bee hoon. When Lee spotted them eating the pastries, he reportedly refused to serve them their order.
RUNNING THE ENTIRE KOPITIAM
Lee’s eponymous seafood joint, Sin Huat Seafood Restaurant, sits alongside the popular Sean Kee Duck Rice and Kin Turtle Soup. He rents out the stalls to the two other vendors in the space.
SEAN KEE’S LONG HISTORY
Sean Kee Duck Rice has operated at Sin Huat Eating House since 1979. The family expanded to the CBD in 2020 with modern duck rice eatery Ya Lor at Guoco Tower, though that outlet has since closed, leaving the original Geylang stall as its sole location.
Given Lee’s unwritten rules, however, don’t expect to sample dishes from all three stalls in the coffeeshop in one go. Sean Kee’s owner declined to comment when 8days asked how he felt about Lee’s policy.
Sin Huat Eating House was previously run by Lee’s father. A former pig farmer, Lee joined the family coffeeshop as a cook around 1991 after the government shut down his farm. He later took over the business and introduced the live seafood dishes that would make Sin Huat famous.
These days, Lee also sells cai png in the daytime, while his pricier seafood zi char dishes are supposedly available only for dinner after 6pm. But as we soon discovered, opening hours are another thing Lee appears to play by ear.
NO MENU, WITH STEEP FINAL BILLS
There is no menu at Sin Huat. Lee takes all the orders himself and quotes diners according to the fresh seafood available daily, a system that has earned the stall a reputation for eye-watering and unpredictable bills.
Before firing up Lim’s order, Lee warned him that one crab would cost him “more than S$100” as he uses hefty Sri Lankan crabs.
A TikTok user behind the account SGMustWatchLa recently posted about the “crazy ex(pensive)” S$294 plate of bee hoon with two crabs she had at Sin Huat. She wrote, “The boss came over and told us to f*** off if we just ordered one dish”.
However, she added he later relented and served them their sole dish after a 55-minute wait. Despite all that, she declared the crab bee hoon “heavenly” but says whoever willingly pays for the dish is “insane”.
As Lee works alone in the kitchen and cooks the seafood dishes himself, long waits are part of the Sin Huat experience.
Other diners have also complained about Sin Huat’s prices on Google. One reviewer gave the restaurant one star, writing: “The biggest issue is the pricing. There is little transparency, especially for the seafood, and it feels uncomfortable ordering when you don’t know what the final bill will be.”
DINGY COFFEESHOP
The no-frills corner coffeeshop at Lorong 35 Geylang looks largely unchanged from decades ago. It’s dimly lit with greasy old tables and chairs, with seafood tanks that have seen better days – completing its no-frills vibe.
ANTHONY BOURDAIN’S VISIT TO SIN HUAT
Despite its rough-around-the-edges setting, Lee’s idiosyncratic ways, and the steep prices, Sin Huat has attracted celebrities and serious foodies over the years.
The late celeb chef and host Anthony Bourdain featured Sin Huat on his TV series A Cook’s Tour and later named it one of “13 Places to Eat Before You Die” in a 2011 article for Men’s Health.
He praised its crab bee hoon as an indulgent treat but warned diners: “It looks cheap, but it’s not.”
Sin Huat has also retained its Michelin Bib Gourmand nod across all 10 editions of the Singapore guide since 2016.
A PLATE OF CRAB BEE HOON CAN COST OVER S$150
Although Sin Huat’s seafood fare is listed as available from 6.30pm, Lim turned up at 11.30am on a weekday – and was served his food just 20 minutes later. It seems Lee isn’t too fussed about sticking to the stated hours. Well, it is his coffee shop, after all.
True to form, Lee tried to persuade Lim to order his signature prawns and fish too. The young host declined, sticking to just the crab bee hoon and kai lan. Perhaps because it was still early in the day and Lee was in a good mood, the hawker accepted his decision without much fuss.
A massive plate of bee hoon with a single crab weighing between 1.5kg and 2kg cost Lim S$156. By Sin Huat’s standards, that didn’t seem too outrageous: The crustacean was enormous and very meaty, comfortably feeding two to three people.
Lim raved about the crab’s firm, sweet flesh and found the bee hoon perfectly cooked in a robust, tasty stock, though it had “little to no wok hei” on this particular visit.
“It’s big, it’s sweet. Wow, it’s nice,” he remarked while tucking into a chunky claw. He also enjoyed the garlicky kai lan, which cost S$10.
In an unexpected move, Lim was also served a complimentary plate of house-made otah, which he found tasty. He wondered if the freebie had something to do with the camera his companion was carrying – and the possibility that staff had figured out they were filming their meal.
“And maybe it’s because (I’m) handsome,” he joked.
So, does Lim think Lee’s rule against ordering from the other stalls in the coffee shop is fair? Yes and no.
“It’s a little controlling, because if you come in a bigger group and want to sample dishes from the other stalls too, you can’t. But on the other hand, Sin Huat’s portion of crab bee hoon is huge, so I can also see where Lee is coming from too,” he said.
Sin Huat Eating House is located at 659/661 Lor 35 Geylang, Singapore 389589. Open daily, 11am to 11.30pm. Tel: 6744 9755
This story was originally published in 8Days.
For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/.
Source: 8 Days/iz
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