Sheikh Haikel’s chicken rice shop to reopen at Bussorah Street after previous landlord gave him a month to move out
“We didn’t understand why we were put in that position,” lamented Sheikh Haikel’s wife, Anna Belle Francis. “I had to beg [the landlord to allow us to stay] for one more month.”
Sheikh Haikel and his wife, Anna Belle Francis, were given a month to vacate the premises of the previous location of their Hai Ge Ji Hainanese Chicken Rice store. (Photos: Hai Ge Ji)
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Singaporean rapper Sheikh Haikel, 50, and his wife Anna Belle Francis, 47, have been building their halal Hainanese food empire for the past couple of years. They first launched Hai Ge Ji Hainanese Chicken Rice in 2024.
Last October, they also brought Hai Ge Ji Beef Noodles to Yishun, a halal-certified take on the popular Hwa Heng Beef Noodle brand. Recently, they opened a smaller beef noodle stall at Kopitiam Food Hall in Plaza Singapura.
But what most folks don’t know is that Hai Ge Ji Hainanese Chicken Rice’s North Bridge Road outlet quietly ceased operations on Jun 7. It is slated to reopen at its new Bussorah Street location by the first week of July. But this wasn’t by choice.
“In April, we were told by the landlord to leave [the premises] within that same month,” Francis told 8days.sg.
“We didn’t understand why we were put in that position,” she lamented. “I had to beg [the landlord to allow us to stay] for one more month.” She said they were not given a reason for the sudden notice to vacate, and there was no room for negotiation or discussion. “It could have been due to an increase in rent [offered by a new tenant],” she said.
“The lease simply came to its end after two years, and the landlord chose not to continue it – despite all the time and investment we had put into renovating and branding the space,” she shared.
Why did they leave rental discussions to the last minute?
“I overlooked [the lease expiry], and had assumed he would allow us to renew it, but there was nothing in the contract that protected us from this situation,” she said.
“When I tried to have a conversation about renewing the rental lease, he told me he wasn’t running a charity,” she added. “That hit hard.”
“I felt defeated. It made me realise how vulnerable you are as a tenant, always at the mercy of your landlord,” she shared. “But Haikel and I made a choice: we weren’t going to dwell on it. We moved on, and we’re rebuilding, step by step.”
Anna Belle Francis described it as one of the toughest periods since the couple ventured into F&B, and they almost gave up on the business altogether.
“I can’t believe it’s only been two years [of running Hai Ge Ji],” she lamented. “We’ve been through so much in just two years! But Haikel and I never liked the idea of giving up.”
“Within weeks, we had to find another kitchen and come up with a down payment. [Food] supplier prices are going up, too,” she added. “With landlords always chasing higher rental potential and tenants left to recoup and rebuild from scratch, I strongly believe local F&B businesses need better resources – not handouts, but real access to loans, mentorship, lawyers, and financial advisors, otherwise local businesses will keep falling through the cracks!”
“Our friends were shocked to hear this story. They told us to rant about this on Facebook, but I thought, there’s no point. I’d rather spend this time coming up with a solution,” she shared, as the couple had less than two months to vacate their former shop space.
Thankfully, the couple managed to find a new home for Hai Ge Ji when a friend spotted an available unit at Bussorah Street, just a six-minute walk from their former outlet.
Though the rent now is higher than what they were paying at North Bridge Road, the larger kitchen opens up more possibilities for their menu. “The space was in rough shape, so our renovation costs are more significant than [they were] at North Bridge,” said Francis, though she declined to share rent and renovation costs for both outlets.
The couple added that they are not sure what has taken over their former North Bridge Road spot.
To recoup some of their losses, the celeb couple are running a pop-up in collaboration with IncuBaker, a co-sharing cafe-cum-kitchen space for F&B businesses, at 21 Media Circle at One-North till end June.
The setup offers both dine-in and takeaway options, serving their Hainanese Chicken Rice Set (from S$12) alongside sides like Fried Wantons (S$8) and Crispy Chicken Skin (S$6.80). Islandwide delivery is also available via GrabFood from 11am to 5pm.
When 8days.sg spoke to them earlier this year, the couple shared that they had collaborated with beef noodle chain Hwa Heng Group, with Sheikh and Francis taking over one of its nine outlets in Singapore at Yishun and turning it halal. The new Plaza Singapura stall was also previously a Hwa Heng Beef Noodle outlet before it was converted into a halal Hai Ge Ji Hainanese Beef Noodles stall on Jun 2.
The outlet currently serves the same menu as the brand’s Yishun outlet, including their Signature Mixed Beef Noodle with Tendon (S$11). Other options like beef balls and sliced beef are priced from S$7.50 at Plaza Singapura.
Beyond the current menu, the brand is also planning to introduce new items at Plaza Singapura, including mala beef noodles.
So why expand while scrambling to relocate their chicken rice outlet? “The expansion was already in the pipeline before all of this unfolded,” she explained. “For me, every opportunity you get, you take it. What better way to make our food more accessible than in a food court in Orchard that has few halal options?”
Meanwhile, business at their Yishun beef noodle outlet has been steady. While it is not yet at the level they hope to achieve, the eatery has broken even and is doing well, largely thanks to regulars and neighbourhood residents.
The new Bussorah outlet, slated to open in early July, will bring together both Hai Ge Ji Hainanese Chicken Rice and Beef Noodles under one roof. The space spans two side-by-side units, with a larger kitchen and a similar number of seats as the previous 50-seater outlet.
“On weekends, we plan to put seats outdoors till late at night, where our customers can have supper and desserts,” Francis said. “People like soupy stuff at night.”
“We hope to bring more Singaporean identity back to Kampong Glam,” rapper Sheikh Haikel told 8days.sg. “For us, nothing is more important than the food itself. Because when the food is meaningful, it naturally brings people together.”
Along with the move, Hai Ge Ji is also planning new menu items and collaborations with “surprise heritage brands”.
“After all that has happened, I don’t feel jaded at all,” Sheikh said. “At the end of the day, it’s always about the people who come to eat – the look on their faces when they’re satisfied, when the food hits right. That never gets old.”
“This is my way of giving back, of saying thank you for all the love and support [people have] shown me over the years. That’s what keeps me going,” he mused.
Hai Ge Ji Hainanese Beef Noodles is at #01-01, 461 Yishun Ave 6, Singapore 760461 and #06-15/20 Plaza Singapura, Kopitiam, 68 Orchard Road, Singapore 238839. Hai Ge Ji Hainanese Chicken Rice will reopen early July at 69 and 70 Bussorah Street.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/
Source: 8 Days/hq
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