Young hawkers sell Western food at flat S$5 a plate, here’s how they make money
With everything on their menu costing no more than $5, some may call $5 Western the Daiso of hawker western food joints. This wallet-friendly price extends to all its main dishes, which include burgers, chicken chop, chicken cutlet and fish and chips.
The stall just opened this month on 2 June at a small coffeeshop in Upper Boon Keng, a five-minute walk from Kallang MRT station. It is owned by two young chaps, Jason Koh, 35, and Jeffrey Ang, 34, who tell 8days.sg that they “want to bring affordable western food to people” with their everything-at-$5 concept.
The duo — who are not trained chefs — run the stall full-time with a hired cook and help out in the kitchen where necessary. This is their second attempt at setting up a food biz; their previous stall was a halal fried chicken and rice joint in a Shenton Way food court that closed after business was affected by the Covid-19 lockdown.
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$5 Western co-owner Jason Koh
Why $5?
The number five is everywhere on $5 Western’s branding. It’s on the front and back of their bright orange t-shirts (which all the staff don), and plastered in bold on a huge signboard. Very enticing for the casual passer-by looking for something to eat.
But why $5? After all, if the hawkers had priced their food at $6 or $7, it would still be considered relatively average pricing in this inflationary climate. According to Jason, while “$6 or $7 is still quite cheap, [they] want to capture people’s attention with $5”, reasoning that it has a greater pull than other numbers.
How they keep their prices low
With the rising cost of food, it’s pretty remarkable that $5 Western is able to sustain their business with this pricing. Jason shares that the cost-cutting does not come from ingredients, as he still orders meat from the same suppliers as other Western food stalls.
Instead, the young hawkers’ plan is to “earn based on volume”. By offering an attractively low price, they hope to “capture more customers based on the $5 price” and move more plates for profit. Yep, like the nice couple at Kovan stall Sun Kee Drinks, who sell beverages at just 30 cents a cup.
$5 Western also sells “simple items”, so instead of offering premium meat and fish like beef, lamb or salmon, Jason and Jeffrey stick to lower-priced proteins like chicken and dory. As such, they plan to keep their prices at $5 “unless there’s an extreme shortage in the chicken or fish supply”.
Jason says they are “quite pleased with the response” so far, and “should be able to continue running the stall at least in the short-term”. That said, he adds that they will still need to monitor their sales and food costs to see if their business is sustainable in the long run.
The menu
$5 Western sells your typical selection of old-school western hawker mains — Chicken Chop, Chicken Cutlet, Grilled Fish, Crispy Fish and Burgers. All cost $5 a plate and come with either fries, coleslaw and a bun, pasta, or rice with baked beans and coleslaw.
The stall also offers a variety of $3 to $5 sides, like Cheese Fries ($3), Popcorn Chicken ($5), Breaded Shrimp ($5) and a Mixed Platter ($5) with fries, onion rings, popcorn chicken and nuggets.
Chicken Chop with Aglio Olio Pasta, $5
For $5, you get a slab of well-charred, juicy chicken chop. It is slathered with a peppery brown sauce, and served alongside a medium-sized portion of al-dente aglio olio. Our pasta had a good garlicky kick, though a bit too oily and lacks the punchy spiciness from cut chillies that usually jazzes up this dish.
Chicken Cutlet with Rice, Coleslaw & Baked Beans, $5 [8 DAYS Pick!]
A generously-portioned chicken leg cutlet, fried to a golden brown with a lip-smacking crispy crumbed batter. Very comforting to hoover up with fluffy white rice. The crunchy fresh coleslaw tempers the greasiness of the fried cutlet.
Grilled Fish with Tomato Pasta, $5 [8 DAYS Pick!]
Fork-tender grilled dory, draped in the same peppery brown sauce as the chicken chop, adds flavour to the clean-tasting fish. Standard-issue tomato-based spaghetti round up this dish.
Crispy Fish with Fries, Coleslaw & Bun, $5
A good ol’ fish and chips combo, serviceable enough though nothing outstanding. The slab of dory is fried till crispy and golden while still yielding pretty succulent flesh. The accompanying shoestring fries were pretty tasty but too aggressively salted. An additional small butter-brushed bun and crunchy coleslaw make this a decent $5 meal.
Bottom line
$5 Western is a wallet-friendly joint with reasonably well-executed old-school western hawker dishes. Considering that most hawker Western food costs upwards of $6 for a main, this stall’s flat pricing is an attractive concept that comes with decent food. We saw a short queue at the stall even at the non-peak hour of 3pm, so be prepared to wait.
$5 Western is located at #01-01, 5 Upper Boon Keng Rd, S380005. Open daily 11am-9pm. Tel: 8508-4855. More info via their Instagram and Facebook.
Photos: Aik Chen
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