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It’s rather unusual to see new openings in a hawker centre as established and competitive as Maxwell Food Centre, but it seems like someone has thrown their hat into the proverbial ring. The renowned and somewhat controversial hawker from Whampoa Makan Place, Whampoa Traditional Fried Oyster, opened a new outlet within Maxwell. But I pose the question — why?
Maxwell Food Centre, next to big names like Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre and Newton Food Centre, is hands down one of the most competitive hawker centres in Singapore. So many historically significant hawkers hold key spots with high footfall, meaning new entrants struggle to distinguish themselves in a sea of greats.
However, this is not Whampoa Traditional Fried Oyster’s first rodeo in franchising. Along with their flagship outlet in Whampoa Makan Place, they also have a stall in Punggol Coast Hawker Centre.
You may wonder why I called them ‘somewhat controversial’, and that’s because of the general opinion of their food. As you can see, the Google Reviews for both stalls aren’t that great. Whampoa Traditional Fried Oyster’s Whampoa stall has an average of 3.1/5 stars from 51 reviews, while their Punggol stall has 2.1/5 stars from 55 reviews. With those numbers, you’ll typically land a spot in our worst-rated series.
As I’ve said before, numbers aren’t everything. In fact, Michelin-starred Huat Heng Fried Oyster, also in Whampoa Makan Place, has a rather perplexing 2.5/5 stars from 52 reviews.
Their Traditional Fried Oyster (S$6/8/10) has been criticised for being generally tasteless, with the jelly-like oysters having a candy-like hardness. Their Black & White Carrot Cake (S$6/7/8) doesn’t escape criticism either, with some claiming that it’s way too oily. All in all, not a very good look.
Reading these reviews makes me wonder: why did Whampoa Traditional Fried Oyster open a new outlet in Maxwell Food Centre? Only the best of the best survive in Maxwell, so hopefully their standards improve. Only time will tell.
