@8dayseat TikTok host Damian Lim (pictured above), 21, experienced one of Danny’s unwritten rules firsthand when he recently visited the Michelin Bib Gourmand-recognised joint. Damian, a third-gen 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, Danny had an important question.
“Are you eating duck rice?” he asked, referring to neighbouring stall Sean Kee Duck Rice.
When Damian said no and asked why, Danny replied: “If you’re eating duck rice, I’m not cooking for you.”
Why he won’t serve crab bee hoon if you order duck rice
So 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,” Danny 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 Danny spotted them eating the pastries, he reportedly refused to serve them their order.
Danny runs the entire kopitiam
Danny’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.
Duck rice stall Sean Kee has a long history here
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 Danny’s unwritten rules, however, don’t expect to sample dishes from all three stalls in the coffeeshop at one go. Sean Kee’s owner declined to comment when 8days.sg asked how he felt about Danny’s policy.
Sin Huat Eating House was previously run by Danny’s father. A former pig farmer, Danny 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, Danny 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 Danny appears to play by ear — more on that later.
No menu, notoriously steep prices
There is no menu at Sin Huat. Danny 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 Damian’s order, Danny warned him that one crab would cost him “more than $100” as he uses hefty Sri Lankan crabs.
A TikToker behind the account SGMustWatchLa recently posted about the “crazy ex” $294 plate of bee hoon with two crabs she had at Sin Huat. She wrote “the boss came over and told us to **** 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 Danny 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, plus seafood tanks that have seen better days completing its no-frills vibe.
Anthony Bourdain put Sin Huat on foodies’ maps
Despite its rough-around-the-edges setting, Danny’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.
Our plate of crab bee hoon cost $156
Although Sin Huat’s seafood fare is listed as available from 6.30pm, Damian turned up at 11.30am on a weekday — and was served his food just 20 minutes later. It seems Danny isn’t too fussed about sticking to the stated hours. Well, it is his coffee shop, after all.
True to form, Danny tried to persuade Damian 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 Danny 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 Damian $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.
Damian 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 ($10).
In an unexpected move, Damian 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 ’cos [I’m] handsome lah,” he joked.
So, does Damian think Danny’s rule against ordering from the other stalls in the coffee shop is fair? Yes and no.
“It’s a little controlling, ’cos 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 Danny is coming from too,” he muses.
Sin Huat Eating House is located at 659/661 Lor 35 Geylang, S389589. Open daily, 11am–11.30pm. Tel: 6744 9755
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