Popular Golden Mile Complex snack kiosk Baan Kanom Thai now has hawker outlet in Tampines
The new hawker stall, opened by a Thai-Singaporean couple, specialises in creamy omelette rice, Thai pancakes and pudding.
Popular Golden Mile Complex snack kiosk Baan Kanom Thai moved to ARC 380 mall at Jalan Besar when the building finalised its en bloc deal in 2023.
Opened by Thai-Singaporean couple Fon C, 28, and Jaren Choong, 30, the takeaway kiosk started as a home-based business offering Thai-born C’s hometown street fare like kanom krok bai toey (pandan pancake), which she learned how to make along with other Thai dishes from her mum who owns an eatery in Chumphon in southern Thailand.
Baan Kanom Thai means ‘house of Thai pancakes’ in their native language.
The husband and wife team took over a 32-seat restaurant space when they moved to ARC 380, and upsized their menu offerings to include options like creamy omelette fried rice, pad see ew (Thai stir-fried noodles) and deep-fried chicken wings.
Fast forward to September this year, and they have expanded their business again. This time, it’s a hawker stall in Tampines North at a newly revamped coffeeshop.
“Initially we didn’t plan to open a hawker stall, but our vision evolved as we grew. We wanted to explore new concepts in our entrepreneurial journey,” shared Choong.
“A hawker outlet would allow us to reconnect with the street food culture and offer authentic affordable meals to the community.”
As the couple is known for their silky, creamy omelette fried rice, Jaren Choong said they have made it the star dish at their hawker outlet. “Our signature creamy omelette is paired with options like our signature fried rice, tom yum fried rice, and basil rice, along with a variety of toppings such as crab meat, prawn, minced pork, fried pork belly, and Hat Yai fried chicken,” he added.
Prices for savoury food are a few dollars lower than at their restaurant. For instance, the Creamy Crab Omelette Fried Rice topped with crab meat is S$9.90 (US$7.60) at the Tampines coffeeshop, and S$12 at ARC 380. Kopitiam diners can opt for toppings like prawn (S$7.90), Hat Yai fried chicken (S$7.50) and fried pork belly ($7.50).
There are also side dishes like Thai pork skewers (S$5 for three), Thai fish cake (S$4.50 for four pieces), Thai payaya salad (S$5.50) and tom yum soup (S$9.90).
To lower prices for a hawker concept, Choong said his coffeeshop stall uses frozen seafood instead of fresh seafood in dishes to offer “more affordable options”.
According to Jaren Choong, Baan Kanom Thai is also the first Thai pancake hawker stall in Singapore. Like his Golden Mile and ARC 380 setups, he has staff making fresh pancakes on-site.
These little kanom krok are fabulous and are crispy on the outside with light chewy centres.
They are available at the stall in three flavours: Pandan (S$5.50 for 10 pieces, S$10.50 for 20), sweet potato (S$6 for 10 pieces, S$11.50 for 20), and coconut (S$6 for 10 pieces, S$11.50 for 20).
The petal-shaped pancakes are notoriously hard to make. A tapioca flour and coconut milk batter is poured into a special mould and cooked over fire. It requires impeccable heat control – too hot and the pancake burns, while a low temperature will result in soggy pancakes.
Other than pancakes, the couple also offer mango sticky rice (S$6), Thai pandan pudding (S$4) and Thai coconut pudding (S$5) for dessert.
Jaren Choong reckoned that he and his wife may open more hawker outlets in the future.
“We see potential for future expansion,” he said, though he pointed out: “Adapting to a new hawker environment was our biggest challenge. We had to maximise a small space and ensure operational efficiency; we were the last stall to finish setting up just two days before the coffeeshop’s grand opening! It was definitely a learning experience.”
Baan Kanom Thai’s hawker outlet is at 633 Tampines North Drive 2, #02-01, Singapore 520633. Open Tues-Sun. Sun-Thu 11am to 9pm, Fri & Sat 11am to 9.30pm.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
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