Singapore's hawker dishes to go to Las Vegas

Boon Tong Kee's chicken rice (above) is among the Singapore dishes to be featured at Famous Foods Streets Eats, a marketplace which is part of a new integrated resort by Zouk Group and Resorts World Las Vegas in Sin City.
Boon Tong Kee's chicken rice (above) is among the Singapore dishes to be featured at Famous Foods Streets Eats, a marketplace which is part of a new integrated resort by Zouk Group and Resorts World Las Vegas in Sin City. PHOTO: BOON TONG KEE

Singapore's Boon Tong Kee chicken rice, Geylang claypot rice and Springleaf prata will soon be dished out in Sin City.

Famous Foods Street Eats, a 24,000 sq ft marketplace, is part of a new integrated resort in Las Vegas that is slated to open in the third quarter of the year.

The US$4.3 billion (S$5.8 billion) resort is a partnership between local nightlife and lifestyle company Zouk Group and Resorts World Las Vegas.

Besides Singapore's hawker dishes, the food hall, which will house 16 stalls, will also feature the likes of Hong Kong's Ah Chun Shandong Dumpling, Thailand's Ten Suns Braised Beef and Philippines' Pepita's Kitchen, which is known for its stuffed lechons.

Zouk Group's executive chairman Hui Lim and chief executive officer Andrew Li had tasted different hawker dishes throughout Asia and picked those with unique recipes that have been passed down through family generations.

For instance, Geylang Claypot Rice, which earned a Michelin Plate in 2016, was founded more than 40 years ago. Its stall in Las Vegas will offer old-school South-east Asian rice dishes slowly cooked in traditional claypots.

"Famous Foods will transport guests to an authentic Asian hawker market, an experience that's never been replicated in the United States," said Mr Li in a press release.

There will also be stalls serving Western food, including fried chicken by James Beard Award-winning chef Marcus Samuelsson and Italian dishes by chef James Trees from Las Vegas favourite Esther's Kitchen.

Guests can go for drinks at the Famous Foods Centre Bar, which will feature a self-pour and automated beer system offering a rotation of beers, cocktails and wines from around the world. Or they can chill at Here Kitty Kitty Vice Den, a tucked-away speakeasy.

Zouk Group said more food-and-beverage concepts will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

According to a Straits Times report last November, the brand's concepts will occupy 100,000 sq ft of space in the integrated resort, which is the Las Vegas Strip's first development to be built from the ground up in over a decade. It marks the 29-year-old group's first foray into the US.

The brand will bring its iconic Zouk Nightclub, social gaming bar RedTail and Fuhu, an experiential contemporary Asian dining venue, as well as open a new dayclub called AYU.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 25, 2021, with the headline Singapore's hawker dishes to go to Las Vegas. Subscribe