I first heard about Joe when a New York Post article declared that Smokin' Joe's fish and chips at Urban Hawker is the best in New York City 😮
So, when I heard that Joe is back at his Yishun Park Hawker Centre stall over Chinese New Year, I went down to pay our home-grown hawker hero a visit.
Joe opened his Smokin' Joe stall six years ago. Before that Joe was a restaurant Western cuisine chef for ten years. Joe was handpicked to be the first batch of Singapore hawkers for Urban Hawker (a Singapore style food court run by Makansutra) which opened in midtown New York City last year.
Joe uses a Josper charcoal oven to grill his meats which produces superior steaks (but only when done skilfully). Only a few higher end restaurants in Singapore indulge their customers with Josper ovens - one is Pura Brasa in Tanjong Pagar opened by Josper Oven itself and another is Privé where Joe last worked as chef. In fact, Smokin' Joe was the first hawker centre stall to use a Josper charcoal oven. It was a bold move that paid off for Joe and for foodies who look for the best value, quality steaks.
We started with a Signature Smokin' Joe Ribeye Steak (price SGD19). It came served in restaurant quality plates and cutlery.
The steak was done medium rare. The pink colour and glistening juices made me salivate.
Oh man.... I was blown away.
The ribeye was so tender and juicy, it was soft gently chewy and saturated with warm savoury beefy juices. The ribeye was so soft-tender because Joe pulled all the chewy sinews out of the slab before cooking. The steak was so tasty, I didn't bother with the house made brown sauce.
Joe said the steaks were only seasoned with salt and pepper. Joe's grilling skill with the Josper oven played a big part in the wonderful steak we had.
We also had New Zealand Lamb Rack (price $26 for two pieces).
Woo... I love this too. Tender juicy soft chewy with a nice signature lamb taste and aroma.
After beef and lamb, I couldn't resist trying out Smokin' Joe's world famous fish and chips.
The slab of snapper was battered with bread crumbs. It is nice if you like crumb coating for your fish. The fish meat was tender and moist with a nice savouriness and subtle fish taste. Comes with a tangy savoury mayo which I didn't use.
Personally, I prefer the old school British type fish wrapped in thick golden brown batter which is crisp outside, fluffy inside, oversized, and spiked with beer 😬 When it comes to fish and chips I like the old ang mo way better.
But in NYC, they prefer our bread crumb style 😃 That's cultural exchange 👏
I will be back at Smokin' Joe soon for this amazing steak again 💪
Written by Tony Boey on 15 Jan 2023
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