February 11, 2019
A photo preview of Hawkers’ menu
The restaurant opens in South End this week
This past Saturday night, Hawkers hosted its media preview event. It was packed with writers, influencers, and Instagrammers all night long, enjoying small plates and cocktails and snapping photos.
The restaurant officially opens on Wednesday, but the kitchen managed to keep up with the onslaught of diners really well on Saturday. There were some small missteps here and there—one of our noodle dishes had a pretty big piece of egg shell, and the bao buns are definitely much more bun than necessary—but overall, we were impressed with the restaurant’s performance with so much traffic so early on. The restaurant seats 153 diners inside (and nearly every seat was full), 44 on the patio, and 27 in the lounge area.
It’s easy to see why so many Floridians are thrilled Hawkers is coming here. Check out some of Hawkers’ menu items below. For the best experience, ask your server for guidance—they know the menu, and it can be a little overwhelming to decide on dishes on your own. The noodles were our top pick. —Kristen Wile
The roti canai, a pita-like bread with a curry dipping sauce. Kristen Wile/UP
The Tiger Salad, a recommendation from our server: poached octopus over cilantro, carrots, spring onions, celery, and cucumber, with a rice wine vinaigrette. Kristen Wile/UP
The back dining room at Hawkers. There’s already a lot of neon, but more is on the way. Kristen Wile/UP
“Yi-Yi’s” wok-seared chicken dumplings. Kristen Wile/UP
The curry laska, a coconut curry stew with shrimp, chicken, tofu, and hard-boiled egg. Kristen Wile/UP
Chee Cheng’s char kway teow, a rice noodle dish with a recipe that comes from one of the restaurant’s founders. Kristen Wile/UP
The salt-n-pepa ribs, crispy pork riblets with ginger, peppers, garlic, and onion. Kristen Wile/UP
The summer roll, stuffed with noodles, lettuce, basil, mint, and sprouts. Kristen Wile/UP
The Korean twice-fried wings, coated in a garlic gochujang sauce and topped with peanuts, sesame, and cilantro. Kristen Wile/UP
Hawkers wings can be served with your choice of sauce or rub. Pictured are the five-spice rubbed wings. Kristen Wile/UP
The steamed bao buns can be filled with pork belly, duck, or hot chicken. Pictured is the pork belly. Kristen Wile/UP
The tables are decorated with what looks like newspaper pages to go with the street food theme. Pictured here and not in other photos: the fish tacos and yaki udon noodles (right). Kristen Wile/UP
