From TV Kitchen to Hawker Stall — Berempah Bros Brings the Heat
There is a particular kind of confidence that comes from cooking under studio lights, judges breathing down your neck, and a ticking clock threatening to end your dreams. The folks behind Berempah Bros carry that energy straight into Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre, where they have traded MasterChef Singapore aprons for hawker stall counters and a menu built entirely around rempah — that fragrant, pounded spice paste that forms the backbone of Malay cooking. The question everyone keeps asking: can reality TV chops translate into a legit hawker operation? After making the trip up to Sembawang to find out, the short answer is yes — with a few caveats worth discussing.
What's on the Plate
The menu is tight and focused, which is exactly what you want from a hawker stall that knows its lane. The star of the show is the ayam berempah set, a generous piece of spiced fried chicken sitting atop fragrant coconut rice, flanked by sambal with just enough tang to cut through the richness. The rempah crust on the chicken is deeply seasoned — turmeric, lemongrass, galangal, and coriander all present and accounted for — without tipping into that cloying heaviness that lesser versions suffer from. At S$7.50, it is priced slightly above your average nasi lemak stall, but the portion size and quality of the protein justify the premium.
The wilder card on the menu is the unagi berempah, a combination that sounds like it was conceived during a late-night brainstorming session but actually works surprisingly well. Grilled eel glazed with a rempah-inflected sauce brings a sweet-savoury depth that pairs beautifully with the coconut rice. It is not traditional by any stretch, and purists may raise an eyebrow, but this is exactly the kind of creative crossover you would expect from cooks who cut their teeth on a competition show that rewards bold flavour combinations. Expect to pay more for the unagi option, but it is worth trying at least once for the novelty alone.
- Signature dish: Ayam Berempah with coconut rice and sambal (from S$7.50)
- Must-try: Unagi Berempah — grilled eel with rempah glaze and coconut rice
- Price range: S$7.50–S$12 per person
The Setting and the Scene
Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre is still relatively new, having opened its doors in 2022 as part of the larger integrated community hub in Sembawang. It is clean, well-ventilated, and mercifully uncrowded compared to the perpetual zoo of older hawker centres closer to the city. Getting there does require some commitment if you live south of Ang Mo Kio, but the MRT connection via Sembawang station makes it manageable. Weekday lunches are your best bet for shorter queues, as weekend crowds have started to build as word spreads about several strong stalls in the centre, Berempah Bros among them.
Berempah Bros
📍 Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre, 21 Canberra Walk, Singapore 756973
⏰ Opens from 8am (closed when sold out — go early)
Does the MasterChef Pedigree Matter?
Reality TV contestants entering the food business is nothing new in Singapore. We have seen it work brilliantly and we have seen it flame out spectacularly. What separates Berempah Bros from the forgettable attempts is focus. They are not trying to open a café with a twenty-item brunch menu and latte art. They picked one thing — rempah-driven dishes — and committed to doing it properly. The spice work here is genuinely excellent, the kind of layered, aromatic cooking that takes real skill and patience to execute consistently in a hawker environment where speed and volume are constant pressures.
The Verdict
Berempah Bros earns its reputation on flavour, not fame. The ayam berempah is the dish to order on your first visit — it is the clearest expression of what the stall does well, and it ranks among the better versions you will find anywhere on the island. The unagi option is fun and worth exploring if you are feeling adventurous. Is it worth the trek to Sembawang? If you care about well-executed Malay spice cooking and want to eat somewhere that has not yet been overrun by food bloggers queuing for content, absolutely. Go before the secret gets out completely.
