Shaker Lakers : East meets West

The stall is started by Gillian Pua, 43, a former technologist that used to be in the IT industry for more than 18 years. Her business partner is Michael Quinn, 42, an Irish national and a permanent resident in Singapore. He has been working in New York for more than 12 years and is married to a Singaporean. Both of them met at Marche at VivoCity. Michael was the Restaurant Manager then and Gillian was working there whilst in between jobs. They started talking about running a hawker stall for about 8 months before realizing it on 9 August 2019 after experimenting with the recipes. They decided on starting a hawker stall as it is an economical choice as compared to operating a cafe. The stall is based on the East meets West concept serving the Western and also the local dishes. They hope to create a new food concept using Asian flavors with Western cooking techniques. 

The main menu consists of Beef Burger ($7.50), Fish and Chips ($9) and Aglio Olio with Bacon and Mushroom ($7.50). There are also interesting choices like Lakers Chicken Merah with rice ($6.50), Hainanese Pork Chop with Rice and Egg ($6.30) and Sambal Prawn Linguine ($8). The prices are kept affordable and everything is made from scratch at the stall. 

I ordered Lakers Chicken Merah with rice for myself and Beef Burger for my dining companion. I was told to come back in 10 minutes for collection. 

Beef Burger consists of a thick patty with cheese, served together with tomato and lettuce, accompanied by potato wedges.  The barbeque sauce was served in a saucer and my dining companion assumed it was tomato sauce so he just left it alone. While eating his burger, he said, "The beef patty though thick and juicy but it did not have much taste." He only realized that saucer was barbeque sauce after he finished the burger, he said, "It should be tastier after added that in." 

He continued to say, "The best burger from a hawker stall is still those from Hammee's at Commonwealth Crescent Food Centre."

Lakers Chicken Merah is based on a Peranakan recipe from Gillian's family. It is a homely dish of simmering fried chicken in spicy tomato sauce. The sauce tasted more like the sambal chilli that is usually for the barbeque stingray and it was different from the usual Ayam Masak Merah. There was a subtle heat from the chillies but not much of sweet and sourish taste.

Interestingly, it was served with 2 pieces of ladyfinger coated in batter then deep-fried. The rice was slightly dry.

This is an interesting stall that is worth revisiting. There are other dishes listed under the "Chef Recommendation" on a standing whiteboard displayed in front of the stall. 

SHAKER LAKERS
51 Yishun Avenue 11 #01-24 Yishun Park Hawker Centre SINGAPORE 768867
Operating Hours: 11.30 am to 2.00 pm / 5.00 pm to 8.30 pm (Closed on Mondays)