Egyptian Ex-Chef Sells Kebab Burgers At Stall Called Two Guys Even Though He Runs Biz Solo
Two Guys at Seah Im Food Centre serves up Middle Eastern cuisine cooked by an Egyptian chef. The Muslim-owned stall opened in October this year, and sells dishes like kebabs and hawawshi, the latter an Egyptian street food of pita stuffed with minced meat.
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Why Two Guys?
The stall is owned by Egyptian chef Ahmed Eldewy, 31, who despite running his stall solo, chose to name it Two Guys as he was inspired by American burger chain Five Guys, which he says he’s a fan of. But why Two Guys and not, say, Four Guys? “Because I am only one guy. If I put three [or more] guys, there will be too many,” he quips. Aside from classic Middle-Eastern dishes, Ahmed also sells his version of a burger — but with an exotic twist (more on that later). He adds that he’s mostly inspired by the American burger brand only in name.
He relocated to Singapore six years ago after falling in love with how “safe and clean” the country was when he was on vacation, and decided to settle down here. He’s currently a Singapore PR, and married to a Singaporean lady who works in shipping.
The new hawker has 15 years of experience as a cook, having worked as a head chef in Concorde El Salam Hotel in Egypt, and as a chef at Singapore hotels like Changi Village Hotel and Village Sentosa Hotel.
While quitting his job to become a hawker might sound like a challenging move, Ahmed says he “never takes any step in life before being 100 percent sure about it”, and is “proud that [he] has his own business”.
Invested $30K into hawker biz, hopes to expand into a chain
He invested over $30K into his stall, but tells 8days.sg that this isn’t his end goal. He shares that “it’s been my dream since I was 10 years old to open a restaurant”, and he has “plans to make this stall a franchise, and open a big Egyptian restaurant in Singapore” in future. So far, the millennial chef’s future seems pretty promising, as he shares that he “now has a lot of regular customers who come two to three times a week” despite opening just two months ago.
8days.sg hasn’t tried his grub yet, but here’s what to expect.
More than just kebabs
Ahmed says the most popular dish at Two Guys was initially his kebabs, but recently, more customers have been ordering the lamb shank mandi rice, burgers and hawawshi.
The hawawshi is the most Egyptian dish served here. It’s kinda like an Egyptian version of a quesadilla, and consists of triangular slices of pita loaded with minced chicken ($7.90) or lamb ($8.90) meat, tossed with a mix of sliced onions and spices.
He also recommends his mandi, a Yemeni meat and rice dish, which he serves with either chicken leg ($8.50 for a quarter, $12 for half) or lamb shank ($14.90) seasoned with cinnamon, onions, ginger and butter, atop a bed of long-grain rice cooked in lamb shank broth.
Kebabs come in the form of chicken or lamb, served in a wrap for $6.90 or $7.90 respectively, and as platters with fries and salad for an additional $4.
Burgers with a twist also offered
Besides Middle Eastern food, Ahmed has also put his spin on some Western dishes at the stall. For instance, he serves Beef Burgers (from $6.90) using patties made from a mix of beef and lamb meat, saying that the “lamb makes the patty more juicy”. While his beef burgers are served with these smashed patties, his Chicken ($7.90) and Lamb Burgers ($9.90) are stuffed with slices of kebab meat. But alas, instead of Mid-eastern sauces, these are drizzled with nacho cheese.
His pasta is also a tad different. The Beef Bolognese ($7.90) and Grilled Chicken and Mushroom Pasta ($8.50) here are served with kebab meat and seasoned with spices like nutmeg and sujuk (a mix of spices like fenugreek, red chilli and cumin).
Two Guys is located at #01-28 Seah Im Food Centre, Seah Im Rd, S099114. Open daily 9am - 9pm. Tel: 8900 3635. More info via Instagram.
Photos: Two Guys
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