Monday, June 15, 2015

Blink Burgers at 537 Bedok North St 3 #01-555 - The Beginning

The Beginning 
Blink Burgers located at Blk 537 Bedok North St 3 #01-555, S(460537) is housed inside a heartland coffee-shop in the eastern part of Singapore & started operation serving Gourmet Burgers only on 18 October 2014 last year. 

Ownership 
Blink Burgers is started by two good friends who bonded over 8 years through their SAF reservist days - Chef Haikal 30 and Hafiz, 32. 

(Above : Chef Haikal ) 
Chef Haikal is a Burger lover, he is also an ardent fan of Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay who recently opened a new Burger joint in Las Vegas. Chef Haikal was inspired to start a Burger joint himself here in Singapore.


The 2 Co-Founders Chef Haikal, 30 & Hafiz, 32, met during their SAF reservist days and had a close friendship bond of 8 years. It was during their reservist training in Tekong jungle & other mainland camps that the duo decide to start a business together in line with their passion for food. 
(*Above : Hafiz)

So when Chef Haikal thought of setting his own Burger joint just like his idol Celebrity Gordon Ramsay, he immediately got Hafiz to come onboard as his Co-Founder. 

The duo had a brainstorming session, underwent several months of planning, with both Haikal & Hafiz visiting places such as Arab Street, Kampong Glam,  City & CBD area to find good location for their Burger joint. 
They eventually chose Bedok North Street 3 which has a kitchen large enough to begin their operations.   

Their Roles
There are currently 2 equal partners in the company - Chef Haikal & Hafiz. 

Co-Founder Hafiz handles the Finance, Marketing, PR & Promotions, Administrative aspects of the business. 
Co-Founder & Chef Owner Haikal brings with him 13 years' experience in the culinary industry, & handles Kitchen food operations, Menu planning, Kitchen staff training, Manpower planning at Blink Burgers. 

Holding Company 
Together the two Founder set up East 120MM Pte Ltd (the holding company to manage Blink Burgers) each holding 50% shares in the holding company. They named it 120MM as both live in the eastern side of Singapore & 120MM is the missile they handled when they were in reservist in the army.  

Positioning 
Blink Burgers is a halal Gourmet Burger restaurant serving halal exquisite, delectable, flavorful burgers made with fresh raw ingredients with homemade sauces & marinate made from scratch. 
It is a burger joint specially located in the heartlands to encourage local heartlanders to relax, chill out, bond & connect & enjoy a hearty good meal with a Gourmet Burger.   

Logo 
Blink Burgers is a new brand developed by both Founders Haikal & Hafiz, with the Blink Burgers logo designed with help of Hafiz & some designer friends. 

Slogan & Mission Statement 
The slogan "We Grill, You Chill" speaks of the duos' mantra - that customers should be able to relax chill out at their burger joint without the need to dress up to enjoy rustic gourmet burger of fine dining quality.  

Co-Founders Chef Haikal & Hafiz started operating Blink Burgers only on 18 October 2014. On busy weekend nights you can see Chef Haikal & his team of two cooks flipping about 200 to 300 burgers a night. 

The burger patties are made according to the standard set by Chef Haikal - 120gm. He uses halal supplier who minces the beef & delivers them chilled. He personally marinates them using ketchup, mustard, salt & pepper to taste then makes them into beef patties 120gm each.  

He uses fresh chicken thigh which he gets from Halal supplier Adam Halal Frozen Mart (S) Pte Ltd
On really good days he can do 10kg chicken. He usually butterflies the fresh chicken thigh then dips them into special batter he concocts (* all purpose flour +  corn flour + *)  

Expansion Plans 
Chef Haikal & Hafiz plan to venture into the business of managing a Clothing line or Gelato Cafe.  For Blink Burgers the Founder had pumped in about $50,000 each into the business. The founders hope to break even in about a year by 2015.   
There are plans to take the Blink Burger brand to the next stage or expand it overseas to Malaysia as halal burgers are well received food in Malaysia.

Menu Planning  
The Menu planning is done by Chef Haikal who manages the inventory, ingredients, costings & negotiates with the suppliers. 

Chef Haikal changes the Blink Burgers Menu on a quarterly basis. Currently there are 5 Signature Burgers namely : Angels & Demons, Gang Gogi, ABG Ramlee, Umami 2.0 & Lady NZ. Chef Haikal brings in Chef's Special when there are new ingredients in season. Technically, at any one time there will be 7 or 8 burgers on the Blink Burgers Menu. Besides burgers, Blink Burgers do not sell any others items.

Staff Operations  
Chef Haikal runs Blink Burgers with 2 weekday cooks & another 2 weekend cooks. He offers training on the job for non-experienced staff. There is no central kitchen, all kitchen preparation work is done in-house at the outlet kitchen here at 537 Bedok North Street 3. 

Ingredients used  
Sauces - Key sauces used here at Blink Burgers is the Chipotle with peppers that are puréed & added to Mayonnaise to lend a vinegary flavor with a tinge of smokiness. 

Marinate sauce - At Blink Burgers the homemade marinate sauce for the beef patty is made from scratch using just ketchup & mustard. Salt is added to the marinate to flavour/season it. No binding agents, no preservatives, no additives, no thickening agent, no coloring agents are used in the marinate at all. 

Homemade Beef Patty - Chef Haikal blends the minced beef with ketchup, mustard & salt using a large industrial mixer, then packed the blended mixture into 170 gram individual beef patty packs. 

The beef patties are made daily from scratch with no binding agent, colouring or preservative or additive, no thickening agent. There is no need for beef patty to be marinated overnight, you only need to only rest it for 20 minutes. The salt is enough to bind the meat without the need for eggs or breadcrumbs.

Chef Haikal prepares the beef patties in batches. For weekends he prepares 30 kg minced beef meat, which is supplied in minced chilled from Adam Pte Ltd who minced it for him with ratio of 80 % lean meat to 20 % of fatty meat, with added mixture of side & brisket, packed in 10 kg packing.   

Chilled Chicken thigh - Besides beef patties in burgers, Blink Burgers uses fresh chilled halal chicken thigh (for his Lady NZ Burger) bought from the local wet market halal stall. 

Chef Haikal uses 4 kg of chicken thighs which makes about 40 pieces chicken patty.  He scores & butterflies the chicken thighs & cut them into half, dips them into batter, then deep fries them. 

Batter - Chef Haikal uses 2 types of flour for he batter (all purpose flour & corn flour) & incorporate paprika, onion powder & garlic powder into the batter.   
**Chef's Tip of the Day ** - To make chicken nice and crispy, use chilled batter, adjust thickness of the chicken used by butterflying the chicken meat.   

Buns - At Blink Burgers, Chef Haikal uses buns from Bun Palace that custom-bake the burger buns based on the dimensions listed by Chef Haikal with specifications of 4" in diameter & weight of 60gm per bun.  The food here at Blink Burgers are prepared ala minute.

Slogan & Mission Statement  
We Grill You Chill   

Blink Burgers differs from other Burger joints by :
Burgers prepared at Blink Burgers are innovative creative, using complex ingredients & recipes to create that delicious tasty flavors & unique dining experience.
Blink Burgers offer diners a chillax experience in a relaxing rustic environment tuck away in sleepy town of Bedok, far away from the hustle & bustle of busy city life. 
Blink Burgers serve Gourmet burger homemade from scratch using fresh raw ingredients, without preservatives, binding agents, colorings, additives.

Fun Facts about Blink Burgers  
Catering - No 
Payment - Cash only
Booking for private event -  Yes
Takeaways - Yes, Self collect  
Delivery vendors - None
Promotional programs with banks - None
Loyalty programs - No
Merchandise on sale - No
Target market - Foodies, age groups 20-50 years old, good mix of females & males, local vs expat customers are 95:5. 
Seating Capacity - 150 pax 
Signature item - Best seller is the Angels and Demons - which is a take on the Classic cheese Burger with cheese, caramelised onion, cheddar, sunny side egg, turkey bacon and chipotle. Celebrities visits - Yes, Suria.
Blink Burgers is located at :
Blk 537, Bedok North Street 3, 
#01-555, S(460537).
Email : blinkburgers@gmail.com
             east120mm@gmail.com
Nearest MRT : Bedok MRT, take Bus #225 
Opening Hours :
Monday           (Closed) 
Tues to Thurs  5pm -10.30pm
Friday              5pm - 11pm
Sat to Sun        1pm - 10.30pm

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