If you enjoy barbecue, you’ve probably heard of The Social Outcast—a name that’s also made big waves in the halal food scene.
Founded by Aminurrashid Hasnordin (better known as Chef Mint), a former lecturer, and his partner Noelle Chua, who previously worked in finance, the brand started as a modest hawker stall six years ago and has since grown into a cult favourite.
The duo proudly claim to have pioneered the elevation of halal cuisine in Singapore, challenging conventional expectations of what halal dining can be.
From the ground up
The idea to start up The Social Outcast came when Chef Mint took a sabbatical from his five-year career at SMRT Institute—like many who have experienced a mid-life reckoning, he walked away from job security to pursue his true passion: cooking.
Chef Mint’s interest in cooking began as a young sous chef to his grandmother. At family dinners, he would help chop ingredients and learn to estimate the right amounts for each dish. Before stepping into the corporate world, he also worked various F&B jobs and even bartended part-time.
Together with Noelle’s support, the duo opened their first stall in 2019 in a Tampines coffee shop. While Chef Mint manned the kitchen, Noelle took charge of customer service, marketing, and finances, handling the business side of the brand.
At the stall, burgers were the star of their menu.
Why burgers? Well, according to Chef Mint, they were easier to master for those without formal culinary training.
But they didn’t want to serve just any burger; the duo aimed to elevate their offerings and stand out from the competition—hence, they introduced gourmet American-style creations as their flagship offering.
Think smoked dried chipotle and guacamole beef burgers, and 400-day grain-fed Australian wagyu burgers. Equipped with an oven imported from Spain, The Social Outcast grilled their buns and patties over hickory and charcoal, infusing each bite with a rich, smoky depth.
However, bringing this concept to a hawker stall didn’t come cheap, hence, most of their offerings came with a higher price tag as compared to other typical hawker stall meals. Despite this, the business consistently attracted crowds and often sold out during weekend preparations.
Demand eventually led them to expand into a larger space in Simpang Bedok Marketplace a year later, where Chef Mint began pushing the boundaries of his self-taught culinary skills, particularly in barbecued meats.
Drawing inspiration from his travels, he also blends native flavours from Indonesia, Africa, and Japan, reinterpreting traditional recipes with his own creative twist.
At its Bedok hawker stall, The Social Otucast rolled out a more experimental menu, featuring dishes such as smoked oxtail and burnt kimchi risotto, as well as tom yum porridge.
Steady growth & a sudden closure
Since then, the business has seen steady growth, prompting the duo to transition from hawker stalls to a more upscale dining experience.
Their next move took them to the Singapore Turf Club’s Grandstand, where they introduced an expanded menu that was refreshed every five to six months.
However, after the government announced plans to reclaim the Turf Club land, The Social Outcast had to relocate once again. In May 2023, they launched their most ambitious concept yet: a hidden omakase-style speakeasy tucked behind Madman & Co—a Mexican grocer that they also opened at the same time.
This was when Chef Mint and Noelle truly doubled down on halal fine dining.
Instead of offering a fixed menu, diners are invited to choose from themed experiences, such as wagyu or woodfire, while the team curates the meal based on the chosen theme.
After two years at Katong, though—Chef Mint and Noelle abruptly announced the restaurant’s closure in May 2025.
According to the duo, the instability of the current F&B scene and the increasingly harsh environment for individual operators made businesses like theirs unsustainable.
Chef Mint pointed out that the number of F&B closures has been rising over the years, with an average of 307 closures per month this year, up from 254 per month in 2024 and around 230 a month in 2023 and 2022.
Pushing on
Running a premium F&B business in Singapore is no easy feat. Labour, in particular, remains one of the biggest pain points.
To hire a foreign staff member on an S Pass, employers must have employed nine local employees. Chef Mint feels that this is an unsustainable ratio for many businesses, especially in the service sector, as few Singaporeans are keen on working in the industry long-term.
Rental costs have also been a persistent bane, adding further pressure to an already demanding industry.
Given these pressing issues, Chef Mint is not optimistic about the market in the coming years. He doesn’t foresee returning to the traditional brick-and-mortar business model.
“It used to be 10, 15, 20 years [for an F&B establishment to last]. Today, the turnover is three, five years.”
But that doesn’t mean Chef Mint and Noelle are slowing down. Instead, they’ve shifted gears once again, adapting to Singapore’s increasingly difficult F&B landscape.
Recognising a steady appetite for personalised dining experiences, the duo has moved into hosting experiential pop-ups—appearing at major events like Sentosa GrillFest, the HSBC Women’s World Championship, and LIV Golf.
At one beach event, Chef Mint even smoked a whole lamb in a traditional Hawaiian Imu pit, wrapped in banana leaves and slow-cooked in sand.
These pop-ups, as he shared in a radio interview with ONE FM 91.3, are far more manageable than running a full-fledged restaurant.
The duo’s next pop-up is an experiential dining series on July 12, an event that’s already sold out two previous runs and is currently still open for bookings.
It seems demand for The Social Outcast is still going strong, and perhaps it all boils down to their simple yet effective philosophy:
To serve “good food that happens to be halal—not just halal food.”
- Find out more about The Social Outcast here.
- Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean startups here.
Featured Image Credit: The Social Outcast
