Combining both the old and new, Singapore has kept
its roots yet developed as one of the fastest growing nations. The
one place where this is most evident is in the Central Business
District Area, and Raffles Place in particular.
Amid the tall, glitzy buildings in Raffles Place, there is
a peppering of traditional hawker centres that still keep true
to Singapore’s humble beginnings. Time-pressed office workers are
always looking for nearby food centres where they can spend a very
reasonable amount of money on delicious foods – it’s always more
expensive to eat in the CBD.
People can get tired of routines, however, and so, if you
are a Raffles Place-office-dweller and are on a lookout for new,
affordable hawker stalls to try, this food guide is tailored for
you.
I have sectioned out a few prime areas in Raffles Place
where there is a statistically higher number of good food
stalls, but do share more of your hidden finds in the comments
too.
Now, let us begin with Lau Pa Sat.
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Save the eye-rolls and harrumphs, I am fully aware that
most, if not all who work around Raffles Place already know what
Lau Pa Sat is, where it is and what it has to offer. But this list
would not be complete without Lau Pa Sat (a hawker centre that has
become slightly more “tourist-y”) and this place does have to offer
quite a few good hawker stalls.
Lau Pa Sat Festival Market: 18 Raffles Quay,
048582 | Monday to Sunday 24/7 | Tel:6220 2138
As someone who values a good ol’ plate of greasy local
food, I went for Seng Kee Local Delights first to grab a plate
of Char Kway Teow ($4). Since this was the first
stall I tried in the Raffles Place area, I was pleasantly surprised
when I found out that the prices were not inflated just because of
the location.
Cost aside, I really liked this plate of Char
Kway Teow because apart from the grease, there was a good
amount of other ingredients like chinese sausage, cockles,
fishcakes and bean sprouts tossed into the mix and the noodles had
a lovely charred taste.
The dish was just overall very tasty and I had zero
regrets. This stall also sells other tasty local delights like
Hokkien Mee and Laksa which, judging by how the Char Kway Teow
was, probably tastes just as great, if not, better.
Seng Kee Local Delights: Lau Pa Sat Festival Market,
18 Raffles Quay Singapore 048582, Stall 10
The next stall I tried
at Lau Pa Sat was Sanuki Don, mostly because I had a sudden craving
for Curry Rice. All I have to say is that I was not let down. I
ordered Japanese Curry Don
($5.90) and Kashiwa-Ten (Fried Chicken)
($1.80) and was very satisfied by the time I licked my
bowl clean.
This might sound
slightly exaggerated but I just really enjoyed the Curry Don, not
only because of the thick, savoury curry but also because of the
fact that the crispy chicken when lightly dipped into soy sauce
intensified the flavours of the entire dish. There were at first
unknown-looking chunks of meat in the curry which turned out to be
beef as an added bonus.
Sanuki Don: Lau Pa
Sat Festival Market, 18 Raffles Quay Singapore 048582, Stall
45
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Song Kee Fishball has
made a name for itself island-wide as one of the best
fishball-making, meepok-serving stalls and with good reason too.
For a mere $4, you can get a sizable bowl of delicious fishball
noodles. The noodles are springy and sauced up nicely and goes
beautifully with the fishball soup, within which tasty handmade
fishballs bob up and down.
Song Kee Fishball
Noodles: Lau Pa Sat Festival Market, 18 Raffles Quay Singapore
048582, Stall 19
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One of the winning
qualities of the food served at this long-time-standing stall is
the fact that it has no “pork smell” and the braised sauce used for
the kway chap is extremely savoury. Have the kway with the braised
pig innards, tofu, egg and a good amount of the dark syrupy sauce
to fully enjoy the dish.
Pig’s Organ Soup
and Kway Chap: Lau Pa Sat Festival Market, 18 Raffles Quay
Singapore 048582
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More often than not,
one can tell that a stall is good if there are long queues stemming
from it. I found Qiu Lian Ban Mian in the chaos mostly because of
the snaking line in front of the stall and I soon understood why.
The noodles served at this stall are thicker than most and are
hence very filling.
Paired with the not
overly salty soup and the toppings like anchovies, minced pork and
chives, this dish will most probably come through for any ban
mian-lover out there.
Qiu Lian Ban Mian:
Lau Pa Sat Festival Market, 18 Raffles Quay Singapore 048582, Stall
83
While I was completely
stuffed after having tried several dishes at Lau Pa Sat, I was
stranded because of a rain and had to stay on in the hawker centre
(which wasn’t much of a problem because the place is
well-ventilated and properly furnished with overhead fans). I
decided to try a dish at the desserts stall and was not thoroughly
disappointed.
I had
the Mango Milk with Ice ($2.70), the portions of
which was generous for the price. The dish was refreshing and
rather sweet with the mangoes and condensed milk but the crushed
ice helped to slightly balance out the flavours.
Lau Pa Sat Dessert
Stall: Lau Pa Sat Festival Market, 18 Raffles Quay Singapore
048582
Moving on from Lau Pa
Sat, I stumbled upon May hua food court in my search to find
Golden Shoe Hawker Centre. While it looked like a rather
nondescript food court, I must say that the quality of food served
here did startle me quite a bit. The place was also jam-packed
with people at lunch time so it was rather tough to find a
seat.
May Hua Food
Court: 50 Market St, Singapore 048940 | Monday to Sunday
24/7
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The Ban Mian
($3.80) sold at this stall is the sort of ban mian that
will satisfy any ban mian
cravings that you might have and will fill you up just
right for you to continue on the rest of your busy work day. There
is a generous serving of crunchy greens which help to balance out
the textures of the soft noodles and minced pork so for those
looking for a “healthier option”, this could do.
Xin Heng Hand-made
Noodle: 50 Market St, Singapore 048940, May Hua Food
Court
I
tried the Thai Style Chicken Rice
($4.50) which was really good. The chicken pieces were
crispy, tender and the sauce was just the right blend of sweet and
savoury. While the soup that came along with the dish was rather
bland, it did help to cleanse our palate.
Xiang Ji: 50
Market St, Singapore 048940, May Hua Food Court, #01-32
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For $5.50, you can get
a lovely bowl of Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee, where
the curry is thick and packed with flavours, the chicken meat is
tender and succulent and the tau pok soaks up a good amount of
curry and oozes spice when you bite into it. A very satisfying dish
if you are looking for something slightly spicy and delicious for
your mid-day meal.
Ah Heng Curry
Chicken Bee Hoon Mee: 50 Market St, Singapore 048940, May Hua
Food Court
I don’t usually opt for
Thai food but when I went to Mayhua, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to
try some Pineapple Fried Rice ($4.50) which came
with a steamy side of Tom Yum Soup. The fried rice
was slightly sweet and had zesty bits of pineapple that intensified
the flavours of the dish. There were three big prawns which were
already de-shelled and ready to be eaten which was great.
Thai Viet
Cuisine: 50 Market St, Singapore 048940, May Hua Food Court,
#01-32
NTUC Food Fare is a
spruced up food court located at the basement of The Arcade at
Clifford Centre. The place looks like it has been nicely cleaned up
and was a nice change of scene from the more hectic food places in
Raffles I had been to.
NTUC Food
Fare: 24 Raffles Place, Singapore 048621 |
Monday to Friday 0700-1900, Saturday 0700-1500, Closed on
Sundays
I headed for the Yong
Tau Foo Stall first as I sought a steamy bowl of soup. The
servers at this stall were very warm, much like the bowls of
soup Yong Tau Foo ($4 for 7
pcs) that they sell. I picked out seven ingredients
– sausage, hard-boiled egg, tofu, fried dumpling just for $4 which
is completely worth it if you ask me.
Savour each ingredient
with a side of spicy chili sauce and with the soft, pillow-y rice
to experience complete bliss.
Yong Tau
Foo: 24 Raffles Place, Singapore 048621,
Basement | Monday to Friday 0700-1900, Saturday 0700-1500,
Closed on Sundays
While there are many
stalls like the Ramen stall and the Korean Cuisine stall at this
food court that looked rather good, I only had the opportunity to
try two and this was my second pick – Ayam Penyet.
For those who value a
good Indonesian meal, this stall will definitely do well for you.
Their classic Ayam Penyet ($6) dish comes with a
smashed up crispy, juicy chicken, some fried tofu and a side of
spicy chilli sauce. I especially loved the sweet, dark sauce that
can be added.
Ayam
Penyet: 24 Raffles Place, Singapore 048621
| Monday to Friday 0700-1900, Saturday 0700-1500, Closed
on Sundays
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This 2-storied market
and food centre that sits near the edge of Chinatown has housed
several of locals’ favourite hawker stalls for several decades now.
Tinged with a hint of nostalgia and well-decked out with a good
number of hawker stalls, it comes as no surprise that many swarm to
this area during lunch time as the selection of good foods is
seemingly endless.
Hong Lim Market and
Food Centre: 531A Upper Cross Street, Singapore 051531 | Monday to
Saturday 0600-1630, Closed on Sundays
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One of the stalls at
Hong Lim that is highly-reputed is Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee
which, as the name so obviously suggests, serves delicious plates
of Char Kway Teow. Priced at $3, one plate of Char
Kway Teow is packed with a lot of savoury flavours from the soy
sauce, scrambled eggs, wok hei and crunchy pork lard.
The Char Kway Teow here
is so delicious, you’ll feel far from satisfied when you’re done as
you’ll only want more. The queue is absurdly long though, so do be
prepared to wait. I would not recommend this if you are pressed for
time.
Outram Fried Kway
Teow Mee: 531A Upper Cross Street, Singapore 051531, Hong Lim
Market and Food Centre, #02-17 | Monday to Saturday 0700-1530,
Closed on Sundays
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Another noodles stall
that has made a name for itself, having been in the business a long
time coming, is Ji Ji Wanton Noodle Specialist. Their bowls of
wanton mee come with a good portion of sweet and succulent char
siew, juicy mushroom slices and well sauced-up noodles.
Ji Ji Wanton Noodle
Specialist: 531A Upper Cross Street, Singapore 051531, Hong
Lim Market and Food Centre, #02-48 | Monday to
Friday 0800-1900, Saturday 0800-1500, Closed on
Sundays
I always love it when a
Yong Tau Foo stall offers laksa soup as an option. This Cantonese
Delights stall at Hong Lim offers just that – Laksa Yong
Tau Foo ($4). The coconut-based, lightly-spiced laksa soup is
very smooth and silky and has a nice, traditional Hakka yong tau
foo taste with an edgier spin on it.
Cantonese Delights:
531A Upper Cross St, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, #02-03,
Singapore 051531 | Monday to Saturday 0830-1500
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It is very satisfying
to dig into a bowl of porridge that is of the right consistency, of
the right amount of water and of rice. I usually don’t go for the
thick, pasty sort of porridge so the one sold at Teo Heng Teochew
Porridge definitely sits well with me.
Apart from the
beautiful bowls of porridge sold here, the braising sauce used in
the side dishes is scrumptious and adds a lovely piquancy to the
entire dish.
Teo Heng Teochew
Porridge: 531A Upper Cross St, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre,
#01-28, Singapore 051531 | Monday to
Saturday 0830-1500
Golden Shoe Hawker
Centre is conveniently located at the heart of the Central Business
District which makes it very accessible for busy office workers at
lunch time. Most would prefer not to eat at this place mainly
because it can get quite stuffy but if the heat becomes unbearable
for you, you should simply dabao the food back to your office as
there is a good number of superb stalls here.
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The Nasi Lemak
($3) served at this Nasi Lemak stall comes with the
uniquely-green, very flavourful green coconut rice, one chicken
drumstick, half a fried egg, otah and some sambal chili. The
coconut rice is extremely fragrant and is essentially the star of
the show and there is more than enough to be had with the
likewise savoury ingredients like the otah and fried chicken.
Market Street Nasi
Lemak: Golden Shoe Hawker Centre, 50 Market Street
#02-24, Singapore 048940 | Monday to Friday 0830-1930,
Saturday 0830-1500, Closed on Sundays
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The past few times I’ve
gone scouting for food at hawker centres across the island, I’ve
encountered Tong Fong Fatt at least 4 times so it did not really
catch me off guard when I came across this stall at Golden
Shoe. The chicken is consistently generously slathered in
sweet and savoury soya sauce, the rice is always
deliciously fragrant and there is absolutely no hassle with chicken
bones.
Tong Fong Fatt
Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice: Golden Shoe Hawker Centre, 50
Market Street #02-26, Singapore 048940
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The Wanton Mee
($4) served at this stall has got to be one of the better
ones served in Singapore. There is a very generous serving of
ingredients like fried wantons, tender char siew meats, a spring
roll, green chilis and this entire savoury dish comes with a lovely
bowl of wanton soup. If that’s not completely worth the full four
dollars, I dont know what is.
Tiong Bahru Wanton
Mee: Golden Shoe Hawker Centre, 50 Market Street #02-32,
Singapore 048940
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