Hawkers, Zichars & Kopitiams

This massive platter with chicken and mutton fed 5 of us comfortably and we could not stop digging in! The long grained rice was tasty and full of flavour, but not at all oily, and the tender meat had been torched to give it that lovely smokey flavour. Am usually not a fan of mutton but in this case, the mutton was very well cooked and not too Camry. We also had a separate serving of chicken dum briyani and it was very very good as well. Huge fan of this. Go early since there is little seating!

$6 for this large bowl of prawn noodles loaded with small intestines, pork ribs and prawns. Not the sweet, seafood-y kind of broth but more hearty and robust. Yum.

Everything was sooooo good. Sadly our fish was slightly overcooked (though still extremely fresh and yummy) but that bittergourd omelette was da bomb - and I don’t even eat bittergourd normally. It was most definitely the salted egg in it. Must orders include the fish cake (that bouncy texture - yaas!!) and the quintessential salted fish minced meat patty (best I’ve tasted).

Best time to go is around 2.30pm - after lunch and before the mid-afternoon break that they take around 4pm. And hope there isn’t someone ordering 10 bowls in front of you 🤦🏻‍♀️

This coffeeshop is known for the coin prata but its other treasures include this toasted French loaf with kaya and butter and the chicken rice stall run by a young couple. I looooove this toast - the crusty exterior yields easily to fluffy and soft bread slathered with just the right amount of butter and kaya. The French loaves are not always available - they are delivered in the mid to late morning I believe. And bring tissue - butter dripping onto your hands is almost a sure thing.

Made a trek down here since we heard Anthony Bourdain was here filming a few months back. Pretty good soup and well cooked noodles but not super kickass. But at least we didn't feel thirsty after, and for $4, it was really decent.

Waited one hour for this - and it was totally worth it. Hidden at the back of the wet market, this is one of very few stalls open in the evenings but follow the smell of burning charcoal and you'll find MANY tables with people waiting patiently for their fish head steamboat. When the trolley comes round for you to make your choices of side dishes, you know your fish head steamboat is about to arrive. The soup is thick and rich with that kickass smokey taste. Generous chunks of super fresh fish and yam. The side dishes are excellent too (get the braised egg and the duck wings!). Help yourself to free refills from the kettles of soup at the front of the store. Super shiok. (Tip: If you're too hungry while waiting.. get some food to go from the excellent Whampoa Drive food market less than 200m away to eat first.)

Love that the gravy isn't too salty. Perfectly balanced and cleaned expertly. Be prepared to queue on weekends.

Wholesome and super freaking delicious. Those crunchy prawn balls and soft beancurd skin and perfectly seasoned meatballs... Absolute fave (that we keep coming back to even though dad is always complaining that they don't allow him to take extra chili 😂)

Melben's crab bee hoon soup is really unbeatable. Super satisfying meal. The quality of the crabs here is really excellent. Come early to get seats - it was empty at 5.45 on a Friday night but filled up quickly (and the famous queue started forming...)

Enjoying this one last time before it moves to Hillview (😭 so far). New Ubin's salted egg squid is the bomb. It is really unadulterated salted egg coating tender squid slices. And their hokkien mee is da bomb. Better than the fried rice and steak, which tasted middling this time...

It's been a long time since I visited this market, which is the market of my childhood. This stall run by young hawkers caught my eye and I am SO glad I tried it. The soup was super sweet and rich from the addition of clams to the stock. Paid $8 for a bowl of the big prawn noodles, and it came with 4 plump and fresh big prawns, clams and some pork belly (no limp slices of blanched lean pork here!). Even the $5 bowl of normal prawn noodles would be satisfying enough cos man, that soup is SO good. They also had crayfish and lobsters on display, and I saw plenty of people tucking into the lobster noodles with much gusto. So pleased to see young hawkers succeeding - you know it's good when aunties and uncles queue up for you in a market already filled with good food 💯