SINGAPORE: One thing about Bedok New Town is, it has a lot of hawker centres. Blk 216 might be one of the most underrated Hawker Centres in the area, many times overshadowed by Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre.
It is not easy to get to Blk 216 Bedok Food Centre. From Bedok MRT, it will be about a 10 to 15 mins walk to get there. You got to stay focused on the prize as you might be distracted by the hustle and bustle along the way. You need to get to Blk 216 on the other end of the town centre.
There are still a few more stalls I like to feature, but there are simply too many. So here are all the stalls I have personally tried and are on my Good List.
Best food at Blk 216 Bedok Food Centre and Market.
Low Seng Kim
It's easy for someone to walk past this stall and not notice it. Low Seng Kim has been selling Mee Rebus and Mee Siam since 1973. Each plate of noodles starts at S$2.5. The magic touch is a teaspoon of crushed peanut which set it apart! To make the dish more substantial, add a piece of fried tofu or fried fish cake. Simply delicious and affordable. ROI guaranteed.
Chris Kway Chap
In this hawker centre, there are two popular kway chap stalls. Chris Kway Chap might be less traditional, but it is by no means inferior. You can taste the spices and herbs used in making the braising sauce. If you are a meat lover, you can also get the Pork Knuckle as part of your set. One of the big pluses is they have tau kwa. However, it is more expensive too. The portion for one starts at S$5. You can also get the S$6 option for one, which will get two bowls of kway. Chris Kway Chap is one of the top kway chap stalls in Singapore.
Chai Chee Kway Chap
The other titan in the world of kway chap is Chai Chee Kway Chap. Like Chris Kway Chap, the biggest problem for diners like me is the constant queue from when they are open to close. However, Chai Chee Kway Chap has a more robust soy flavour which you can tell by the darker colour of the broth. It starts at S$3.4 for one person serving, and it is S$6.8/S$7.8 for two. You get tau pok, pork belly, big and small intestines, a braised egg, and some pigskin in the two-person serving. You can customize what you want, add or remove items, such as fish cake.
Hong Heng Teochew Carrot Cake
Hong Heng Teochew Carrot Cake only opens in the morning till about noon. Usually, you will need to wait for up to 20 mins. Place an order, and they will give you a buzzer. There is only once in all my years of visiting them that I didn't have to wait. That is just like striking a jackpot. Between the black and white, my vote goes to the white Fried Carrot Cake. You can taste the fish sauce as well as the preserved radish bits. The char you get in the white carrot cake is simply incredible. I will always get Hong Heng Teochew Carrot Cake to share whenever I have my meal in this hawker centre. I just cannot resist.
Chai Chee Cai Tou Guo
Chai Chee Cai Tou Guo is well known for selling deep-fried carrot cake fingers. You get a bag for either S$2 or S$3. Crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. This snack brings back some of my childhood memories. When I was around five or six years old, this was the snack I would get every Sunday. It was always fun to put your fingers in the greasy bag of deep-fried carrot cake. Besides the carrot cake fingers, they have yam cake too.
Joo Chiat Pork Ribs Prawn Noodle
This is an old-school hawker stall selling traditional prawn noodles. For S$3, it is cheap compared to other similar prawn noodles stalls that are more likely to charge S$4. Besides prawns, it has sliced pork too. Joo Chiat Pork Ribs Prawn Noodles has a wide combination of pork and prawn on their menu, which you don't usually find in other prawn noodles stalls. For example, there are pig intestines, pigtails, prawns, big prawns and pork ribs. Choose any combination you will like, and chances are it is on the menu.
Prawn & Mee
Prawn & Mee was rebranded in 2019 from an umeboshi rice stall to the current prawn mee stall with a straightforward menu. There are only two items, namely Prawn Noodles or Prawn & Pork Rib Noodles. You get to pick soup or dry, prices at S$4/S$6/S$8.
Here you see a S$6 portion, with two prawns and pork ribs. The prawns are deshelled, with the head and tail still attached. A pet peeve of mine is I hate using my fingers to peel prawns. At Prawn & Mee, all the prawns are deshell with the head and the tail still attached. They have won over my heart. The pork ribs are soft, and the meat falls off the bone. Once you take a sip of the soup, you can immediately detect the pork bone flavour. I noted that the prawn flavour is more subtle than what I expect from a prawn mee stall. This might be because the prawn heads and tails are served with the noodles instead of being used to brew the soup. Overall, this is still worth the calories and judging from the queue; I think many agree too.
Old Airport Road Zheng Zong Lor Mee
[For Blog from the previous location] For Lor Mee connoisseurs, they will know 新美香卤面 Xin Mei Xiang Lor Mee is one of the best Lor Mee in Singapore. People are willing to queue up to an hour to have it. Looking at Old Airport Road Zheng Zong Lor Mee, one can't help but notice how similar this actually look compared to the former. This is because this is run by the sister of 新美香卤面 Xin Mei Xiang Lor Mee's owner, using the same recipe. The Lor Mee is served in the same white bowl and comes in 2 sizes, S$4 and S$5. I recommend going for S$5 to have the bowl loaded with fish flakes. It is a heavenly goodness when you top it with garlic and vinegar at your liking.
Imagine you get the same bowl of Lor Mee without the queue. Isn't that a hidden gem? To be clear, they do have a queue, just not as crazy as an hour wait.
Address: 216 Bedok North Street 1, Singapore 460216