Singapore Hawker Center Dilemma (SHCD)

Everyone who has been to Singapore knows that the various hawker centers throughout the city are the places to go for great meals without spending much.  Some centers have some well known stalls that attract long lines, especially the ones that have received one michelin star.  But really it is hard to get bad food in any of them.  Here comes the dilemma though, at least for me, it is really hard to get just one or two dishes as there are such a good variety of things to eat.  So you end up with a bunch of things and eating way too much.

For example, I went to the Chinatown food street (touristy and pricier then most hawker center, but very solid) after work on my first day during a recent trip and started with the oyster pancake.  Then I couldn't resist these chicken wings.  After the chicken wings I was pretty full, but then, I saw the Bak kut teh stall and thought a bowl of soup would be nice after that really long flight and a day of work.  I needed to walked it off but taking a stroll isn't exactly fun in 90 degree weather.

Maybe this wasn't so much of a dilemma and more of a mild regret (a very mild one since I enjoyed all of the food).  Maybe the dilemma is that after a great spicy / greasy / delicious meal washed down with a couple of tiger beers, are you ready to use public toilet?

hot corner

I heard about this spot from a comment on eatingasia's facebook page. so when I was in Singapore for a short business trip, I decided to check it out.

at this corner of Gaylang and lor 29, there are 5 businesses as far as I can tell. The one closest to Gaylang is selling a duck and rice dishes, going down the lor, you see the stall selling hokkien mee (福建麵), then there is a satay stall, a stall selling fried oyster/oyster omelet, and finally a stall selling drinks.

there are other corners like this on the Gaylang. In fact, I ate lor mee (滷麵）from a stall a couple of blocks away the night before because all the places here were closed by the time I got here. They are like mini hawker centers on street corners, while other corners are occupied by larger, single eating/drinking establishments.


Although it took me two trips to get to try the hokkien mee that I came for, it did not disappoint. While not much to look at, the dish has loads of flavor. Squid, shrimp and egg noodle in a light sauce (I think there were some crab elements in here, but no crab meat), worked over in a wok. The lady saw that I was by myself, asked if I wanted small or medium; I said medium, although I do not regret that one bit, had I left some room, I would have been able to try some oysters too.

I did order some pork belly satay from the stall next to the noodle stall. Grilled over charcoal, nicely charred at places , not fatty and ever so slightly chewy, it was fantastic. the overall flavor with the dipping sauce was a little too sweet for me, but I thought they were worth the premium over the regular pork satay (1 dollar vs 40 cent singapore dollar per skewer).


Judging from the quality of the noodles and the satay, I am definitely coming back to this corner next time I am in singapore to try the duck rice and the oysters.