Geylang Serai Malay Market & Food Centre is the Halal food central of Singapore hawker centres. There are over 60 food stalls on level two above the wet market. People from all over the island join residents to shop and eat at the famous food stalls here. These are the 10 most popular stalls in Geylang Serai Food Centre. (List is according to stall number, not ranking.)
Top 3 Popular Stalls
Iqbal Soup Kambing stall #02-128 is a boon for lamb lovers. They serve various spicy lamb dishes. Their sup kambing or Indian Muslim style mutton soup is a star. Thick viscous rich soup loaded with spice flavour and aroma with subtle underlying mutton taste which doesn't come across as gamey. The moist mutton is fall-off-the-bone tender and well infused with herb and spice flavours. There's also tongue, shank bone (with marrow), brains, etc., if you are game for it. (My buddy Peng Seng and I used to go often to the mutton soup stall at Adam Road for eye balls 👀...., but that's a story for another post 😄 )
Sinar Pagi Nasi Padang stall #02-137 serves a fine Nasi Padang with lots of side dish options. Rendang, curry and everything nice. Must try dishes for me are beef rendang, signature grilled chicken marinated in coconut milk (ayam panggang), and crunchy beansprouts with fried grated coconut. The spice flavours are well balanced, even exquisite. The food is delicious but expect to pay a premium for finer quality ingredients and superior skill in preparation.
Other Popular Stalls
Geylang Serai Cendol stall #02-107 serves a traditional cendol of just house made rice noodles infused with pandan leaf juice, coconut milk, crushed ice, and gula Melaka (caramelised palm sugar). Not overly sweet. The stall has a sign that shouts "NO RED BEANS", so don't ask 🤭 A simple cold dessert that warms my heart without fail.
Rojak & Mee Siam stall #02-126 is popular for their Indian rojak. They serve a wide variety of deep fried fritters, cuttlefish, fish cake, beef lung, fried tofu, tempeh etc., which are eaten with a thick spicy sweet sauce made with sweet potato puree. The fried fritters do not come out overly greasy, which is good.
Nasi Ayam Sambal stall #02-129 serves Malay style chicken rice. The chicken thigh is fried to a golden brown crisp outside while the inside is juicy and sweet. The rice is aromatic with chicken stock and the dish is eaten with their signature house made spicy sweet slightly sourish sambal which packs quite a sharp kick.
Gerai Nenek Obek stall #02-136 serves rice (nasi) with side dishes, curries and sambals in various forms such as Nasi Jenganan, Nasi Rawon, Nasi Ambeng, etc. Very convenient and saves the stress of wondering what to order from their array of over 30 side dishes including rendang. Gerai Nenek Obek is a Geylang Serai stalwart since 1963 with its roots in Surabaya, Indonesia. Queues are long during lunch for their full blown spice and meat / vegetable flavours.
Alrahman Kitchen stall #02-139 serves a variety of Indonesian / Malay dishes. They have a good mee rebus of blanched yellow noodles smothered with a redolent mildly spicy sweet savoury sauce. Complete the light meal with a begedil (spiced potato cutlet). Alrahman Kitchen is also popular for their gado gado which is lontong (rice cubes), fried tofu, tempeh etc., blanketed in a thick peanut and spice sauce.
Alhambra Satay stall #02-145 makes their own chicken, lamb, and beef satay at the stall. The lightly spice (turmeric) and lemongrass marinated meat are skewered with a thin stick and grilled at the stall on order. The tender succulent juicy grilled meat are eaten with a house made spiced peanut sauce. Stall traces its roots to the nostalgic Satay Club at the old Esplanade / Elizabeth Walk. (Note: Recent reviews have been mixed with mentions of stiff beef and mutton.)
Kueh Talam Asli stall #02-148 serves traditional Malay cakes (kueh) which rely heavily on coconut milk and pandan leaf for flavour (two of my favourite food ingredients). Their signature is kueh talam, a sweet layered cake of rice flour and coconut milk custard infused with pandan fragrance.
Geylang Serai Chee Kong stall #02-149 serves a popular cheng tng which is loaded with lotus seed, gingko nut, candied winter melon, longan, barley, white fungus, etc. I like it that the cheng tng is not overly sweet. (Yes, in Singapore and Johor, Chee Kong is the Malay term for Cheng Tng. Does anyone know how this came about? Please share, if you have any insight.)
Otak Otak Kampung stall #02-165 makes the traditional cake of spices and bits of dory fish held together with coconut milk and grated coconut wrapped in attap palm leaf. No flour or starch is used so it is softer and more flavour and aroma packed. The otak otak is toasted at the stall on order on an electric grill. Mildly spicy and sweeter (from the coconut) than flour / starch filled versions.
Your personal favourite isn't mentioned here? Don't be mad with me, just give me a shout out in the comments and I promise you that I will go down again to Geylang Serai to double check it as soon as possible.
Geylang Serai Malay Market & Food Centre
Address: 1 Geylang Serai, Singapore S402001
Nearest Subway: 15 minutes slow walk from Paya Lebar MRT station
Brief History of Geylang Serai Malay Market & Food Centre
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| Geylang Serai 1962. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore |
Geylang Serai was teeming, chock a block with street side hawkers during the 1960s.
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| Geylang Serai Market 1964. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore |
Almost all the hawker stalls moved into Geylang Serai
Market (which opened in 1964).
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| Geylang Serai Market 1971. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore |
Geylang Serai Market was a foodies' haven then (as it still is today).
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| Geylang Serai Market 2010. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore |
The old market was demolished in 2006 and completely rebuilt. Expanded and modernised, it re-opened in 2010. The hawkers were relocated and resumed serving their delicious traditional cuisine at level 2 of Geylang Serai Malay Market & Food Centre.
Geylang Serai Market & Food Centre today (2020) with its signature Minangkabau inspired architecture. So beautiful.
First edition: 17 Dec 2020
Thanks for the blog. It gives me an idea of what food to eat when I go over to Geylang Serai. Not all Malays shops there due to the easy necessities already available around the neighbourhood. Its a once in a blue moon to go Geylang. Its quite a distance for West siders to travel to many kilometers. ✌🏻
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