Pro Tips on Best Food Stalls @ Haig Road Market & Hawker Centre

Haig Road Market & Food Centre is not a big hawker centre but it has several famous stalls which attract foodies from all over Singapore. (Here are the top stalls listed according to stall number, not by ranking.)

Top Most Popular Stalls

Traditional Haig Road Putu Piring stall #01-07 is the most famous brand in Singapore selling this old Malay snack. It's a simple sweet snack of little flat steamed rice cake filled with gula Melaka (palm sugar) eaten with grated coconut and a light sprinkle of table salt to give it a savoury balance. This stall has streamlined its operations to make it more "productive". The freshly steamed putu piring still tastes the same but I feel something, a little charm is lost in the progress. Yeah.... I am being irrational here 😅

Afandi Hawa & Family stall #01-21 in my opinion, serves one of the best mee rebus in Singapore. To me, mee rebus is all about the sauce and Afandi Hawa has the most flavoursome sauce that I have tasted anywhere (Johor Bahru included), so far. The thick savoury sauce is made with dried krill (small shrimp), flower crab and mutton with turmeric and sweet potato puree etc.

林玉梅 Lin Yu Mei Kolo Mee stall #01-33 serves a kolo mee which even true blue Sarawakians living in Singapore give the thumbs up. The noodles are crunchy and the sauce well laden with lard. Must eat with their signature fresh chili sauce and bak pok (lard crouton) for the complete experience. Get the $5 serving which has more noodles - yeah, kolo mee is about that extra crunchy noodles. Only here are extra noodles, worth the extra calories 😄 (Lin Yu Mei also has Sarawak laksa but I prefer the one from here.)

Chef Chik stall #01-36 serves Cantonese restaurant type dishes in a hawker centre. Chef Chik was formerly an Executive Chef at Singapore Marriott Hotel. Hence, we get restaurant type dishes at Chef Chik's stall. Not only that, we also get top quality ingredients and 5-star hotel standard skills and execution, yet pay budget friendly hawker stall prices. Signature dishes are steamed Threadfin belly (Ikan Kurau fish), steamed fish head and belly in black bean paste, steamed salted fish pork patty, etc. Give them a call to book your place and enquire if they have any off menu items for the day e.g. fish roe, shovel nose shark, etc ☎ 9011 8979.

T.G. Fish Porridge stall #01-58 serves one of my favourite fish soup in Singapore. The Ikan Batang (Spanish mackerel) fish is fresh, the meat is done just right (tender), the watery soup is clean tasting yet flavourful, and it is reasonably priced. A hidden gem with little social media mention.

正光云吞面 Hollywood Zhenguang Wantan Noodles stall #01-67 serves old school wanton mee. Thick egg noodles done springy crunchy enveloped in a savoury spicy sauce of light soy, aromatic oil (infused with fried shallot flavour), lard and sambal chili. The wantons' minced pork filling seasoned with sesame oil have bits of tee poh (dried sole fish) embedded inside. The savoury sweet char siew are roasted in-house and comes tender and juicy. Served with a nice soup made with chicken and pork bones.

Other Popular Stalls

Rosy & Nora stall #01-15 is famous for their large fried popiah and roti John. Their traditional roti John has fried omelette, minced lamb and chopped onion sandwiched between a griddle fried, butterflied French loaf. The sandwich is eaten with mild chili sauce over its savoury eggy sweet flavour. Rosy & Nora also have a unique dish known as Ball Kentang which is a deep fried mashed potato ball with minced beef inside. It is served with a peppery savoury sweet beefy soup with lots of onions. (I've not seen this potato ball dish sold anywhere else.)

HJ. Waliti HJ. Mazuki stall #01-18 is popular for their soto ayam, mee rebus, mee siam etc. The soto ayam comes with gently spicy chicken soup, shredded boiled chicken and rice cubes (ketupat). The mee siam is old school with a spicy soup that has pronounced umami-savoury taste from dried krill and fermented soy bean. H.W H.M's mee rebus is also a hot favourite, winning fans with their sweet potato thickened sauce flavoured with dried krill, fermented bean paste, bits of lamb and a blend of mild spices. A strong contender for best mee rebus with Afandi Hawa stall (mentioned previously).

Warong Sudi Mampir stall #01-19 serves lightly marinated beef, lamb and chicken satay grilled over charcoal. They also have beef tripe. Served with a nutty mildly spiced sauce with chunky crushed peanuts. The grilled meats are slightly chewy but juicy with mild spice and lemongrass juice marinade. The tripe is softer and spongy. They serve ketupat wrapped in leaf green colour plastic - inform you first in case that might turn you off 😂

Hougang Jing Jia Mutton Soup stall #01-44 serves fall-off-the-bone mutton (rib) with no gamey taste in a watery mildly herbal soup. Personally, I like stronger flavours in my soup and some gaminess in my lamb but acknowledge that many people prefer their mutton soup the way Jing Jia does it.

V2 Claypot Corner stall #01-52 serves claypot chicken rice cooked over gas stoves. Generous chunks of well marinated chicken, slices of lup cheong (Cantonese wax sausage) and greens smother the boiled rice beneath. There's a bit of caramelised crust at the bottom and at the sides. Mix these with the fluffy rice for a good contrast of soft-tender and chewy-crisp texture in the mouth. The savoury sweetness of the ingredients and rice is complemented by savoury-salty dark soy sauce.

Kiat Huat Wanton Mee stall #01-62 always sports a long queue as it has its own loyal following. The noodles are done springy-crunchy, the aromatic sauce is savoury spicy with pulpy chili, soy sauce, sesame oil and lard. The soup has pronounced anchovy taste. Uses sweet savoury stewed type char siew. Has both crispy deep fried and boiled wanton versions, both at $3 a serving.

If you feel it is not right that your favourite stall is not mentioned 😅 , give me a shout out in the comments. I promise you that I will go back to Haig Road as soon as possible to try out your recommendation(s).

Haig Road Market & Food Centre

Address: 14 Haig Road, Singapore 430014

Nearest MRT: 10 minutes walk from Paya Lebar station

First edition: 24 Dec 2020