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Food Explorer Storyteller with 63 million+ reads ๐Ÿ“ง johorkaki@gmail.com

Pasar 216 Bedok Central. Underrated Hawker Centre with Many Best Food Stalls

216_Bedok_Central_Hawker_Centre

Pasar 216 Bedok Central hawker centre is off the tourist belt in a mature public housing area but it has many excellent food stalls - more than many famous, higher media profile hawker centres. It is highly accessible as it is just 5 minutes walk from Bedok MRT station. These are the most popular stalls.

Pasar 216 Bedok Central


Address: 216 Bedok North Street 1, Singapore 460216


Nearest MRT station: Bedok



216_Bedok_Central_Hawker_Centre

Hougang Lee Chen Cooked Food stall #01-54 has a queue 30 minutes before opening time at 11:30am. They serve one of the best Teochew fish soup in Singapore. The ikan batang fish (mackerel) slices are fresh and sweet in a mildly savoury sweet clean tasting clear soup with generous amount of lettuce inside. Fried garlic bits add savoury-umami to the soup. Always get the roe if you are lucky enough to see them as they taste great and are sold out very fast. Competitive pricing, friendly hawkers.


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Han Kee Fish Soup stall #01-46 is the other popular Teochew fish soup at 216 Bedok. The ikan batang fish and soup have a slightly different taste as its competitor but ingredients are equally fresh at both stalls. Han Kee uses fried shallot for garnish (whereas their competitor uses fried garlic). Competitive pricing. Han Kee's fare is milder tasting and have their own loyal following. I like both.


216_Bedok_Central_Hawker_Centre

Prawn & Mee stall #01-45 serve prawn noodle, prawn & pork rib noodle both in soup and "dry" versions. For the "dry" version, the noodles are tossed in a lardy, savoury, sweet sauce with a spicy hot sting in the aftertaste. The prawns are served shelled with head intact. I like prawns this way (dislike unshelled prawns except at home where I can use all fingers). The soup that comes with the noodles has a rich body with robust crustacean umami-savoury sweet flavours. Owned and run by young hawkers, Prawn & Mee's fans come from a wide cross section from seniors to millennials. (The pork ribs are also very popular but I haven't tried yet.)


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Ma Bo Lor Mee stall #01-76 serve a very competitively priced bowl of thick flat yellow noodles smothered in a thick smooth savoury sweetish sauce. The serving comes with strips of stewed pork belly, fried battered fish, stewed egg, fish cake slices. Tastes good and a lot of food for $2.50. The best things here are the lor (gooey sauce) and fried fish (get extra add-ons). Queue is perpetually long. There are many Ma Bo Lor Mee outlets around Singapore, this is the most successful one as far as I can see. I mean I don't remember other Ma Bo Lor Mee outlets sporting long queues like here in 216 Bedok.


216_Bedok_Central_Hawker_Centre

Hon Ni Kitchen stall #01-07 serve Chinese style nasi lemak. The aromatic rice made with good quality rice grains is infused with coconut milk fragrance and sweetness balanced with a bit of saltiness. The fried chicken is well marinated, batter is thin, fried to a crisp outside and is tender and juicy inside. They have both chicken wing and boneless thigh. The stir fried vegetables are done well, retaining their natural crunch and juices. Very important - the fried egg has runny yolk! 
The sambal chili tastes well balanced spicy sweet with pronounced anchovy umami-savouriness. Doesn't taste overly salty like those commonly found in other nasi lemak places. I like Hon Ni's nasi lemak more than some high media profile, big fame stalls. Prices are very competitive too.


216_Bedok_Central_Hawker_Centre

Joo Chiat Chiap Kee stall #01-31 serve old school Teochew fishball noodles. Noodles tossed in a lardy, savoury, spicy sauce. The fishballs and dish dumplings are hand made at the stall. There may be better fishball stalls elsewhere but here in 216 Bedok, Joo Chiat Chiap Kee is the king.


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Chai Chee Kway Chap stall #01-67 is one of two popular kway chap stalls at 216 Bedok food centre. The one-person set priced at $3.40 comes with a bowl of kway and a plate of mixed stewed offal, egg, etc. For the sides, I normally ask to have only pig skin and pork offal. Chai Chee Kway Chap's offals and skin are well cleaned and stewed in a mildly savoury spiced stock that allows a bit of residual natural porcine taste / aroma. I like it this way. Texture isn't soft-mushy, some natural spring and crunch is retained.


216_Bedok_Central_Hawker_Centre

Chris Kway Chap stall #01-80 serve a similar dish as Chai Chee Kway Chap but stewed a little softer and tastes a little sweeter with slightly more spice flavour. Some people are fans of one or the other kway chap stall but I enjoy both.

216_Bedok_North_Hawker_centre

133 Mian Fen Guo serve tasty mee hoon kueh and ban mian in a delicious pork soup (I haven't tried the dry version which I heard is also very good). The mee hoon kueh and ban mian are made fresh while we wait in line ๐Ÿ˜„ The mee hoon kueh are hand torn, relatively thin and very smooth. Just $2 for a serving of the wholesome old school comfort dish.

I missed out your favourite stall? ๐Ÿ˜ฑ How outrageous! ๐Ÿ˜“


Don't be mad at me ๐Ÿ˜ค


Let me know your favourite in the comments. I promise that I will visit your recommended stall as soon as possible. I may include it in this list. If not, at the very least, I will reply to you in the comments.


Thank you for helping me make this list more helpful ๐Ÿ’›


You might also like to check out Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre ๐Ÿ‘ˆ click



Written by Tony Boey on 26 Feb 2021

13 comments:

  1. hi tony, SIngapore Foodie used your image in their article https://singaporefoodie.com/old-amoy-chendol-at-chinatown-complex-food-centre/

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  2. Think Rui Xing Ka Fei Cha Shi ็‘žๅ…ด #01-42 is worth a mention for their nice coffee and reasonable prices. They close early before 10.30am though, off on Mon. Also, the har cheong gai at Sin Ho ๆ˜Ÿๆฒณ #01-75 available in the evening only (off Mon & Tues) is right up there with the best :-)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your recommendations! I shall pay them a visit and update :-D Appreciate much :-D

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  3. The fried You Yiao stall is also very popular.

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    1. Thank you for your recommendation :-D I will go look for it.

      Do you have more info about the stall e.g. stall #? Appreciate much.

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  4. The popular You Tiao stall is the stall next to Rui Xing coffee. It is open only on Tue and Fri. Other days, closed.

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    1. Thank you :-D Shall go for it as soon as possible :-D

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  5. What about the you zha kueh store?
    And the carrot cake stick store as well...

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  6. Hi Tony, I enjoy reading your blog very much. Joo Chiat Chiap Kee is my fave fishball noodle stall. I read in this post that you enjoy other fishball noodle stalls as well. Can you recommend a few of your top favourites to me? I will like to go and jiak when I have the time. Thank you.

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  7. I am a resident of bedok and my nearest hawker centre is at blk 216. I have to queue for hours whenever I need to grab breakfast or lunch. It is because of inconsiderate blogger like you that caused so much inconvenience to me. People from all over Singapore come to blk 216 and yet for me, it is supposed to be convenient for but this convenience is taken away. I know you are not the only blogger who did it but I am very frustrated to be in the situation.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your feedback. Yes 216 Bedok has many famous stalls that attract people from all over the island to come and eat. That has caused inconvenience to everyone - customers from the neighbourhood and also hawkers. The spread of information will naturally lead to more people coming to 216 Bedok. I really have no answer. People (like me) who do not live near many good hawkers have to travel to taste popular stalls. My role and influence is small. What I am doing is to also recommend other hawker centres so that the crowds spread out (though my part is insignificant). More hawkers get new customers but the waiting kept manageable. Maybe you can also consider giving other hawkers at 216 Bedok a try and discover new favourites. Bon appetito.

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    2. You should be thankful to be staying so close to such good food. Other people are not so fortunate and have to travel just to taste good and cheap food. Your complaints about having to wait in long queues to buy your food seem so petty to me.

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    3. Hawkers depend on bloggers for increased biz...it is their livelihood....same for bloggers....ultimately quality is key to their survival...I am an independent consumer who'll refer to reviews whenever I need one....it's the same when for eg u want to buy an appliance....you'll google for the best prices n places to buy from...wont u?...I happen to kmow Bedok well....there r many food options in your vicintity within easy walking distance...u r lucky...be grateful

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