Good Food Guide to Hainanese Village Centre (Hougang Lor Ah Soo) ❤️ Feel the Heart in this Heartland Hawker Centre

Hainanese Village (Lor Ah Soo) Centre is a relatively small market & food centre but it is well loved as there are several good food stalls and warm kampung spirit here. Every day, families, neighbours, friends etc., come here to have a tasty, affordable meal and la kopi (stir coffee i.e. hang out over coffee).

Hainanese Village Centre (also known as Lor Ah Soo Market & Food Centre)

Address: 105 Hougang Ave 1, Singapore 530105

Nearest MRT: 10 minutes walk from Kovan station

Hainanese Village Centre have only about 50 food stalls all on level two above the wet market, but it is always busy. It is airy, bright, clean and well kept.

I like the vibes here as I can feel a certain kampung spirit in this place. Many people seemed to be familiar and warm towards one another.

Besides family, neighbours and friends, people are attracted to Hainanese Village Centre because of the popular food stalls here. A thing I like about Hainanese Village Centre is, while the best stalls have a constant queue but they are not crazy long as this is still a neighbourhood food centre and not a foodie playground yet.

The stalls are listed according to ascending stall numbers; not in order of preference or popularity. (Most of the stalls do not have English names but it is easy to locate them with stall numbers.)

Ming Fa Duck Rice stall #02-01 serve traditional Teochew style braised duck with rice. The duck cut in large pieces is tender and slightly chewy. The sauce flavour is mildly sweet and savoury with Chinese 5-spice taste. Remember to get their signature sambal chili which is loaded with anchovies.

Dong Jin Yuan Dian Xin stall #02-04 serve fried fritters like carrot fingers (like fries), carrot cake (small slabs) and prawn cake. All done to a golden brown crisp outside while tender moist inside. All tastes savoury sweet but in different ways. Such style of fried fritters are not commonly found in Singapore hawker centres, so it is worth a try.

Da Zhong Cafe stall #02-20 is popular with locals for their robust Nanyang coffee, soft boiled eggs and kaya / butter toasts which they also offer in convenient sets.

Ponggol Noodles stall #02-24 serve a unique take on bak chor mee with handmade pork balls. They also have it with stewed pork intestine. I like their soft slurpy noodles in a drippy sweet savoury sauce that includes lard, chili and savoury braising stock. Love their tender juicy handmade pork balls with spring onion and tee poh embedded inside.

潮香熟食 Chao Xiang Cooked Food stall #02-27 serve kway chap. I judge food centres by whether they have a good kway chap stall or not (quirky, biased unker 😂 ). 潮香's braised intestines are well cleaned. The pig skin, belly, intestines are well infused with mild savoury braising stock. The various parts are all tender-soft in different ways. The thin rice sheets (kway) are smooth and slurpy with flavourful stock clinging to its broad sides. Prices are very affordable too.

Yi Liu Xiang stall #02-30 is famous for their nasi lemak with fried fish (lightly battered ikan selar), fragrant coconut rice and savoury spicy sweet sambal chili. They also have fried whitebait, fish fillet, fishcake, otak otak etc., side dishes (but no chicken wings, egg or peanuts). Their hottest item is their crispy fried ikan selar - be here by 10am if you want to stand any chance of eating this. Otherwise, you have to settle for factory made fried fish fillet which many find not bad too.

Hup Huat (White) Carrot Cake stall #02-35 serve house made soft carrot cake fried like pancake squares with eggs. Nice sweet eggy flavour with bits of chai poh providing crunch and umami savoury taste. Optional chili adds gentle spicy heat. I like it that Hup Huat's carrot cake is fried to a slight crisp outside but it is not overly greasy at all.

Bedok Chwee Kueh stall #02-45 - I know right, this is a franchise but chwee kueh is a dish that can be made in a central kitchen without compromising quality. Bedok Chwee Kueh outlets are always popular for their oversized jiggly soft rice cakes, savoury stewed chai poh and savoury spicy chili sauce. It's no different here at Hainanese Village Centre. More about Bedok Chwee Kueh at their parent stall.

Yong Seng Teochew Fishball Mee stall #02-47 serve a popular rendition of the Teochew comfort dish. Though the fishballs are not handmade they are springy and tasty enough. The main selling point is the al dente noodles tossed in a savoury lardy tangy spicy sauce with a nice hot sting. There's a trace of tee poh umami in their savoury sweet pork bone soup.

Wang Jiao Shu Shi stall #02-41 serve old school wanton mee with springy noodles in a savoury lardy sauce (chili optional) and topped with lean charcoal roasted char siew. I got hooked on their soft-crunchy noodles with a springy bounce that resonate in the ears with every bite. Go also for their popular prawn dumpling (sui kow), and noodles with soy braised chicken feet or chicken curry (which I haven't).

Your favourite stall(s) not on this list? 😤

Don't be mad at me 😱

Let me know your favourite(s) by dropping a comment 🙏

I promise that I will visit your suggested stall as soon as possible. I may add the stall to this list. If not, at the very least, I will reply to your comment in detail.

Thank you for helping make this list more useful 🙏

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Written by Tony Boey on 18 Apr 2021