Folks who live near Kovan 209 Market & Food Centre are blessed with a market with fresh produce and a hawker centre with many food stalls. No national champion stalls here but lots of tasty comfort dishes at reasonable prices. Many of the stalls are decades old brands run by veteran hawkers or their second and third generations. I have been to Kovan 209 food centre many times in the past 30 years and these are the stalls that I have tried and like. Nothing mind blowing but the vibes of the place and comforting food here evoke a certain happiness and contentment of home.
Fa Ji Minced Meat Fishball Noodle 发记 stall #01-05 🕑 8am - 7pm (Weds off) is most popular of the three bak chor mee / fishball noodle / laksa / curry mee stalls at Kovan 209. It serves soft al dente noodles enveloped in robust, old school savoury, spicy, lardy, tangy slick. No gimmicks, it builds a loyal following with comforting, familiar pleasure, yeah...., like an old habit or affordable addiction. I tried also their curry steamed chicken noodle - the curry was alright but the chicken lacked taste.
Yam Mee Teochew Fishball Noodles 炎成潮州鱼丸面 stall #01-35 🕑 7am - 9pm (Mon off) which occupies two stall spaces, is one of three popular bak chor mee / fishball noodle stalls at Kovan 209. The noodles, fishball, fish cake, fish dumpling, pork ball all seemed generic but were generously portioned in the bowl. The thick sauce is savoury-spicy and lardy in the old way. Yam Mee, yummee or not? Well, they have a lot of loyal fans queuing up everyday 😁
Hajjah Mariam Muslim Food stall #01-53 🕑 8am - 1pm (Mon & Fri off) is well known for its nasi lemak sets and is popular for Malay staples like mee rebus, mee siam, lontong and soto. Their nasi lemak sets comes with fried fish and / or chicken wing, and their savoury spicy sambal is a winner with their many fans. The batter was crisp-chewy, the chicken wing meat doesn't have much flavour, the ikan kuning fish meat also lacked flavour. The rice was chewy with taste of salt and coconut milk.
Hussain Muslim Food stall #01-54 🕑 6am - 8pm (daily) is right beside Hajjah Mariam Muslim Food and both stalls have a similar menu of nasi lemak and Malay staples. I tried their soto ayam and it was pretty enjoyable. The soup was thick, rich with flavours and it came with a whole piece of chicken wing. Shall try their nasi lemak next time.
Ah Hui Big Prawn Noodle, Long House 阿辉大虾面 stall #01-59 🕑 8am - 2pm (Mon off) is an old brand founded in the now demolished Long House food centre along Thomson Road. Ah Hui Big Prawn Noodle's main stall is now in Balestier Market and this stall at Kovan is a branch (which used to be run by the founder Tan Ah Hui). Ah Hui's signature is fresh big prawns blanched in their savoury, slightly herbal soup served up in noodles mixed with a savoury spicy sauce and lard. They also have pork ribs and tails. Old school spicy sauce prawn mee with pork.
51 Ming Fa Wanton Egg Noodle stall #01-64 🕑 7am - 1pm (Mon & Tues off) is the other wanton mee with the most passionate fans at Kovan 209. 51 Ming Fa's secret weapon is their sambal blended with lard to envelope the noodles with umami savoury spiciness. 51 Ming Fa's arsenal includes a big gun - their signature 5 Tastes Noodles which is topped with shredded chicken, stewed mushroom, char siew, prawns, and wantons. Char siew is the dry and lean type, and wantons were just average though I like it that they were infused with old school sesame oil flavour.
Your favourite stall(s) not on this list? 😤
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Not in Kovan 209 hawker centre but just 10 minutes walk away is First Street Teochew Soup, one of the most famous fish soup shops in Singapore 🕐 9am - 3pm (Mon off). They use lots of powdered tee poh (dried sole fish) in their umami-savoury sweet fish soup. For a lot of people, that's win already lor.
Written by Tony Boey on 25 Jul 2022
Unfortunately they have closed the car park to build BTO. No need for that in my view and affecting customers and thr stall holders. Anyway how l many flats can u build while the car park had been there for years
ReplyDeleteYes yes the large carpark in front of Kovan 209 market and food centre has closed for BTO construction. It has affected the business of all the market and food stalls there. There is a multi storey carpark across the road from Macdonald's. Better still, the hawker centre is at the doorstep of Kovan MRT station. Can take MRT there like me 😬 Please continue to support the hawkers of Kovan 209 (by Tony)
DeleteI like this post as you were honest and published what you enjoyed and what wasn’t up yr alley. Keep it up on such fair postings!
ReplyDeleteMissed out in your list is the Kovan Rojak, always long queue
ReplyDelete