89 Carrot Cake • Homemade Chai Tow Kueh @ 89 Macpherson Food Centre 菜頭粿

Buddy who lives nearby 89 Macpherson hawker centre mentioned I should come for the carrot cake here. So, here I am 🙏

Macpherson Market and Food Centre is a quintessential old school Singapore hawker centre. Not a big space, just about 50 stalls, compact but clean and bright. Kept new inside by regular renovation but the basic structure is still reminiscent of the original (which is a good thing in my humble opinion). 

1967 ready to receive the first hawkers

Built in 1967 (opened in 1968), it's an old urban village gathering place for residents for the past 57 years. 

The mixed but familiar crowd, the chatter and banter, clanging sounds of wok work, and smells of caramelised sauces in the air, this place has an old kind of charming warmth which I enjoyed immersing myself in. 

The uncle who founded 89 Carrot Cake has retired but still comes to the stall to chat with friends and regulars. His daughter now manages the stall, takes orders, handles cash duties while her friend does the frying work. 

89 is one the last hawker stalls in Singapore that still make their own carrot cake. This photo was taken at 7:30am. They don't make a lot of it, so they are usually sold out before noon. 

When you order and pay, you will be given a pager which buzzes when your order is ready. I waited around 30 minutes at around 8am.

They have black and white, I opted for the smallest portion of white for $4. Save tummy space for second round when buddy join me later. 

This chai tow kway has house made carrot cake, scrambled eggs, fried garlic, chye poh, and a sprinkle of scallion, slightly greasy but not lard. Actually, I have not come across any chai tow kueh in Singapore that uses lard anymore. (If you know, please share with us.) 

The egg wrapping the carrot cake had a subtle seared crisp. The carrot cake was soft almost like custard but not mushy. There were visible bits of embedded radish and red carrot. The savoury flavours from fried garlic and chye poh as well as savoury (fish) sauce provided balance to the subtly sweet carrot cake.

There was a layer of slight spicy heat as I opted for it. The sprinkle of chopped scallion provided its fresh aromatic smell and taste that added to and rounded up all the layers of flavours.

I am glad a new generation has carried on uncle's legacy so we can enjoy house made chye tow kueh from 89 Carrot Cake for a few more years. Thank you 🙏

Stall name: 89 Carrot Cake 菜頭粿

Address: 89 Circuit Rd, stall #01-102 MacPherson Market & Food Centre, Singapore 370089

Nearest MRT: 15 minutes walk from Mattar station

Hours: 6:30am - 12 noon

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Written by Tony Boey on 15 Feb 2025