Guide to Hong Lim Food Centre

Helmed by two affable young hawkers from Kuala Lumpur, the humble noodle stall uses a family recipe that harkens back 30 years. At just $5.50, each signature bowl comes with bouncy handmade noodles, heaps of savoury minced meat, textures of crunchy black fungus, spinach, fried beancurd sheet with fish paste, onsen egg, and of course, a dollop of that signature chilli. But don’t expect a typical wet-style chilli paste. The homemade chilli here leans toward a drier version as it includes dried shrimp, giving plenty of umami and depth in contrast to the fiery spice. For extra oomph, order a peppery slab of fried chicken cutlet.

Eddy's is named after its chef-owner, a former private chef who is known to serve up a darn tasty plate of duck confit for just under $12. It gets pretty labour intensive too as the chef insists on using fresh duck and marinates it for an entire day before sous-viding for 16 hours. Upon order, he expertly grills each duck leg with such flair while simultaneously charring the edges with a flame-spitting blowtorch. The result? Crisp skin with perfectly rendered fat encasing fork-tender duck meat that almost needs no chewing.

Eddy’s menu also features local fusion flavours such as his punchy laksa spaghetti with pan-fried chicken chop and fiery mala shrimp pasta – but it is his signature hae bee hiam (dried shrimp chilli) that gastronomes should not sleep on.

The humble coffee stall first opened at Tekka Centre. Now, it has attained a cult following and even expanded to the likes of Bedok Food Centre and Hong Lim Food Centre. Known to bridge the gap between traditional kopi and specialty coffee, the barista outfit offers these caffeinated beverages that won't break the bank. The former starts from just $1.50 and uses a proprietary pioneer blend of Brazillian Arabica and Indonesian Robusta. For the latter, a shot of espresso goes for $2.50 while an iced latte is priced affordably at $3.70. Aside from the usual suspects, there are also matcha and mocha options available for variety.

Midas’ curry chicken is as unique as they come. Owner Sax Choa reveals that his special recipe draws inspiration from both Indian and Chinese curries. The result is a peppery viscous curry that is redolent of earthy spice – mainly from mustard seeds and cloves, sans any MSG or sugar. Each hearty bowl ($8.40) comes with generous chunks of succulent chicken, soft-boiled potatoes, a whole egg and two flaky oven-baked roti pratas. The eclectic hawker also plates up other unique creations like the butter mutton keema (from $7) and a baked garam masala chicken ($8).

One of the newest entrants in the hawker scene is this dessert shack run by two young and friendly hawkers. Here, only non-GMO Canadian soybeans are used in the making of their silky smooth beancurd and soy milk. There are about nine iterations of the freshly-made dessert with toppings from the usual suspects of red beans and grass jelly to rarer finds like nutritious peach gum. The couple also serves up black sesame beancurd made using black beans to cater to those in search of a nostalgic taste – it pairs best with chrysanthemum syrup.