Hunting for affordable and delicious food at hawker places? Tiong Bahru Market is it. There are a lot of food choices from noodles to rice and some great bites too! Check these out:
Photo Credit: Tow Kwar Pop Rojak
You get to taste smoky and fruity Tow Kwar Pop over here. It is a perfect snack for you between meals. The dried beancurd is stuffed with bean sprout and cucumber slices, then, being grilled over the charcoal. They are grilled till perfect crispy for you to be eaten. You can choose either tow kwar pop tossed with some fresh fruit or the full rojak set.
Photo Credit: Jian Bo Tiong Bahru Shui Kueh
The Chwee Kueh at Tiong Bahru is totally recommended for your breakfast. The price is reasonable and it is delicious which most of the customers would come back for them. The kueh here are bouncy and serving with the preserved radish and the chili, a savory and spicy combination. It is served best during hot as when it is cool down, there would be a pool of oil around the rice cake.
At this stall in Tiong Bahru Market, you can find bouncy and fresh fish balls. The favorites among their customers are the fish balls and fishcakes. The owner uses fresh wolf herring fish for making of the fish paste which there is a certainly assured bounciness of the fish pastes. The otah fishcake and tofu cheesecake are also recommended to try.
You can get Bak Chor Noodle with delicious Meatballs at this stall and is priced at an affordable price. The owner is generous with the ingredients such as sliced and minced pork, mushrooms and the vegetables. The Meatballs are homemade and is greatly recommended by the foodies that came here before, each bite, the flavor would explode into the taste buds of yours!
Any Prawn lover here? You can consider coming over to try out this affordable yet tasty prawn noodle in the town. They are well-known for their Pork Rib Prawn Noodle Dry which the noodle comes with pork lard, fried shallots, pork ribs and large prawns. The noodles are just nice as it is firm and not too soft to be eaten.
There is often a long queue at this Wanton Noodle stall. The attractive point of the stall is their Char Siew. The crowd is willing to wait 30 minutes for having them! The wanton noodle is springy and with the thick sliced barbecued pork, it is so beautiful and delicious. The char siew is tender and the fats are in perfect ratio to the meat. Do come early to try them out as the Char Siew gets sold out really fast.
The Hokkien Mee here is a little wet compared to the others as it is rich in prawn broth. This made the noodle more savory. The prawn broth is made through the boiling prawn heads for many hours by the owner. The broth would be soaked into the noodles during the frying of noodles which you can even taste the essence in each bite. There would be chili on the side which mainly to add to the taste of the noodle and adding of a squeeze of lime is recommended.
This chicken rice is a hidden gem in Tiong Bahru as they are award-winning Hainanese chicken rice. They received Michelin's Bib Gourmand this year and last year. The price is affordable and the portion is humble. They have one of the most aromatic chicken rice in Singapore and it is not overly oily. The chicken is cooked beautifully, sliced into thick pieces and tender to be eaten.
You also can catch a dessert after your meal at the Tiong Bahru Market. At Liang Liang, you can catch up some cold dessert for the warm weather. They are well-known with their Dinosaur Ice Kachang which there are the Milo powder and red beans which have replaced the sugar syrup and evaporated milk in the Ice Kachang. Another highly recommended dessert here is the Cheng Tng which there sugar syrup and cheaper fillers like jellies. Liang Liang’s Cheng Tng uses much of the full of traditional ingredients like dried persimmons.
Looking for smooth and silky Tau Huay and it is now really hard to get one nowadays. Coming to the Tiong Bahru market, you get to find it and they are priced at a reasonable price. The beancurd may look firm but each scoop of the beancurd you can taste that is so soft that is melting in the mouth. You get to taste the soy flavor even after adding of the sugar syrup. Remember to come early if you would like to try this as it gets sold out fast.