Following the Singapore Michelin Guide 2016, we had tried all the hawkers stalls in their list of recommendations in Chinatown Complex, Hong Lim Market & Food Centre and Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre. We have fun trying all the delicacies and rediscovering nice local food without having to try every stalls in Singapore.
And so, we continued our 4th food hunt to People's Park Complex Food Centre (珍珠坊美食阁). Apart from those listed in the Michelin Guide, we also included some of our favourite stalls.
Based on Michelin Guide 2016
There are only two recommended stalls in People's Park Food Centre in the Michelin Guide.
1. Zhen Zhu Fang Roasted Delights (珍珠坊烧腊)
Roasted delights are a favourite local delicacies in Singapore with barbecue pork, roasted pork, roasted duck, roasted chicken, steamed chicken, soya sauce chicken, etc. to pick and mix for a meal. There are a number of roasted delights stalls in Chinatown but Zhen Zhu Fang (Chinese hanyu pinyin for People's Park Complex) Roasted Delights stands out among them. They serve boiled soup as well.
Their roasted duck and barbecue pork noodle is my favourite. Apart from the tender meats, and crispy duck skin, the noodle is crunchy and great too. My first mouthful of the noodle and I go "wow"! If you are going in a group, go for a platter of all the different meats and try them all.
Operating Hours: 9am to 9pm
2. Hong Peng La Mian Xiao Long Bao (洪鹏拉面小笼包)
Hong Peng sells a variety of food ranging from different types of Chinese meat dumplings, both steamed and fried, to hand-pulled noodles and porridge with different ingredients. Since Michelin Guide recommended xiao long bao (steamed meat dumpling with soup) and their hand-pulled noodle, we ordered a basket of xiao long bao and their flavoured beef noodle to try.
The meat dumplings (xiao long bao) is fresh and soupy and so much better than those sold in restaurants in Singapore. We also tried the beef shank noodle. The flavoured beef slices are nicely done and the hand-pulled noodle is not too thick and really smooth. But the noodle is a lot such that two persons can share a bowl.
Operating Hours: 10am to 10pm
Other Recommended Stalls
Below are some stalls that we also visited in People's Park Complex Food Centre and we felt that they are good to be included here. A search on the Internet also confirmed that they are highly recommended by locals. Do check them out.
1. Yong Xiang Xing Tau Foo (永祥兴豆腐)
Yong Xiang Xing Tau Foo is hard to miss. There is always a long queue that leads you right to the stall. The waiting can be as long as 15 minutes when they are preparing the next batch of ingredients. But once that is done, serving is quite fast.
Ordering from Yong Xiang Xing is simple, just tell them how many bowls you want and your table number. They sell yong tau foo in soup only. There is no rice or noodle and neither is there any variants in portion. Each bowl contains about 10 pieces of their handmade fish balls, beancurds with meat, tau pok, etc. It's great as a light meal without carbohydrates.
Do get a table first, especially during peak hours, the stall helpers will insist on bringing the food to you as the soup is hot. And their sweet chili is a great match for the yong tau foo.
Operating Hours: 10am to 4pm
2. Ri Ri Hong Ma La Hot Pot (日日红麻辣香锅)
If you like spicy food, try Sichuan's spicy hotpot (or mala hot pot). There are a couple of such stalls in People's Park Complex Food Centre but Ri Ri Hong is rather popular. All you need to do is to point out what you want, specify the desired spiciness level and collect a number tag. They will stir-fried the ingredients in a wok with pepper and dried chili. During peak hours, you will need to collect the food from behind the stall using the tag number.
We tried once with "big" spiciness level and it was so spicy that we keep sweating and downing cold drinks, but we still manage to finish it up. Second time, we tried "medium", and the spiciness is acceptable. Do start with the "medium" or "low" level if you are unsure whether you can handle the spiciness.
Operating Hours: 11am to 9pm
There are still many stalls that we have yet to try but we will do so and update this post. Do check back again. As for which food centre we will go next, it should be easy to guess if you have followed our food trail on Singapore local food.
More Michelin Guide 2016 food hunts: