Newton Hawker Food Centre opened in 1971 and is the first hawker centre that opened with a courtyard garden setting to complement Singapore’s image of a garden city.
This hawker centre is famous among both locals and tourists due to its convenient location near Orchard Road and its wide variety of food.
Newton Hawker Centre was also featured in the famous blockbuster movie ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ with movie stars raving about Singapore Street food and the iconic Singapore night market scene.
Below are some of the famous food stalls you should try when you come here.
XO Minced Pork Noodles
This stall attracts a long queue at lunch time with its handmade chewy meatballs, fried fish dumplings, fish cakes, scallop and minced meat served in a bowl of noodles. Even the soup is so flavorful that you wish you can have an extra serving. I ordered their signature XO bak chor mee (BCM) large for $6. Look at that satisfying bowl of goodness! This is the largest bowl of BCM I’ve seen in Singapore.
Stall #: 01-10
Opening Hours: 24 hours daily.
You Ji Braised Duck Rice
You Ji Braised Duck Rice – also known as Yu Kee – has been around since 1961 and they have several branches islandwide, including this one at Newton Food Centre. Their must try are the specialty braised duck rice set, kway chap set and braised lou bak rice set at $6 each. I am not a kway chap person but decided to try their famous kway chap set. It includes intestines, pickled vegetables, braised egg, tao pok, beancurd, fish cake, pig skin in a piping hot bowl of smooth kway teow. I must say I made the right choice.
Stall #: 01-09
Opening Hours: 24 hours daily.
Hajah Monah Kitchen
If you are a lover for nasi padang or Malay lontong then you cannot give this stall a miss when you come to Newton Food Centre. This stall attracts never ending long queues with its cheap and flavorful Malay food. Its friendly and fast service ensures that the queue clears very fast even though during my visit there were more than 10 persons queuing in front of me. The beef rendang, sambal goreng and assam fish are popular dishes and they run out fast. Look at my huge portion at just $5!
Stall #: 01-83
Opening Hours: 6am to 3pm daily.
Newton Mee Goreng
Newton Mee Goreng Stall is a goreng combo specialist stall that serves roti john combo, mutton steak combo, mee goreng, prata and mutton soup. I ordered their nasi goreng with egg which is very savoury and comes in generous portion at just $5.
Stall #: 01-10
Opening Hours: 11.30am to 1am daily.
88 San Ren Cold & Hot Dessert
88 San Ren is the only dessert stall in Newton Food Centre that serves various hot and cold sweet treats like durian ice kacang, chendol, taosuan, ice jelly, cheng tng and more. The stall is famous for their cheng tng at just $2.50 per serving with generous ingredients. I decided to try their taosuan at the same price. It was served hot and not too sweet with lots of you tiao topping.
Stall #: 01-10
Opening Hours: 11am to 11pm daily
Soon Wah Fishball Noodles
Soon Wah attracts loyal customers at dinner time with their famous bouncy springy fishball and fish dumpling noodles. The stall was founded back in 1966 at Gluttons Square. The fishballs and fish dumplings (‘fish kiaw’) are all handmade by the owner. I ordered a bowl of fish kiaw with noodles (mee kia) at $6. The chili vinegar mee kia with large juicy fish kiaw made it worth coming all the way in the evening at 6pm as this stall only opens at night.
Stall #: 01-69
Opening Hours: 6pm to 10pm (Mon, Tues, Thurs to Saturday)
Heng Carrot Cake and Oyster Omelette
Heng is one of the rare stalls that still steam their own carrot cake. These days most stalls just order from the factory. The carrot cake is fried black or white with a generous coating of egg and tasted soft and moist on the inside. You can order a plate at $4. The owner also sells oyster omelet at $8 per plate. The crispy egg omelet is not too starchy and topped with fat plump oysters.
Stall #: 01-28
Opening Hours: 6pm to 11pm (Mon, Wed to Sunday)
Kwang Kee Teochew Fish Porridge
This stall won the Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2021. The owner serves teochew fish porridge, sliced fish soup, fried fish soup, fish head soup and yuan yang fish (mixture of white sliced fish and fried fish). I had their sliced fish porridge at $6 and it comes with fresh and thick slices of batang fish served in a bowl of clear soup which is sweet and yet flavorful. I can absolutely understand why some customers will order a $10 per serving bowl of batang fish soup. The amount of batang fish is worth every cent paid for.
Stall #: 01-20
Opening Hours: 10.30am to 7.30pm (Tuesday to Sunday)
Alliance Seafood 联合海鲜烧烤
Alliance Seafood is another Michelin Bib Gourmand stall that is worth a visit when you are in Newton Food Centre. Their chili crab and crayfish are charged at market price, the lobster at $9 per 100g, tiger prawns at $20 per piece, stingray at $15 to $20 per slab and pomfret at $8 per 100g. I ordered the shrimp fried rice at $6 and it has the Ding Tai Fung standard where rice are wrapped with eggs while the shrimps are fresh, plump and juicy. I also particularly like their sambal chili sauce which is different from elsewhere, slightly sour and not too spicy. I reckon this is to cater to tourists as well.
Stall #: 01-27
Opening Hours: 11am to 10pm daily except Monday
Song Kee Fish Porridge
This stall attracts long queues during lunch time. They serve fresh and thick slices of fish with noodles and rice, in clear yet flavorful soup. I ordered their sliced fish with rice at $6.70 which is very satisfying on a rainy day. The cut chili is served with salty beans for customers, a marked difference from other porridge stalls. This stall is also famous for their authentic teochew porridge at $6/8/10/12. The porridge that comes with fresh batang fish in a bowl of sweet fish broth will leave you craving for more.
Stall #: 01-37
Opening Hours: 9am to 9pm (Monday to Saturday)
BBQ Chicken Wing, Satay, Otah
The friendly lady boss told me during a random visit that they are opened for business every day till 2am. The stall sells chicken wing at $1.60 per piece (min order 3pcs), Satay (chicken, mutton, pork, beef) at 90 cents per stick (min order 10 sticks) and otah at $1.50 per piece (min 2 pcs). Those tantalizing chicken wings were practically waving to me!
Stall #: 01-30
Opening Hours: 12pm to 2am daily
Sye Ishak Drink Stall
The stall is a known for its large cup of kopi or kopi C at $1.50 per cup. The kopi C is not too sweet and whets my kick for caffeine. The owner was busy walking around serving customers at lunch hour and I had to wait abit but the service was fast and its definitely worth waiting for that cuppa.
Stall #: 01-38
Opening Hours: 10am to 1am daily
