16 best stalls at Hong Lim Market & Food Centre worth fighting the lunch crowd for

A stone’s throw away from Chinatown station is Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, which is more accessible than ever with 2 MRT lines and more buses than you can count (I exaggerate). What’s more, it’s situated within the midst of office buildings aplenty — you bet it’s a hotspot during lunch hours!

Here’s the thing: this two-storey food centre is home to a slew of highly-raved crowd faves and several stalls with the Michelin Bib Gourmand. Crowds aside, this is a spot you wouldn’t want to skip if you’re in search of some great local eats.

Not convinced? Here are 16 best stalls at Hong Lim Market & Food Centre worth fighting the lunch crowd for.

1. Ji Ji Noodle House (#02-48/49)

How tasty can wanton mee be? One way to find out is to get yourself a bowl from Ji Ji Noodle House. One of Singapore’s highest-rated wanton mee stalls and a Michelin Guide regular since 2016, this is one you must be prepared to queue for.

Ji Ji Noodle House is a family-run business that is currently helmed by a third-generation sister duo. They occupy 2 stall units, with one to house raw ingredients away from the kitchen heat to keep them fresh.

Calling the signature Ji Ji Signature Char Siew Wanton Noodle (S$4.50/S$5.50/S$6.50/S$8.50) loaded would be a severe understatement. Not that that’s anything to complain about!

A sensible S$5.50 bowl features a bed of noodles topped with 6 wantons (3 fried, 3 boiled), bok choy, fried pork lard and a literal heap of char siew slices. Perfect for anyone who’s big on protein and huge portions.

Of course, the Ji Ji Noodle House’s generosity isn’t the only thing that sets them apart. The noodles aren’t your typical egg noodles — they’re springy, chewy and tossed in a savoury house-made sauce. The wantons are addictive, too, the fried ones crispy as crackers and the boiled ones chock-full of meat.

+65 6532 2886
Fri to Wed: 9.30am – 3pm & 5pm – 7pm
Closed on Thu
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2. The Noodle Memories (#02-27)

If you love chilli pan mee as much as I do, The Noodle Memories is going to be your new favourite haunt.

It’s helmed by a pair of KL-born ladies who each wield more than a decade’s worth of experience helping out at chilli pan mee stalls back at home. The recipe that they use here is also an adaptation of what they worked with back there. Could this stall be any more legit?

We hope you like spice; The Noodle Memories’s classic Specialty Dry Chilli Noodle (S$5.50) features a chilli blend that is no joke. A spoonful of it adorns a bed of you mian along with minced meat, black fungus, vegetables, a jammy onsen egg, a huge piece of stuffed beancurd skin and a sprinkling of fried shallots.

Give it all a thorough toss and you’ll have a good mix of flavours and textures — from the chewy sauce-coated noodles to the crunchy black fungus, springy minced meat and creamy egg.

Another equally delicious option is the Speciality Chicken Cutlet Noodle (S$5.50), which swaps out the minced meat for a crispy slab of chicken cutlet. Or, you could opt for the Signature Dry Noodle (S$4.50) and Signature Soup Noodle (S$4.50) if you’re not huge on spice.

Mon to Sat: 7am – 4pm
Closed on Sun
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3. Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee (#02-58/59)

Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee is one of two curry mee powerhouses in Hong Lim Food Centre, the other being Heng Kee (entry #4 on this list). While both have their fair share of devotees, I’m personally a proud member of Team Ah Heng.

This famed stall was founded by Ah Heng in 1967 and is now run by its second generation, led by Ah Heng’s son. One thing’s remained unchanged all this time: its legendary curry mee recipe, which landed it a spot in the Michelin Guide several years before.

Ah Heng keeps its menu straightforward with only its signature dish: Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee (S$6/S$7/S$8). Good luck trying not to guzzle the curry — it’s aromatic, full-bodied and the right amount of lemak. When enjoyed together with those slurp-worthy noodles, you’ll struggle to find leftovers in your bowl.

Also, just look at those glistening chicken pieces. Silky, tender and juicy, they’re best paired with the gravy and the house-made hae bee chilli. The best part? They’re all deboned; a total breeze to eat.

Daily: 8.45am – 9pm
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4. Heng Kee Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee (#01-58)

Now, snag yourself a second bowl of curry mee from Heng Kee Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee and be the judge of your very own showdown! Locating the stall is no sweat; all you have to do is spot the longest queue on the ground floor of the food centre.

Oh, I should mention that the stall entered the Michelin Guide in 2023 and is here to stay, having clinched a spot on it for a second consecutive year in 2024.

If you’ve got a penchant for thick, spicy curries, Heng Kee’s Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee (S$6/S$9) will be right up your alley.

Laced with plenty of spices, the curry gravy here is potent, rich and incredibly fragrant. Drinkable too! It would be a crime not to sop up every last bit with the fluffy, porous tau pok pieces that adorn the bowl. Accompanying them are a good mix of noodles, taugeh, long slivers of fishcake and tender poached chicken.

+65 9278 0415
Mon to Sat: 10.30am – 3.30pm
Closed on Sun
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5. Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee (#02-17)

Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee should be no stranger to any local foodie. Arguably the most popular char kway teow stall in Singapore, its queues are relentless at any time of day. Yes, not even the non-peak hours are safe from the long wait, which can go up to 90 minutes sometimes. It should come as no surprise that they’ve got a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

The Char Kway Teow is priced at S$5 for a Small portion and S$6 for the Large. You can opt for extra egg in your noodles for an additional S$0.50 and more cockles for S$2.

Each plate is simple, featuring the standard ingredients to your quintessential char kway teow: kway teow, yellow mee, eggs, taugeh, cockles and pork lard — stir-fried in a tasty sweet-savoury dark sauce. The product is a delectable dish of wok-kissed goodness that more than makes up for the time you spend waiting in line for it.

+65 9838 7619
Mon to Sat: 6am – 3pm
Closed on Sun

6. Cantonese Delights (#02-03)

Despite its location at a cosy corner in Hong Lim, Cantonese Delights is a stall you won’t miss during your visit. The perpetual queues at this wanton mee and curry stall would be enough to assure that you’ll be in for a treat.

Anyone, including the spice intolerant, will definitely enjoy the stall’s best-selling Curry Fried Chicken Cutlet Noodles/Rice (S$5.50). Your carb of choice is drenched in a fragrant, lemak curry with subtle notes of rempah, and topped with golden brown slices of crispy chicken cutlet.

The menu also includes a variety of fuss-free options, with the likes of Char Siew Wanton Noodles, Dumpling Noodles and Shredded Chicken Hor Fun for just S$4.50 each.

Mon to Fri: 9.30am – 1.30pm
Closed on Sat & Sun

7. Hong Lim Prawn Noodles (#01-64)

Huge, juicy prawns and a rich, flavourful broth — these elements make up the formula for a solid bowl of prawn noodles and you can get exactly that at Hong Lim Prawn Noodles. Helmed by a chef with over 3 decades of experience, this underrated stall doles out hae mee so tasty it deserves to share a name with the food centre itself (LOL).

Hong Lim Prawn Noodles’s menu has 3 main dishes: Prawn Noodles (Soup: S$5.50/S$7.50/S$9.50, Dry: S$6/S$8/S$10), Pork Ribs Prawn Noodles (Soup: S$5.50/S$7.50/S$9.50, Dry: S$6/S$8/S$10) and Abalone Prawn Noodles (S$8/S$10).

Our pick is the Dry Pork Rib Prawn Noodles, which gives you the best of both worlds: fresh, sweet prawns and tender, almost fall-off-the-bone pork ribs in a robust umami-laden prawn broth. And who could forget the bowl of slurp-worthy noodles? Each strand is springy and well-coated in sauce, enhanced by the crowning fried shallots and unctuous pork lard.

Mon to Sat: 10am – 6.30pm
Closed on Sun

8. Eddy’s (#02-13)

Eddy’s is, perhaps, the first and most well-known of hawker stalls in Singapore to offer duck confit. That aside, it’s the place to patronise for restaurant-quality Western dishes that won’t burn a hole in your wallet. Each plate is prepared with utmost tender loving care by the stall’s eponymous owner, Eddy, who brings a cheerful disposition and a wealth of experience.

Seeing is believing! The famed Duck Confit with Mashed Potatoes (S$12) is a work of art, featuring a huge duck leg atop a bed of silky mashed potatoes and a luscious pool of gravy. And trust us, it tastes as good as it looks. Marinated in a medley of herbs and sous vide for no less than 14 hours, the duck is fork tender and bears a perfectly crisped skin.

Another of Eddy’s best-sellers is the Chicken Chop with Laksa Spaghetti (S$9.50), which comes with a slab of oregano- and cajun-marinated chicken chop served alongside an aromatic laksa spaghetti coated in fiery laksa sauce and topped with hae bee hiam.

+65 9235 7211
Mon to Fri: 10.30am – 2pm
Closed on Sat & Sun
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9. Famous Sungei Road Trishaw Laksa (#02-66)

Here’s yet another Michelin-recognised stall in Hong Lim: Famous Sungei Road Trishaw Laksa. Not only will you be greeted by a plethora of newspaper features plastered over the stall’s front but also bowls of their laksa atop most tables nearby.

Their signature Asian Delight Laksa comes in 2 sizes: Small (S$7) and Large (S$12), the latter including crayfish. What sets this laksa apart is its seafood-rich broth, simmered with a mix of dried scallops, prawns and oysters. Its bold umami flavour is elevated by just a dash of coconut milk — enough to give the dish its signature creamy profile while keeping it light on the palate.

Give the Fruit Juice Mee Siam (S$6/S$11) a go while you’re there. As its name suggests, the mee siam’s gravy is made with a healthy fruit juice base. It’s sweet, with a light acidity that pairs well with the neutral-tasting bee hoon noodles.

+65 9750 8326
Mon to Sat: 9am – 3pm
Closed on Sun

10. DDSD 大豆小豆 (#02-53)

Few things end off a meal as delightfully as a good bowl of tau huay. Your fix from Hong Lim best come from DDSD 大豆小豆, a quaint stall that offers customisable bowls of the refreshing dessert. You’ll choose from a range of toppings and the type of sugar you’d like to have drizzled over your tau huay.

Of course, there are several fixed combinations for some quick decision-making for the indecisive. An interesting option would be the Red Bean & Peach Gum Beancurd (S$4.20), which will cool you down on a hot day. Or else, you won’t go wrong with some good ol’ Traditional Beancurd (S$2) or the Brown Sugar Boba Beancurd (S$3.50).

If you’re down for something a little heartier, opt for the Tang Yuan Beancurd (S$4.40). The soft and smooth tau huay is studded with 4 sizable tang yuans — 2 are stuffed with creamy, nutty peanut filling while the other 2 are chock-full of gao and grainy black sesame.

For avid fans of black sesame, we recommend topping the bowl off with some silky Black Sesame Sauce (S$1.20), which adds a nice amount of nutty sweetness to the not-too-sweet tau huay.

Tue to Sat: 9.30am – 3.30pm
Closed on Sun & Mon
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11. Zheng Ming Cha Shi 正明茶室 (#01-46)

Beat the Monday blues and start your day on the best note with some breakfast from Zheng Ming Cha Shi. This humble stall offers none other than the perfect Singaporean breakfast of kaya toast, eggs and kopi.

The Toast with Kaya and Butter (S$1.80) is a must-try at Zheng Ming Cha Shi. 2 slices of crispy golden brown toast are slathered with sweet kaya, topped off with a slab of cold butter and cut into perfectly bite-sized quarters.

Complete the set with those Soft-boiled Eggs (S$1.60). Cooked to a perfectly jammy consistency, these eggs are best enjoyed with dark soy sauce, copious amounts of pepper and — hear me out — paired with the kaya toast itself (yes, I’m a proud dipper).

And, of course, don’t forget to wash it all down with some Kopi (S$1.10), Teh (S$1.10), Yuanyang (S$1.10) or Milo (S$1.10).

Mon to Sat: 6am – 2pm
Closed on Sun

12. Granny’s Pancake (#02-39)

While we’re on the topic of breakfast, how about some min jiang kueh from Granny’s Pancake? This popular stall’s claim to fame is its traditional pancakes, and it certainly seems that they’ve perfected the craft — you’ll see a beeline for their min jiang kueh the moment their shutters are lifted.

I guess you could say that they sell like hotcakes…

Granny’s Pancake offers 4 simple flavours of min jiang kueh: Peanut (S$1.20), Red Bean (S$1.20), Coconut (S$1.20) and Peanut Butter (S$1.40).

Our pick would be the Peanut Butter pancake, which sees rich, oozy peanut butter drizzled over the crunchy, crumbly peanut filling. Otherwise, it can’t get any more classic than the other 3 old-school flavours.

Mon to Sat: 7am – 2pm
Closed on Sun

13. Xing Wang Delights (#02-04)

Now, for a lesser-known gem (sorry… *cue TikTok audio*): Xing Wang Delights. This modest stall offers a large variety of zi char dishes that’ll have you spoiled for choice, including the likes of Salted Egg Chicken Rice (S$7), Sin Chew Bee Hoon (S$5) and San Lao Hor Fun (S$6). 

They’ve got speedy service, so you can count on them for a quick yet delicious lunch fix.

The most tantalising dish on the menu has got to be the Chicken Cutlet Curry Rice (S$6) in all of its glorious mess. Piled onto a plate of rice is a sizable portion of crispy fried chicken cutlet, a sunny-side-up egg, onions and a generous drizzle of aromatic, mildly spicy golden curry.

Another dish worth trying is the Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice (S$6), which features white rice topped with a fried egg, and a huge serving of braised pork cubes. The tender meat is marinated to perfection in a savoury braised sauce that coats and goes well with the rice grains.

Daily: 10.30am – 8pm

14. The Legend Roasted Meat Rice & Noodle (#01-50)

The Legend Roasted Meat Rice & Noodle — what a bold name! Its Chinese name roughly translates to “The Legend Bruce Lee Roasted Meat Rice & Noodle”, which would explain the stall’s logo and the posters hung on its walls.

Bruce Lee paraphernalia aside, the stall stands out for an exclusive char siew: fei po char siew, an indulgent cut only offered on odd days of the week.

The Fat Lady Char Siew (as it is listed on the menu) is priced at S$7 when served with Rice and S$7.50 when served with Noodles. The price tag may be a little heavier than what you’d find at other hawker stalls, but we promise it’s worth it. Each morsel of caramelised meat has the perfect balance of lean meat and melt-in-your-mouth fat, with distinct notes of smoky char.

If you love sio bak, you’ll adore the Char Siew Roasted Pork Rice (S$5). The roasted pork has a great meat-to-fat ratio, each piece crowned by a sliver of crust that goes down with an audible crunch.

Mon to Fri: 8am – 2pm
Closed on Sat & Sun
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15. Tuck Kee (Ipoh) Sah Hor Fun (#02-40)

With nearly 5 decades of history, Tuck Kee (Ipoh) Sah Hor Fun has made a name for itself with its delectable seafood-topped hor fun. Treat yourself to the likes of Pure Prawn Hor Fun (S$10), Abalone Mushroom Prawn Hor Fun (S$8) and Pacific Clam Prawn Hor Fun (S$8).

The dish most worthy of the splurge, though, is the signature Crayfish Prawn Hor Fun (S$13). You’ll be stunned by the generous portion of seafood you’re dealt with — just look at the size of those crayfish and prawns!

Sweet and succulent shellfish aside, the seafood stock used in this plate of hor fun is sure to impress with its intense and savoury aroma. It coats every tendril of the rice noodles and elevates the flavour of the entire dish, making for addictive slurps down till the very last bite.

Tue to Sat: 11am – 2.45pm
Closed on Sun & Mon

16. Dong Fang Hong Sotong Ball Seafood Soup (#01-47)

Love yourself a bowl of warm and comforting soup on a cold rainy day? Head to Dong Fang Hong Sotong Ball Seafood Soup. Do note that they’re only open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, though.

This eatery prides itself on its handmade sotong, fish and meatballs, all of which are proudly showcased in the only item on their menu: Sotong Ball Seafood Soup (S$5.50/S$6.50/S$7.50). Uneven in shape, the trio of balls are made fresh daily to ensure its taste and quality.

The most impressive item of all is none other than their sotong balls. Prepared using specially sourced squid paste, these balls have a pleasantly briny flavour and a unique chewiness that’ll have you sold on first bite.

If you can’t decide on a staple to pair with this impeccable bowl of soup, take our advice and try it with the Ee Mian (+S$0.50). We kid you not, these eggy noodles perfectly complement everything the humble dish has to offer.

Tue & Wed: 11am – 2.15pm
Closed on Thu to Mon

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