I LOVE MY HAWKER CENTERS. Sure, it is hot and sweaty, there is always a crowd if the food is good, you get shoved around pretty much and you wait forever for a seat, but this is what defines Singaporean food. Not your quaint little pretty cafes and definitely not your perfect oh-I-wish-there-were-Michelin-stars-in-Singapore fine dining. Before I was able to afford cafes and restaurants, I grew up eating hawker food. And I am still eating them. I cannot understand why people look down on hawker centers and shun these places. It is completely beyond me.
So there are hawker centers and there are hawker centers. Not all hawker centers are made the same and some definitely have more gems than others. I have a few all-time favourites (Bedok 85, Maxwell, Chinatown, Old Airport) and Amoy definitely makes it into that list. I have many fond memories of Amoy. I remember my days as a trainee with a pay so low that I could afford very little things in CBD. My office was near Raffles Place MRT and Golden Shoe was where I headed to every time I had time for lunch (which, as it turned out, was also quite rare). We eventually progressed to walking the long walk to Amoy where the food was way better. The walk took us about 10 minutes and we sweat buckets just making that walk and back. Looking back, I don't know how we did it on such a regular basis and always making it back in time.
My absolute favourite at Amoy has to be Han Kee Fish Soup. I am almost certain the soup is drugged. Why do I keep returning to this fish soup store and willingly queue for 20 minutes? Fresh thick fish slices and clear refreshing soup are probably the key to making the long wait worthwhile. After your bowl of hot fish soup, walk a few stores down for fruit juice. The lady is incredibly friendly, the fruits are super fresh, and they are very generous with the juice!
#02-129 Amoy Street Food Centre (2nd floor, at the side close to the church)
Ah Ter Teochew Fishball Noodles was recently introduced to me and boy was it good! I went for the $5 bowl (Medium) and they were so generous with the ingredients like fishball, minced meat, fish paste and liver! I am not a fan of liver and I make it a point to pick all of them out usually but the liver at Ah Ter was so fresh, I just had to finish them. The mee pok was also incredibly yummy with the dark sauce and chilli!
#01-47 Amoy Street Food Centre (1st floor, at the side close to the ATM machines)
Fried Kway Teow stall selling Char Kway Teow. Yupp, that is the name of the stall and you will definitely spot it at the first row facing the ATM Machines. I have tried better Char Kway Teow but this definitely gets a spot somewhere close to the top, even though it is not at the top. I have a friend who loves this to bits and have shot down my favourite at Old Airport Road in favour of this so I guess it is really subjective. You have to try this to decide for yourself. Personally, I find the cockles rather small but I like that the kway teow is not overly greasy and the wok hei was sufficient.
#01-01 Amoy Street Food Centre
#02-129 Amoy Street Food Centre (2nd floor, at the side close to the church)
Ah Ter Teochew Fishball Noodles was recently introduced to me and boy was it good! I went for the $5 bowl (Medium) and they were so generous with the ingredients like fishball, minced meat, fish paste and liver! I am not a fan of liver and I make it a point to pick all of them out usually but the liver at Ah Ter was so fresh, I just had to finish them. The mee pok was also incredibly yummy with the dark sauce and chilli!
#01-47 Amoy Street Food Centre (1st floor, at the side close to the ATM machines)
Fried Kway Teow stall selling Char Kway Teow. Yupp, that is the name of the stall and you will definitely spot it at the first row facing the ATM Machines. I have tried better Char Kway Teow but this definitely gets a spot somewhere close to the top, even though it is not at the top. I have a friend who loves this to bits and have shot down my favourite at Old Airport Road in favour of this so I guess it is really subjective. You have to try this to decide for yourself. Personally, I find the cockles rather small but I like that the kway teow is not overly greasy and the wok hei was sufficient.
#01-01 Amoy Street Food Centre
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