NOT SO RANDOM HEARTLAND EATS: BUKIT TIMAH FOOD CENTRE - A RETURN

It was a matter of time we returned to Bukit Timah Food Centre. It's so near our office that we tend to forget about it, despite staring in our faces for years. It's a Monday evening, so some of the stalls are closed but there's still enough variety to try something different from the previous visit.

$8 for this? No, thank you.

It's been ages since I've had a hearty char kway teow, so when there's a queue, I suspected it to be good. Unfortunately, this one turned out to be a disappointment. The standard size is $5, and add $3 for extra cockles. That turned out to be a joke - the hums were so puny and the number added was negligible, such that it made hardly a difference. Frankly speaking, $8 for this was a rip-off.

Janet had a ban mian in soup, and that was not bad. The piece de resistance has to be the fried Hokkien prawn mee. I've always marveled at how these Hokkien mee people painstakingly prepare their dish and the steps they take to make it taste special. I've included some photos here, and the final dish is worth savouring over and over again.

First crack the eggs and gather the noodles.

The combo of white and yellow noodles
must be mixed properly and stir fried.

Add the sotong (squid) and prawns last.
These must not be overcooked.

Voila! That's how Hokkien prawn mee
should look and taste!
$5.50 for this is more like it.

Reminder to self: skip the char kway teow and go for Hokkien mee instead! You won't be disappointed.

BUKIT TIMAH MARKET & FOOD CENTRE

2A Jalan Seh Chuan

Singapore 599213

RANDOM HEARTLAND EATS: BUKIT TIMAH FOOD CENTRE @ BEAUTY WORLD

The nearest food centre to my office is the one that I frequent least. That is the great irony of it all, and we had a chance to correct that slight by this visit. And we realised what we have missed all along. The original Bukit Timah Food Centre, located next to Pei Hwa Presbyterian School and erected in the mid 1970s, was demolished in 2023. It then moved to the large empty field in front of Beauty World MRT station. In actual fact, it is now located on the original premises of the now-fabled Beauty World.

Old Beauty World, demolished mid-1980s.

Old Bukit Timah Food Centre & Market,
demolished 2023.

The Beauty World of old was a shanty town, a ramshackle rabbit warren of shops and food stalls that had too many fires for its own good, and was shut down permanently in the 1980s. The present Bukit Timah Food Centre, an interim location, has that similar vibe of busyness, randomness and chaos, and with a wide variety of food stalls distributed over a large area. There are so many choices that it is almost bewildering.

There's even an annex block
to this food centre.

We decided on a few food stalls, had an enjoyable dinner, the dishes are displayed on this page together with where we bought them. With that, we also made the promise to come back and try the other stalls on another day.

Yong Tau Foo in soup

White Chai Tow Kuay (Carrot Cake)

Chicken Chop with Rose sauce (creamy tomato)

Ice jelly with longans

BUKIT TIMAH FOOD CENTRE

2A Jalan Seh Chuan

Singapore 599213

Corner of Upper Bukit Timah Road

and Jalan Jurong Kechil