An open air hawkers' centre located inside a private shopping centre? Where in Singapore could this possibly be?
Actually not too far away. Tucked on the 4th floor of Beauty World Centre, a 1980s shopping centre is a well-loved food centre for many living in the Bukit Timah / Jurong Kecil area. This old-school shopping centre (not to be confused with Beauty World Plaza) was built in the mid-1980s and housed many of the shops and food stores once located in the old Beauty World Market which had be slated to be demolished (after one fire too many) during that time.
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| Kuala Lumpur kolo mee. |
One can find a variety of stalls, and there is even space for Korean restaurants, a pub and animal-friendly cafe. Our favourite stalls serve local hawker fare eg. chicken rice, wanton noodle, rojak as well as Western food. There is even a legendary mutton soup stall which opens for a few hours at lunchtime before everything gets sold out. Because we come after work, we never have a chance to taste it for ourselves.
My personal favourite is the Big Boys Western food stall which does an unbeatable Spanish pork collar on hot plate with lots of broccoli on the side. Its tender and juicy, and even tastes like steak! Janet goes more for the local dishes and we are seldom disappointed after each meal, usually capped off with a chendol or some icy dessert.
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| I cannot believe this dish is still $11.90. |
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| Ice jelly, because the chendol store was closed. |
The area around Beauty World Centre is under construction, with new condos sprouting out like wild mushrooms after the rain. However, this is a short distance from the Bukit Timah and Rifle Range Nature Reserves, and directly on top of the Beauty World MRT station.
The final indulgence is a visit to Mr Lai's biscuit and confectionary stall for lo po peng (old wife's biscuit) or tau sar pneah (red bean paste biscuit). His stall came from the old Beauty World Market, and the present operation has been here for close to 40 years!
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