Tiny SG: History & 10 Best Hawker Stalls @ Old Airport Road Food Centre |Johor Kaki Travels for Food

With at least 100 stalls open at anytime, it can be quite bewildering for new and even not so new visitors. This guide will help you narrow your search to the tried and tasted stalwarts at Old Airport Road Food Centre.

The trick here or at any large Singapore hawker center is for the party to split up to queue and buy food from different stalls. Pick only the best items from the top stalls. Then come back together at one table and share everything. In this way, everyone has a chance to taste all the best dishes in one go.

Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee 南星福建炒虾面 @ stall #01-32. Serves Singapore style fried Hokkien mee which is yellow noodles and thick bee hoon stir fried and briefly stewed in a rich pork and seafood stock. Their’s is a relatively dry variety with all the pork and seafood savoury sweet flavours infused in the noodles and bee hoon. Tastes relatively mild or meek and not as lardy greasy as other popular Hokkien mee.

To-Ricos Guo Shi (Blanco Court kway chap) @ stall #01-135. Popular stall serving pork belly, skin, intestines, eggs, fried beancurd etc stewed till soft in a dark savoury slightly herbal stock. Eaten with kway chap which are squares of thin rice sheets that are slurpy smooth and slick with savoury subtly herbal stock clinging to its sides and folds. New to offals? Try these as To-Ricos scrub their offals really thoroughly till they are pretty much stripped of any natural pork flavours.

Freshly Made Chee Cheong Fun @ stall #01-155. Tissue thin rice rolls with traditional shrimp or diced char siew in the folds. They also have pork liver, otak otak and century egg fillings. Made and steamed on order and served steamy hot. Comes topped with fried shallot, splashed with light soy sauce, dribble of sesame seed oil and sambal chili at the side. (They have a branch outlet in Marsiling Mall.)

Ru Ji Kitchen @ stall #01-37. Famous fish ball noodles stall serving handmade fish balls and fish cake. The tenderly springy, subtly sweet hand made fish balls are eaten with noodles tossed in a savoury spicy tangy sauce laced with lard and cracklings. Ru Ji parent stall is in Holland Drive, this is the daughter’s stall.

Dong Ji Fried Kway Teow @ stall #01-138. There are two char kway teow stalls in this hawker centre. This is the no Michelin Bib Gourmand award stall. But, everyone I know including regulars of Old Airport Road prefer this stall. Dong Ji char kway teow is drier, more savoury, less sweet, more toasty from caramelised sauces i.e. has more wok hei. The rice ribbon noodles are stir fried together with blood cockles, slivers of fish cake, slices of Cantonese wax sausage, bean sprouts, and egg. Wait is long as the kway teow is fried one plate at a time.

Matter Road Seafood Barbecue @ stall #01-63. If you are bringing friends from overseas, let them get a taste of Singapore chili crab here. The thick sauce is mildly spicy, peppery with sweetness from fresh tomatoes which also gave it a slight tangy zest. Their white pepper crabs are also popular. They use live crabs from Sri Lanka.

Wang Wang Curry Puff @ stall #01-126. Curry chicken, egg and potatoes in a crispy flaky layered shell. Everything handmade at the stall – a true curry puff. They also have black pepper chicken, yam, and sardine fillings.

Chuan Kee Satay @ stall #01-85. Hainanese style satay – chicken, pork or lamb in thin wooden skewers grilled over charcoal embers till the edges are slightly charred. The juicy sweet spice marinated meat is eaten with a spiced peanut dip laced with a dollop of sweet zesty pineapple puree.

Xin Mei Xiang Lor Mee @ stall #01-116. Yellow noodles smothered in thick savoury, slightly sweet sauce. Famous for their generous pulled fish meat topping. Fold and stir that heap of fish meat into the sauce and noodles for a tasty blend of savoury sweetness. A bit of sambal chili and cut chili add spicy accents in the dish.

Toa Payoh Rojak @ stall #01-108. Chopped cucumber, sliced yam bean, pineapple, bean sprout, kang kong greens, you char kway etc., tossed in a nutty savoury spicy sauce with fermented prawn from Penang, crushed toasted peanut, and chili paste. Its a nice mix of crunchy and crispy textures with a blend of savoury sweet spicy flavours. The rojak here is not soggy as their cut vegetables and fruits don’t leak juices too much. If you are from overseas, this is one salad you have to try.

Hock Street Popular Beef Kway Teow @ stall #01-22. Yes, this is the legendary century old Teochew beef kway teow of Hock Lam street. Run by the founder’s grandson Francis, the Teochew recipe has been tweaked slightly with Hainanese touches as Francis used to run his beef noodle restaurant at Purvis Street (the Hainanese enclave). It’s noodles / kway teow topped with boiled beef, tripe, tendons, liver, beef balls etc half submerged in a brown beefy stock. Francis has a “dry” version with his beef stock thicken with starch. There’s shredded salted vegetable and crushed peanuts in the Hainanese way. Eat with savoury salty cincalok which is fermented shrimps.

Xin Dong Fang 新东方 @ stall #01-112. Traditional fried ngoh hiang i.e. meat roll, prawn roll, intestines etc marinated in Chinese 5-spice powder. Signature here is their fried intestine which are cleaned, stewed, and the deep fried to a crisp while the inside remains moist and soft. Flavour is 5-spice savoury with natural pork sweetness.

Roast Paradise @ stall #01-21. Roast pork belly and char siew stalls are everywhere in Singapore. Randal and Kai started here at Old Airport Road in 2015 and quickly stood out for their Kuala Lumpur style char siew. They invested in premium cut of pork and tedious roasting technique but it pays off in tender juicy full flavoured savoury sweet char siew. Today, Roast Paradise is one of the bigger names in Singapore char siew and they started here at Old Airport Road.

Whitley Road Big Prawn Noodle @ stall #01-98. One of the vintage stalls from underneath the Whitley Road flyover. Nice blend of quite robust pork and prawn savoury umami sweetness in the watery broth. The blanched fresh prawns come halved with shell and head intact. The prawn flesh stays sweet and springy to the bite. They also have tender pork ribs, tail, and liver options. Served with yellow noodles and/or bee hoon (rice vermicelli).

132 Claypot Rice @ stall #01-132. The rice is cooked in claypot over gas stove from scratch, so waiting time can be long. They are generous with pieces of chicken which come out tender juicy and sweet savoury. The Cantonese wax sausage and well marinated chicken infuse the rice with savoury layers of flavour which is boosted by dribbles of dark sauce sauce. Add pieces of salted fish and salted egg yolk for more savoury umami flavour at nominal addition cost. Remember to scrape the bottom of the claypot for crunchy hard rice crust, mix and enjoy it together with the soft fluffy rice.

Lao Fu Zi Fried Kway Teow 老夫子炒粿条 @ stall #01-12. The only stall in this hawker centre that made it to the Michelin Bib Gourmand honours list. Tried it several times over two decades but still feel the flavours are a little meek and lacklustre. I like my char kway teow noodles well infused with robust savoury flavours in layers with underlying taste and smell of caramelised sauces plus lard. This one doesn’t have these. But, don’t take my word for it – give it a try yourself.

Selera Rasa @ stall #01-42. Probably serves the most affordable nasi briyani in Singapore at $3.50 a serving (2020 price). The long grain basmati rice is well enveloped and infused with spice flavours and aroma. Their mutton is tender, juicy and not too gamey. Eat with their fried chicken which are well marinated with aromatic spices.

Fu Xin Cooked Food 福兴熟食 @ stall #01-142. Traditional Teochew kueh (steamed dumplings) handmade with rice flour and various vegetables from scratch. The skin is a little thick but they are generous with fillings. My favourite is the chives dumpling which is bugling with crunchy green and bursting with flavour from inside. They also have rice and bean fillings.