When it comes to hawker food, Newton Food Centre 纽顿熟食中心 deserves a special mention as it has become well-known among tourists coming to Singapore.
And the movie “Crazy Rich Asians” did give a further boost for featuring the food centre quite prominently when Nick Young introduced Rachel Chu and friends some of his favourite foods from Newton.
Newton Food Centre started in 1971, gathering more than 80 stalls loaded with hawker treats including barbecued seafood, satay, chicken wings, carrot cake and more.
Some fun-facts: the centre was designed with a central courtyard-like dining area, and many plants found in the colonial-era such as nutmeg and palms were planted around.
Popular Newton Food Centre stalls include Hai Yan BBQ Seafood, Newton Tian Xiang Big Prawn Noodle, XO Minced Meat Noodles, Newton Authentic Song Kee Teochew Fish Porridge, and 88 San Ren Cold & Hot Dessert. Here are 12 Newton Food Centre stalls to look out for:
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Heng 興
Newton Food Centre #01-28
Opening Hours: 5pm – 11pm (Mon, Wed – Sun), Closed Tues
The owners from Heng still steam their own Carrot Cake, which is getting more unusual in Singapore as many stalls simply get supplies from the factory.
Typically, I find that ‘homemade’ carrot cakes have a more wobbly texture with less generic taste – sometimes you can feel those strips of radish.
The White Carrot Cake was quite ‘eggy’ with soft and moist cubes, though I could imagine some people finding this on the bland side and would reach out for more chilli.
Their Fried Oyster Omelette had this nice crisp layer of egg without being too starch, accompanied with tasty plump oysters.
Read more at: Heng 興 (Newton Food Centre)
Hup Kee Fried Oyster Omelette
Newton Food Centre #01-73
Opening Hours: 6pm – 12am (Tues – Sat), Closed Sun, Mon
While Newton has always been known to be a tourist food centre, and there are so many stalls selling more or less the same thing, this Oyster Omelette stall deserves the attention.
Hup Kee combines the richness of oysters, with the fluffiness of eggs and sticky heaviness of sweet potato paste to give you a hearty and filling meal.
Priced at $6, $8, $10, their signature Fried Oyster Omelette ($8) is quite filling, and deliciously crispy. On the oily and greasy side though.
But if you are a fan of oysters, you should enjoy this version as there are plenty of fat ones to pick.
Kwang Kee Teochew Fish Porridge
Newton Food Centre #01-20
Opening Hours: 11am – 8pm (Tues – Sun), Closed Mon
This is the 3rd sliced fish soup hawker stall to be listed with a Bib Gourmand in Singapore, along with Beach Road Fish Head Bee Hoon at Whampoa Food Centre and Jun Yuan House Of Fish at Old Airport Road Food Centre.
On the menu are Sliced Fish Porridge, Sliced Fish Soup, Fried Fish Soup, Fish Head Soup and Dual Fish Soup.
Each bowl cost $6, $8, $10, or $12 (with the Dual Fish Soup starting from $7).
The batang fish (Spanish mackerel) was first blanched in water to minimise the fishy smell, then cooked very fast in the fish broth.
The fish broth is cooked from slow-cooking of fish bones, with no pork or lard included at all. Jason revealed it was to cater to customers who do not eat pork.
The first thing that left an impression was that the soup was clear and clean-tasting, mildly-sweet and yet flavourful. I loved that, along with the freshness of the thick-cut fish slices.
Read more at: Kwang Kee Teochew Fish Porridge (Newton Food Centre)
Alliance Seafood 联合海鲜烧烤
Newton Circus Food Centre #01-27
Opening Hours: 3pm – 11pm (Mon, Wed – Fri), 1pm – 11pm (Sat – Sun), Closed Tues
Alliance Seafood offer crab sets for the convenience: Chilli Crabs Set ($65) which also includes Cereal Prawns, Fried Rice and Man Tou (buns to dip in to the sauce); Black Pepper Crab Set ($65); and a set of two type of crabs ($100).
Other than BBQ Crayfish, Lobsters, Tiger Prawns, the more regular dishes were Sting Ray ($12, $15, $20), Calamari ($15, $20, $25), Kangkong Vegetables ($8, $10, $12), Lemon Chicken ($15, $20, $25), Sweet & Sour Chicken ($15, $20, $25), Squid ($12, $15, $20) and Fried Baby Squid ($15, $20, $25).
The quintessential food to have at Newton Food Centre – the Sting Ray ($12) came as small slab of barbecued piece topped with sambal chilli served on banana leaf.
Good for two to share (or one if this is the only thing you are having), the flesh was fresh and tender and pulled apart easily.
The sambal chilli felt only mildly spicy compared to more fiery versions I had elsewhere, and was perhaps tamed down to suit the palates of foreign visitors in Singapore.
Read more at” Alliance Seafood (Newton Food Centre)
Soon Wah Fishball Kway Teow Mee
Newton Food Centre #01-69
Tel: +65 9781 1879
Opening Hours: 6pm – 10pm (Tues, Fri, Sat)
Opened for just limited number of days and hours, this is one of the stalls I would head for comforting mee pork delightfully springy balls of fishball goodness.
Originally founded back in 1966 at Gluttons Square, Soon Wah Fishball still maintains on the meticulous process of making fishballs and her kiao (fish dumplings) by hand.
A lot of work goes into making these ingredients, handmade from scratch and are loaded with nostalgic flavours.
On the menu are Fish Dumpling Mee, Fish Dumpling Soup, Fishball Soup, Fishball Mee Soup or Dry – each priced at $5.
The fishballs have very bouncy and firm texture, and loved the noodles which are coated with the savoury chili-vinegar sauce. Do try their her kiao as well.
Hajah Monah Kitchen
Newton Food Centre #01-83
Opening Hours: 6am – 3pm (Mon – Sun)
This is one of the most popular Muslim stalls in Newton, offering homely Halal Malay food with generous serving.
They are famous for Mee Siam, Lotong, Nasi Lemak, and of course their Nasi Padang.
Top up your Nasi Padang with hearty ingredients such as sambal goreng, ikan billis, curry chicken, chicken wings, begedel, tempeh, squid, beef rendang, chicken liver
You get homemade flavours, while the service is pleasingly swift.
They are known for their rendang which is delightfully tender and rich in flavours, with a creamy, almost melt-in-your-mouth texture and balance of spices. The gravy complimented the fresh steamed rice quite well.
Kwee Heng
Newton Food Centre #01-13
Opening Hours: 9am – 12am (Mon – Sun)
Indulge in a variety of roasted and braised meat dishes at one of the hallmark stalls in Newton.
Kwee Heng is going strong for more than 50 years. The delicious recipes and flavours used for their dishes are passed down from generations and is one of the more well-received stalls here (in terms of reviews).
Their menu is pretty wide-ranging and confusing to first-timers though. Like wah, they sell everything.
These include Fried Rice, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Boneless Duck Rice, Duck Noodles, Chicken Noodles, Crispy Chicken, Duck Porridge, Kway Chap, Beah Sprouts, Wanton Noodle, Roasted Pork and Char Siew. Get what I mean?
What they are famous is probably the Duck Noodles ($4, $5, $6) in which you can choose from kway teow or Hokkien yellow thick noodles.
The plate was generously laden with sambal chili, pork lard, herbs, black vinegar and savoury braised soy sauce that brought out the tender and succulent flavours of the braised dusk. The gravy was quite rich and flavourful.
Bee Heng Popiah
Newton Food Centre #01-12
Tel: +65 6252 0551
Opening Hours: 11:45am – 11pm (Tues – Sun), Closed Mon
Get your Popiah fix from one of the most Popiah-lar stalls at Newton. Bee Heng is one of the oldest stalls that claims to have been around since 1977, and also sells Satay.
However, do note that customers would require a minimum order of 2 ($4.40 for 2), so this may put off some individuals who want to order a Popiah as a side.
The Hokkien-style Popiah is said to be cooked with a traditional recipe passed down since 1930.
If you like your Popiah ‘neat’, without being too soggy or bursting out, then perhaps you would like it.
They just put a dab of the sweet and chilli sauce, so the outer layer remained quite ‘dry’ – though I think some may prefer a ‘juicier’ version.
The stall also serves up Satay (70c each, minimum 10 sticks) with options of chicken, mutton and pork.
R&B Express
Newton Food Centre #01-072
Opening Hours: 5pm – 2am (Tues – Sun), Closed Mon
Talk about Chicken Wings in Newton, and some of the more prominent stalls there would have been TKR Yummy Chicken Wings, Weng’s BBQ Chicken Wings, and Chong Pang Huat. But I decided to give R&B Express a try.
Have to say these were decent barbecued chicken wings – evenly grilled till there was that enticing brown colour, thin and lightly-crisp skin, and moderately juicy on the inside.
They were slightly above the average in terms of juiciness, but customers may have preferred bigger sized and more flavourful ones.
The accompanying chilli sauce with its tanginess helped ‘lift’ up the taste.
OG Lemak
Newton Food Centre #01-16
Opening Hours: 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 8:30pm (Mon – Sun)
The self-taught Chef Shen Tan is back selling Nasi Lemak right at Newton Food Centre. She mentioned that Newton is the “OG of hawker centres”, in which people would come after clubbing some… 25 years ago.
The stall is named after OG Dinks by the way – Chef’s cat.
There are currently four items on the menu – Chicken Rendang Set ($9.90), OG Lemak Set ($7.90), Vegan Set ($9.90), and Beef Rendang Set ($9.90).
The fragrant rice is painstakingly cooked by twice steaming over a four-hour period, ensuring a fluffy texture and a lemak taste which is not too heavy.
There are 11 ingredients used in the rice, including onion, ginger, pandan, fenugreek, lemongrass, and coconut milk. There is no pork or lard used in the cooking. Compared to the hawker centre ones which are generally oily and richer in taste, I enjoyed how delicate and fluffy this was, complete with light aroma.
Reviews have been pretty mixed on Google so far though.
TKR Satay
Newton Food Centre #01-30
Opening Hours: 4pm – 12:30pm (Mon, Wed – Sun), Closed Tues
Established in 1998, TKR Satay is quite popular in this food centre, serving up Satay sticks, BBQ chicken wings, and Otah.
The pork, chicken and mutton satay sticks cost $0.70 per stick, and they also serve up Prawn Satay if you are keen to try.
Also try their BBQ chicken wings ($1.40) with crisp, grilled skin.
88 San Ren Cold and Hot Dessert
Newton Food Centre #01-05
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 11:30pm (Mon – Sun)
88 San Ren has been in Newton Food Centre for more than 30 years, serve a variety of local desserts and drinks.
The stall serves up a variety of sweet treats from Durian Ice Kachang ($3), Mango Ice Kachang ($3), Mango with Longan ($3), Red Ruby ($3), Durian Chendol ($3), to Ice Jelly with Cocktail ($3).
The most famous dessert at the stall is Cheng Tng ($2.50), as they are quite generous with the ingredients with canned longan and lychees. I did find it slightly on the sweet side though.
Good to have some of those iced shavings to beat the unforgiving heat, such as Mango Snow Ice ($4.50), Strawberry Snow Ice ($4.50) or Chocolate Snow Ice ($4.50).
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