Bedok 85 Hawker Guide: 7 Stalls to Check Out at Fengshan Food Centre

PUBLISHED November 12th, 2020 06:00 am | UPDATED November 17th, 2020 05:35 pm

Bedok is a little out of the way for a lot of us, but if you’re tired of the usual haunts in the East like Simpang and Joo Chiat, this is an ideal supper spot to hit up. Everybody knows Bedok 85 Hawker Centre has one of the most famous versions of soup Bak Chor Mee, but there are plenty of reasons to make the pilgrimage to Fengshan Centre. We did the work of trying them for you – here are seven reasons to get down to Bedok.

Bedok 85 Fried Oyster Omelette

Love orh luak? This is a hugely popular spot for Oyster Omelette (S$6) because of its big, juicy oysters. In fact, it’s so popular that the store has expanded and now occupies two units. The egg is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, not at all overdone, and the oysters are super flavourful. The accompanying chilli sauce is savoury and tangy. They also dish out a crispy Carrot Cake (S$3), with a nice crunch from a healthy amount of preserved radish.

Bedok 85 Fried Oyster Omelette is located at #01-09/10, Bedok 85 Hawker, 85 Bedok North Street 4, Singapore 460085.

Chan BBQ

This one is for the spice-lovers, because this Sambal Stingray (S$12++) is hot. The stingray’s flesh was tender and sweet, but the real flavour is in the sambal, which is almost tongue-numbingly spicy but still gorgeously shrimpy and flavourful. Citrusy and fresh, the small saucer of chilli balances the sambal beautifully.

Chan BBQ is located at #01-24, Bedok 85 Hawker, 85 Bedok North Street 4, Singapore 460085.

Sing Soon Lee Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice

Steamed Chicken Rice (S$2.50++) with breast meat – that’s usually our test of how good a chicken rice stall is. And Sing Soon Lee passed with flying colours. The breast meat is incredibly tender, to the point of almost falling apart when picked up with the fork. This is old-school chicken rice, served with achar. The sauce is savoury and flavourful, pairing nicely with the soup.

Sing Soon Lee Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice is located at #01-61, Bedok 85 Hawker, 85 Bedok North Street 4, Singapore 460085.

Newton Fried Prawn Mee

This Hokkien Mee (S$4++) is amazing because of its texture. The sauce coats the noodles beautifully, the way good Hokkien mee is supposed to be, in this writer’s humble opinion. Unfortunately, the dish was lacking in some wok hei, but at least the seafood is fresh and lard lends a prominent flavour for an umami plate of noodles.

Newton Fried Prawn Mee is located at #01-43, Bedok 85 Hawker, 85 Bedok North Street 4, Singapore 460085.

Chai Chee Pork Porridge (#01-23)

If you love velvety congee, you’ve come to the right place. The Pork Porridge (S$4.00++) is decent on its own, but fork an an extra fifty cents on an egg. Mixing it in with sesame oil transforms the whole dish, making it extra thick, creamy and savoury. The pork is cooked to tenderness and breaks apart easily in the bowl. The crunchy youtiao makes a great textural contrast, soaking up the porridge well due to its porosity.

Chai Chee Pork Porridge is located at #01-23, Bedok 85 Hawker, 85 Bedok North Street 4, Singapore 460085.

Shi Wei Da

This stall has a snaking queue in front of it, so be prepared to wait for this Satay Bee Hoon (S$3). For the uninitiated, this dish was invented in Singapore due to a marriage of cultures between the Malay and Javanese with the Teochew. Featuring a luscious peanut gravy (similar to satay sauce, hence the moniker) over rice vermicelli with pork, liver and cockles, Shi Wei Da’s version is delicious. Rich, tasty, with layers of sweet and savoury with every mouthful.

Shi Wei Da is located at #01-41, Bedok 85 Hawker, 85 Bedok North Street 4, Singapore 460085.

75 Ah Balling Peanut Soup

Ah Balling is traditionally eaten during the lantern festival, but our cravings don’t always follow a calendar. This Peanut Soup with Peanut Dumplings (S$2.20 for four dumplings) is the perfect way to round off your meal at Bedok 85. Beyond the soft, chewy, and almost mocha-textured skin, the peanut paste was delicious, sweet and grainy – we just wished there was more of the latter inside each dumpling. The mildly peanut soup was a wonderful counterbalance to the sweet filling.

75 Ah Balling Peanut Soup is located at #01-25, Bedok 85 Hawker, 85 Bedok North Street 4, Singapore 460085.