PUBLISHED July 6th, 2021 01:00 pm | UPDATED July 19th, 2021 01:34 pm
One of the many culinary casualties of COVID-19 has been street food – it’s been a while since pasar malams were a possibility, let alone stuffing our faces at Taiwan‘s night markets. If you’ve been starving for street eats, here’s some good news: Singapore’s annual food market Eatbox is making its return – permanently. Set beside Rochor MRT, Eatbox is slated to open its doors at Tekka Place come September 2021.
Sprawling across 9,500 square feet, Eatbox will take over the former space of Xin Tekka – the hawker food hall which launched to much fanfare last August and closed just eight months later. The brainchild of Invade – the folks behind popular festivals like Artbox Singapore and Shilin Night Market – this creative food hall will dish up more of the regional flavours and fun snacks which drew crowds to the outdoor fiesta.
So what’s cooking? You can expect a total of 20 booths and four kiosks of international eats, serving up crowd favourites from Artbox Singapore alongside new-to-market dishes. Highlights include nasi lemak from Satay Ummi, Butcher The Burger Bar‘s intriguing Truffle Eggstarter, Okinawa Onigiri‘s well-stuffed onigiri sandwiches, and Halal mookata from Chickata. To fast-track the business of ordering, paying for, and collecting your food, Eatbox will also be integrating a cloud operating system using QR codes and digital alerts.
While waiting for your food, pop by the creative murals at Eatbox’s hype zone to feed your Instagram feed. Created in collaboration with a range of local artists, these interactive murals will be regularly refreshed every six to eight months. The first series will showcase wall art by graphic designer Hariz and his eye-catching take on the importance of food to Singaporean culture, as well as illustrator Ella Zheng‘s vision of a whimsical wonderland.
Once you’re fuelled up, it’s time for shopping and playing. Alongside Eatbox, Invade plans to create two additional mainstays – a 6,000-square-foot Experience Centre as well as a retail space of over 4,300 square feet. The experience centre will include a ‘gram-worthy instant-noodle themed experience playground, while the pop-up retail concept in the basement is set to offer flexible retail and recreational options. That brings Invade’s floor space to a total of over 20,000 square feet, or almost a third of Tekka Place – it’s pretty much an all-in-one playground.
Eatbox will be located at Tekka Place Annex Building, 2 Serangoon Rd, Singapore 218227.
Top Image: Artbox