Funny how little Albert Food Centre (or Albert Centre Food Centre) is talked about online considered how near it is to Bugis MRT Station, and right opposite Bugis Plus.
Come here during the weekends, and it would be packed. And so I would recommend weekdays as the preferred time to head down.
Bai Nian Niang Dou Fu is easily the most well-known stall there, and it has branched out to several outlets around Singapore.
There are other stalls that I would recommend, such as Hock Lee Fishball Noodles for the most awesome juicy fishballs, and Pondok Makan Indonesia for their Halal Mutton Satay.
Bai Nian Niang Dou Fu
270 Queen Street, Albert Food Centre, #01-106, Singapore 180270
Tel: +65 9692 6921
Opening Hours: 7:30am – 9pm (Mon – Sun)
Best Known For Its Yong Tau Foo and Prawn Paste
Bai Nian Niang Dou Foo easily has the longest queue in this food centre. It used to be semi-popular, but line wasn’t this long. Well, this was largely to food bloggers and instagrammers who raved about this ‘hidden’ place a few years back.
Now, it has a couple of branches in Singapore, and perhaps standard has not been as consistent as before.
Unless most other Yong Tau Foo stalls where you can pick and this, the bowl here ($4.50 – 5.50) comes with more or less fixed choices from bitter gourd, prawn paste, pork paste, beancurd, and a combination of “gold, white and black” rolls.
What draws customers would be its clean-tasting clear soup that is both light and flavourful, and said not to contain added MSG. My favourite item is the prawn paste pieces (like prawn balls), which have that sweet taste and succulent bite.
Hock Lee Fishball Noodles
270 Queen Street, Albert Food Centre, #01-102, Singapore 180270
Opening Hours: 6:30am – 12pm (Tues – Sun), Closed Mon
Bouncy and Delicious Fish Balls, One Of Singapore’s Best
You must come here early enough, or the fishballs generally get sold out early. This is a great place to stop by for breakfast as the stall opens bright and early at 6:30am.
They serve freshly made fish ball noodles with or without soup and your choice of noodle such as mee kia and mee pok.
The dry Mee Pok ($4) are cooked quite al dente with a delightful springy texture, tossed with vinegar and chilli.
But it is those fishballs that steal the show as they are quite divine – very juicy and bouncy. I also enjoy the clear soup garnished with fresh coriander and spring onions.
Ah Seng Bak Chor Mee 亚成潮州肉脞面
270 Queen Street, Albert Food Centre, #01-77, Singapore 180270
Tel: +65 83990220
Opening Hours: 7:30am – 4:30pm (Sun – Fri), Closed Sat
Under-The-Radar Michelin Recommended Bak Chor Mee
Ah Seng serves affordable bowls of Bak Chor Mee, starting at $3. The Fish Ball Kway Teow available in dry or soup versions, is priced only at $2.50 onwards.
Prices are kept low so more customers can afford and eat his food.
The $3.00 portion (add $1 for meatballs) comes with assorted meat balls and fish cake, as well as generous amounts of noodles, minced meat and stewed mushrooms.
The mee pok was cooked to a softer consistency, but still quite springy.
Here, two types of meatballs are served. The regular fish balls and pork balls supplied by his mentor, and a special in-house meatball made with a mix of fish and meat. Ah Seng Bak Chor Mee (Albert Food Centre)
Singapore Famous Rojak
270 Queen Street Albert Centre Market & Food Centre #01-45, Singapore 180270
Opening Hours: 12pm – 8:30pm (Mon – Sun)
Michelin-Recommend Rojak
While different versions of rojak abound, the Singapore Famous Rojak ($3, $4) doesn’t have too much of that dark prawn paste sauce.
Their special home-made sauce is on the sweet side and not too thick, just adequate to coat the cut-up pineapple, cucumber, turnip, bean sprouts, and tau pok.
Just before serving, the hawker sprinkles a handful of roughly crushed roasted peanuts to the rojak.
Unlike other versions with finely ground peanuts, this one adds a nice textural crunch to the overall dish.
The accompanying deep-fried youtiao is more chewy than crispy, which some may find delightful while others would frown upon. The crunch and complex sweet-spicy flavours make this a worthy Rojak to try out. Singapore Famous Rojak (Albert Food Centre)
Angel Horse Teochew Fish Soup 仙马潮州鱼汤
270 Queen Street, Albert Food Centre, #01-95, Singapore 180270
Opening Hours: 11am – 8pm (Mon – Sun)
Piping Hot Bowls of Batang Fish Soup
No matter what time you stop by this stall, you will always find it swarming with hungry customers. This is largely because their serving sizes of fish soup are huge and could leave you satisfied.
The Teochew-style Sliced Fish Soup ($5) was delightfully light and clear with a refreshing blend of spices, added with rather thick and juicy chunks of fish slices.
While it wasn’t as flavourful as I wished, the bowl was still a simple, tasty bowl of soup which as quite comforting.
I also enjoyed the accompanying fermented bean sauce with chilli padi, enhancing the ‘Teochew-flavours’ to the dish.
Guan Kee Black Carrot Cake
270 Queen Street, Albert Food Centre, #01-59, Singapore 180270
Opening Hours: 7am – 6pm (Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat), Closed Mon, Thurs, Sun
Possibly One Of The Top 10 Fried Black Carrot Cake In Singapore
This stall only opens a few days per week, and so do get a chance to try it while you are there.
You can choose between white (salty) or black (more sweetish), though more would go for the black.
The Black Carrot Cake ($3) had a smooth and soft texture. The uncle was quite skillful and experienced in manning those flames to get the chunks just right with crispy edge wok hei along with plentiful pieces of egg.
Fu Hai Curry Chicken Noodles
Albert Centre Market & Food Centre #01-104, 270 Queen Street, Singapore 180270
Opening Hours: 8:30am – 7pm (Mon – Sun)
Michelin-Recommended Curry Chicken Noodles
Another Curry Chicken Noodles that state “no other branches”, and is called “Fu Hai”. One wonders its relation to the other “Fu Hai” (Hock Hai” at Bedok Interchange Food Centre.
Priced at $5, one of the reason why the curry gravy is flavourful is that it is cooked using chicken stock.
Only fresh chickens between 1.9 and 2kg are picked, poached then iced so that the chicken meat remains tender and succulent.
I thought that the gravy was on the lighter side, and not as intense and full-flavoured as some of the others. However, if you prefer something not too heavy, this could be a suitable choice.
Say Seng Cooked Food
270 Queen Street, Albert Food Centre, #01-92, Singapore 180270
Opening Hours: 2pm – 8pm (Tues – Wed, Sat – Sun), Closed Mon, Thurs, Fri
Known For Braised Pork Belly
I am slightly divided on this one, though it does have a long line and often sold out way before its closing hour of 8pm.
The Say Seng Cooked Food gained their reputation back when they served braised wild boar, but their main entrée now serves regular pork in place of wild boar.
Nonetheless, they are able to keep the original flavors and texture intact with tender and succulent pork. I thought that it was slightly on the tough side.
However, the draw would be the flavours of their braising sauce, and the rich-tasting soup made more appetizing with the addition of salted vegetables.
Pondok Makan Indonesian
270 Queen Street, Albert Food Centre, #01-123, Singapore 180270
Tel: +65 9155 6623
Opening Hours: 8am – 8pm (Mon – Sun)
One Of The Few Michelin-Recommended Halal Stalls
It is worth noting that Pondok Makan Indonesia is one of the few Michelin-listed halal eateries in Singapore.
Offering a variety of Indonesian hawker fare, including Mee Rebus ($3), Mee Siam ($3), Gado Gado ($3), Tahu Goreng ($3), Soto Ayam ($3), Nasi Soto ($3.50, $4), Lontong ($3), Satay ($0.60 per stick, minimum 10 sticks).
Most of their food item are about $3, making it very affordable fare.
Its Satay seems to be the most popular choice, the skewered chicken well-marinated with a touch of sweetness and turmeric-spices.
You may note that even the Mutton Satay (which is recommend) are not overly charred and in fact rather ‘fair’, retaining the juiciness and not tough. Pondok Makan Indonesia (Albert Food Centre)
Siraj Famous Waterloo St Indian Rojak
270 Queen Street, Albert Food Centre, #01-120, Singapore 180270
Tel: +65 8139 5647
Opening Hours: 10am – 7pm (Mon, Wed – Sun), Closed Tues
Original Waterloo Street Rojak Since The 1980s
I remember having this as a kid at the old Waterloo Food Centre, and it was really quite famous back then. However, you don’t hear people craving for Indian Rojak that often anymore (perhaps because it is usually quite oily and carb heavy).
Choose from ingredients such as Potato, Tahu, Hot Dog, Tempeh, Fried Sotong, Small or Big Prawns, and Fish Cake. Every item cost about $0.80 to $1.50, so do your Maths before you over-order.
The Indian Rajok I had quite a rich-sweet sauce that was thickened with sweet potatoes to give it a creamy, wholesome flavour.
I really enjoyed the prawn fitters that were quite crispy on the outside and tender from inside.
(One more…)
Li Fang Porridge 丽芳粥品
270 Queen Street, Albert Food Centre, #01-78, Singapore 180270
Tel: +65 9634 8383
Opening Hours: 7am – 9pm (Mon – Sun)
Li Fang Porridge has a number of shops around Singapore. The main outlet is at Queen Street Albert Centre, with other branches at 20 Ghim Moh Road, ABC Market, 115 Bukit Merah View, 407 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, 293 Yishun Ring Road, 207 New Upper Changi Road and 208D New Upper Changi Road.
They have a number of seafood-based choices, such as Seafood Congee ($20 – no typo), La La Congee ($5), Mixed Scallop Congee ($5.50), Prawn Congee ($5), Sliced Fish with Cuttlefish Congee ($4.50).
I chose the standard Lean Meat with Century Egg ($3.50), and appealed with its richer taste and creamy texture. Youtiao was also quite crisp.
However, the bowl of congee did leave me with some thirst.
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