Having clinched a Michelin Bib Gourmand mention, Pondok Makan Indonesia should be the first port of call for people visiting Albert Food Centre. They dish out a wide array of tasty Malay dishes: think mee soto with shredded chicken and noodles submerged in a lip-smacking soup, mee rebus with chewy noodles and a thick and luscious gravy and charred satay skewers with all the fixings. Tahu goreng, mee siam and lontong also make an appearance on the menu, and prices start at about $3.

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Yong tau foo is what you’ll find on deck at this establishment, which has multiple other branches across the island. Rather than pick your own ingredients from a range of options, they offer a fixed selection that’s heavy on the prawn- and meat-based items and is served with bee hoon and a smattering of spring onions. The broth, which is made with anchovies and soya beans, is light and aromatic, and you can expect to pay $5 and up.

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For a sweet end to your visit, grab some dessert at Zheng Xing Mei Shi. They specialise in traditional local treats, such as tau suan, pulut hitam and bubur terigu. The star of the show is their tau suan (around $2). It isn’t cloyingly sweet, has a lovely texture and comes with the mandatory showering of fried dough fritters. Meanwhile, the velvety pulut hitam features a rich coconut cream swirl and is also deserving of a taste.

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The popular Guan Kee Fried Carrot Cake is one of the most trafficked joints at the food centre, and for good reason. The dish is available in the standard black and white options, and $3 gets you a hearty portion brimming with wok hei. The black version is moist without being too wet, with a nice balance of savoury and sweet flavours, and both types have plenty of eggy bits and salted vegetables for a satisfying bite.

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This vendor makes its specialty fish balls from scratch daily using fresh yellowtail fish that they purchase that very morning. The fish balls are also shaped by hand, yielding a slightly irregular texture that sets them apart from perfectly round factory-made versions. You can opt to get your fish ball noodles ($4 and up) as a dry or soup option. We personally go for the dry version. The al dente noodles are coated in a moreish sauce and topped with crispy lard cubes – just how we like it.

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The vibrant, colourful plates here are a feast for the eyes – not to mention your stomach. Anthony Indonesian Cuisine does hearty, flavourful servings of Indonesian food. Make a beeline for their signature green chilli chicken set, which has a huge slab of meat complete with lashings of specialty sambal. Alternatively, you can get a basic portion of rice and top it with whatever ingredients your heart desires. Expect to pay around $5.

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The number of places selling traditional glutinous rice is steadily dwindling, so you should waste no time sampling the offerings from this spot. The signature old-school dish comes with crunchy fried shallots and spring onions, plus a dollop of vivid red chilli sauce on the side. It makes for an ideal breakfast, and they even churn out a sweet version. Other items on the menu are chee cheong fun, porridge, pumpkin cake and yam cake, and you can anticipate forking out $2 and up.

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If it’s a wet and bone-chilling day, a meal at Angel Horse Teochew Fish Soup will help warm you up from the inside out. For approximately $5, you’ll be treated to thick slices of fish, lettuce, tomatoes, seaweed sheets and fried shallots swimming in a clean-tasting and flavour-packed broth. You’ll likely run into a long queue of diners eager to get their hands on this humble, unassuming dish, but we reckon that it’s worth the wait.

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This vendor may only ply a single dish, but it’s enough to have earned it a coveted mention in the Michelin Guide. For roughly $4, you’ll get a classic serving of rojak filled with all the good stuff: fried dough fritters, squishy tau pok chunks, refreshing cucumber slices, zesty pineapple cubes, crunchy turnips and beansprouts tossed in a punchy shrimp-laced dressing and crowned with a dusting of crushed peanuts.

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One of the newer kids on the block is Lin Ji Pig Trotter Rice, where you can tuck into comforting servings of warm white rice with succulent, melt-in-your-mouth slices of braised pork meat, intestines or trotters. Orders include a side of lip-puckering salted vegetables, and you can expect the tab to run upwards of $5. Do dip your meat into the tangy chilli sauce to cut through all the richness and fattiness of the pork.

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