For a wallet-friendly and hearty meal in Bedok, make a beeline for Bedok South Food Centre. Located around a 15-minute walk from Bedok MRT station, the single-storey site is a popular spot among locals from the nearby housing estate and is one of the notable food centres in the area, with another being Bedok 85 Fengshan Food Centre.
You can indulge in all manner of tasty eats, including braised duck rice, pillowy appams, Hong Kong-style soy sauce chicken and comforting bowls of porridge paired with crispy fried dough fritters. And lovers of char kway teow shouldn’t come here without sampling the signature dish from arguably the food centre’s most well-known stall. Read on for our recommended vendors to check out.
Bedok South Food Centre | 16 Bedok South Road
This stall draws some of the longest queues at the food centre, and is perhaps its most famous resident. It was even patronised by the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain on one of his visits to Singapore, and he gave it his stamp of approval. For around $4, you’ll get a plate of noodles, briny cockles, egg, bits of pork lard, Chinese sausage slivers and fresh beansprouts absolutely brimming with wok hei. Chilli sauce is a must, and it’s especially ideal for diners who like a drier version of the dish.
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Whether you’re looking for dessert or an afternoon snack, you can visit The Pancake Garden to tuck into freshly made slabs of min jiang kueh with moist and chewy centres and crackly edges. Flavours include peanut, red bean and coconut, with prices starting at just $1. There’s also a peanut butter version, which comes with a generous smear of creamy peanut butter that perfectly complements the crunchy ground peanut granules.
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Tender and juicy soy sauce chicken is a crowd-pleasing pick. Get yours at Hong Kong Soy Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle, where the meat is expertly cooked and slathered in a light and aromatic sauce. We like pairing ours with hor fun and lots of pickled green chilli slices. They also whip up side dishes including shrimp wanton soup and oyster sauce vegetables, and you can expect to pay upwards of $5 depending on what you order.
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Nothing beats a simple but soothing meal of porridge on a cold and wet day. Wong Porridge specialises in creamy Hainanese-style porridge. You can opt for a plain version, or get something gussied up with the likes of pork, chicken, fish or – our personal favourite – century egg, all topped with a smattering of spring onions and a few dashes of white pepper. A meal here will set you back around $3 and above.
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What goes best with a warm bowl of porridge? Fried dough fritters, of course. You can nab yours at Yong Hua You Tiao, which makes a version that’s wonderfully crispy and has a nice bite. Fresh batches are fried regularly throughout the day, which ensures you won’t get one that’s stale and hard. No pork or lard products are used to make these items, so they’re suitable for vegetarians, and you can expect to fork out roughly $1 per stick.
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This popular Indian food stall makes delicious thosai, which is cooked upon order and served with assorted chutneys and dhal. They have a plain version ($1.50) if you’re not feeling particularly hungry, as well as more filling options including egg and onion thosai, cheese masala thosai and butter onion thosai. Do also get the appam, which has crunchy edges, a spongy interior and a subtle tang courtesy of the fermented rice batter.
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Besides their specialty braised duck rice, you can also get scrumptious helpings of char siew and roasted pork at this establishment. The duck meat is succulent and is plated with fluffy rice, moreish braising sauce and a couple of cucumber slices – alternatively, you can go for noodles or porridge instead. Their braised pig trotters make for a tasty side dish, and prices begin at $3.
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This family-run operation is a well-known name in Bedok when it comes to fried carrot cake. They have multiple outlets in the area, plus additional ones in Changi and along Old Airport Road. Fork out upwards of $3 for a solid serving of either black or white fried carrot cake, or choose a combination of both. The dish features plenty of preserved radish, egg and garlic, and makes for a satisfying meal, especially when eaten with their homemade chilli sauce.
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Early mornings call for hearty local breakfasts, and arguably the best place in the food centre to get yours is at You & Me Coffee. Pair your soft-boiled eggs and kopi with the usual kaya toast, or swap out the regular bread for a crusty baguette that’s slathered in creamy, fragrant kaya jam and comes with a thick slab of cold butter ($2). It takes a little longer for them to prepare this, but it’s worth the wait.
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In the mood for some old-school chwee kueh? Head over to this vendor. The springy steamed rice cakes – a staple of Teochew cuisine – are chewy and firm, and are served with a scoop of preserved radish that adds a lovely salty kick. Another popular offering on the menu is their chee cheong fun, which comes smothered in a thick dark sauce and some sesame seeds – ideally enjoyed with lots of chilli sauce. Prices start at under $2.
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