What to eat at Tampines Round Market and Food Centre?

Tampines Round Market and Food Centre is fast becoming one of our favourite hawker joints. Here, you’ll be able to dive into all that Singapore’s hawker food scene has to offer. We had previously visited Tampines Round Market during our Singapore Travel Series at Tampines. This time, we checked out a very particular type of carrot cake, a typical Singaporean breakfast porridge as well as more pork rib (soft bones) noodles! We really think that Tampines Round Market has one of the best (and affordable) pork rib noodles in Singapore…

As you can see from this aerial view of Tampines Round Market and Food Centre, you’ll quickly understand how it got its name.

Inside, stalls line the curvatures of Tampines Round Market. There are stalls on the “outer ring” as well as stalls on the “inner ring”. While surveying the stalls from the outside, there were already a few that caught our eye…

From our research, House of Dessert and Xiong Ji Fried Carrot Cake are also stalls that are relatively famous at Tampines Round Market. As it was breakfast time, we decided to go with popular breakfast fare…

1. Chai Chee Pork Porridge (菜市猪肉粥)

As you can see from the picture above, the lights from Chai Chee Pork Porridge was still not switched on when we visited at 6:30am in the morning. However, we saw that there were already patrons making their order. We did likewise and ordered the minced meat and century egg porridge. We were given a beeper while we waited for our order to be prepared…

At $4, it is a tad bit expensive for a breakfast porridge. However, the ingredients were plentiful with generous portions of minced meat and century egg. You’ll be able to get the ingredients on each spoonful. The porridge itself has been slow cooked overtime, allowing the flavours to be infused. Thereafter, the familiar and comforting feeling follows. That’s what you get with a great bowl of porridge. #comfortfood

2. Song Han Carrot Cake (松漢菜头粿)

There are a couple of great tasting carrot cakes at Tampines Round Market. However, we wanted to try out Song Han Carrot Cake because it has a secret ingredient – curry powder! 😲

This time, we got the $2 portion and were pleasantly surprised by the generous serving! Next, it was time to try out what the fuss was all about. On the first taste, you’d realise that it is not the typical carrot cake. Yet, there’s a familiarity from the chai poh and fried eggs. Then, the subtle flavour of the curry powder appears. We must say that it is a strange but nice union between the curry powder and our local carrot cake. It is really enticing. Makes you want to go for another mouthful and another mouthful. This “wet” version (i.e. best enjoyed with a spoon) of the carrot cake is definitely a refreshing departure from the eggy fried version that we’re used. If you’re sort of a visitor to Tampines Round Market, we’d definitely recommend having the rendition of fried carrot cake from Song Han. You won’t regret it!

3. Hui Lai Soft Bone Noodles (惠来软骨面)

Previously, we tried the Pork Rib Noodles ($4 portion) from Teo Kee Mushroom Minced Pork Noodle (潮记香菇肉脞面). It was soooo satisfying. Also, have you seen the portion of the pork ribs? This time, to make a comparison, we decided to try out the version at Hui Lai (惠来) and we were glad that we did – even though we already had the porridge and carrot cake by this time 🤣

As the name suggests, soft bones were used in the noodles. The melt-in-your-mouth soft bones were well-braised and tender. No chewing required. Moreover, we were one of the earlier patrons, which means that by the late morning or early afternoon, the texture could be even better. At $4, portion is also very generous. Comparable to that at Teo Kee. Lastly, the braised gravy slathered the noodles and with the in-house chili, the entire dish came together perfectly. If you happen to be a pork rib noodle lover, both Teo Kee and Hui Lai will leave you simply, satisfied 😄

Here are the other stalls that we tried during our last visit to Tampines Round Market…

4. Teo Kee Mushroom Minced Pork Noodle (潮记香菇肉脞面）

5. Pig’s Viscera Pork Ribs Prawn Noodle (老记猪杂排骨虾面）

6. Sarawak Kolo Mee (砂捞越哥捞面）

We enjoyed the pork rib noodles from Teo Kee Mushroom Minced Pork Noodle (潮记香菇肉脞面). The $4 portion was particularly generous and the taste shouts of 家乡古早味 (the old familiar taste). The pork ribs itself, though not as tender as we wanted it to be, had a firm bite but still came off the bone quite easily. The meat ball noodles from Pig’s Viscera Pork Ribs Prawn Noodle(老记猪杂排骨虾面） on the other hand had mixed reviews. Tom liked the fresh “taong” (bouncy) texture of the meat balls but Kate thought it was slightly under cooked.

Before we left the vicinity, we chanced upon the Kungfu Roast (烤功夫）which became popular in Singapore some time back due to its cheap whole roasted duck going for only $15! It’s located next to the Tampines Round Market and Food Centre at Blk 131 Tampines Street 11 (Coffee Shop)

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