Do you know there are two Hill Street Char Kway Teow stalls, both with their unique stories? One stall is in Bedok, now expertly handled by the original hawker’s son, and the other is tucked away in Chinatown Complex Food Centre.
Despite its lesser-known status, the Chinatown spot welcomes a queue that rivals that at its Bedok counterpart. The queue stretches up to a 30-minute wait during peak hours! But trust me, every minute spent waiting is totally worth it!
Both of these stalls were once part of the now-demolished Hill Street Food Centre, a two-level haven of hawker delights. The more celebrated of the two was located on the ground level and eventually relocated to Bedok. Meanwhile, our hawker uncle, Mr. Tan Chiang Boo, manned the stall on the second level and later moved to Chinatown.
Mr. Tan is a true legend in the hawker scene — he’s been tossing noodles in that sizzling wok since he was just 17. With over half a century of experience under his belt, he has perfected this seemingly simple dish. Char Kway Teow, despite its humble ingredients, demands an unparalleled mastery of fire control and wok skills.
His pork lard is freshly prepared every day from specially-sourced pork fat. The combination of this heavenly lard, perfectly cooked noodles, and Mr. Tan’s expert frying skills creates a dish worth waiting in line for! Even though the plate of char kway teow does not have the strongest breath of the wok, it has a nice balance of savouriness and sweetness. The cockles are decent in size and have had their distinctive metallic aftertaste removed due to careful preparation.
Big shoutout to the kind uncle who led us to this incredible find! Watch our new $10 series on Instagram, where we hand strangers a tenner and let them guide us to the best local eats in the neighborhood.
Hill Street Fried Kway Teow
Address: 335 Smith Street, Chinatown Complex #02-32, Singapore 050335
Opening Hours: 10:30AM to 6PM, closed on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays (Alternate week Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays)
