Hawker Guide: 12 Stalls To Try At Alexandra Village Food Centre

Everyone gets a muffin top at AJ Delights, which bakes them fresh every morning. Founded by home bakers Amy and Jerry, the moist and fluffy pastries come in flavours including green tea, cookies and cream, apple streusel, blueberry, and peanut butter. The muffins are also halal-certified.

Don’t miss out on the Streusel muffins with a crumbly texture, achieved by baking it on top of the muffins. AJ Delights takes pleasure in employing high-quality premium ingredients imported from all over the world, including walnuts from the United States and butter and berries from France. Amy believes that these minor details contribute to the overall flavour of their baked goods. Streusel Choc ($2), Green Tea (Monster) ($2.40), and Mixed Berry Streusel ($2.40) are their three best-selling flavours.

SGD 2.20 to SGD 4 per muffin

Ashes take its darkness very seriously, so much so that their burger bun is made jet black by charcoal. The signature is a charred smash patty burger with melted cheese, and other flavours include pulled brisket, truffle mushroom beef patty, fried fish, and grilled chicken. There’s also mac and cheese, plus sides of pulled beef fries and coleslaw. Halal-certified.

From the name of their business to the notion of introducing the famed US smashed burger-style to our warm island, Ashes Burnnit exudes quirkiness. If you want your patties thick, come with an open mind. In keeping with their trendsetting methods, Ashes Burnnit has recently released Froissants (SGD 5.39). These ice cream-filled croissants are available in three flavours: hazelnut, milk tea, and strawberry.

SGD 6.50 to SGD 9.20

One of the newer stalls at the food centre, Chef Goo serves fried Hokkien mee made with Red Sea prawns, which are imported from Saudi Arabia. The dish is of the wet variety, which comes from a collagen-rich seafood stock simmered for 12 hours without MSG. It’s served with pork belly slices, lard, and squid, with additional topping options from waffle fries to unagi.

What makes Johnson’s menu distinctive is that he also provides Korean Fried Chicken and Western dishes such as Chicken Chop, guaranteeing that there is something for everyone!

SGD 5.30 to SGD 17.80

This Michelin Bib Gourmand laksa stall was founded in 1995 and is manned by second-generation hawker Zhang Ji Lin. The dish leans more towards curry than creamy and is rich and thick thanks to a dollop of laksa paste spooned over it. Although they have dropped the claypots for regular bowls, it’s still worthy of a visit.

The liberal usage of coconut milk is undoubtedly unhealthy, and that much is certain. The coconut-based sauce is also a little too thick at the end of the bowl. If calories and cholesterol levels are unimportant to you, we are confident you will have a guilt-free indulgence!

SGD 4.50 to SGD 6.50

Originally from Dover Road Market, this wanton noodle stall keeps the Cantonese tradition alive with lighter seasoning and spritely noodles. The loosely wrapped wantons are packed with ingredients, and the char siu is thinly sliced and not overly sauced. Don’t miss out on the sambal, which has a briny, spicy kick.

The folks at this stall have been cooking up old-school wanton mee for more than 30 years and it’s clearly a popular option among the lunch crowd so whatever they’ve been doing, they’ve been doing it right!

SGD 3 to SGD 3.50

For a meal that’s flavourful yet light on your stomach, this Bib Gourmand stall delivers the goods. They have broths of pork rib and lotus root, cordyceps flower with chicken, and cereus with spare ribs, all made without MSG. Just as healthy are the non-soup options of steamed pumpkin and minced pork, and steamed pork spare ribs.

Spareribs Soup with Lotus Root, Spareribs Soup with Winter Melon, Brazilian Mushroom Soup with Snow Fungus, Spareribs Soup with Mushroom, Cordyceps Flower Soup with Chicken, and Night-blooming Cereus Spareribs Soup are the only soups on the menu. Steamed pork ribs and pumpkin-steamed minced meat are also available. Rice costs SGD 0.67 per serving as a side item.

SGD 4 to SGD 5

A transplant from Margaret Drive, Hock Sin Kee is run by an elderly couple who serves up homely tze char food. Popular dishes include Hainanese-style pork chop, fish and vegetable soup, and onion omelette. Pad your meal with fried rice full of wok hei, or the lusciously thick hor fun.

This stand serves tze char in the traditional way. Simple foods are provided here, but they are prepared and served with a love that has lasted for many years. If you want a taste of old-school style tze char before it goes extinct, this is a must-try location. Highly recommended.

SGD 6 to SGD 20 per person

King Avocado may not be the original stall that started the avocado shake trend (that would be Mr Avocado a few stalls down), but their version is creamier, fruitier, and not as sweet as the competitors. They also make fruit juices with buah long long or soursop.

They claim it’s juice for the gods. It gives you energy, may be used as a cleaner or can be the star of your sandwich. For years, a little fight has raged at the Alexandra Food Village over this simple fruit. Alexandra Food Village has 5 kiosks that provide avocado juice as their distinctive drink. Their success has encouraged and fueled fierce competition at the same food centre, as well as at neighbouring food centres.

SGD 4 to SGD 8

For a different style of bak kut teh, head to Leon Kee, which serves them Hokkien-style in a claypot. The dark broth is made with Chinese herbs and spices including angelica root, which gives it an earthy, herbal aroma. It’s not overpowering though, and a match with tender pork ribs and crunchy you tiao.

Available in different portion sizes, Leon Kee’s signature Pork Rib Soup is prepared using a flavourful, not-too-thick broth cooked with different Chinese herbs.

SGD 6 to SGD 15

Lien Fa is run by twin brothers, who has been making shui jing pau, or crystal dumplings, by hand since 1968. Rolled out from tapioca starch, the translucent dumplings are filled with generous amounts of red bean, yam, or turnip, and then steamed until soft.

Three different filling options are available for the dumplings: sweet turnip, sweet red beans, and sweet yam.

SGD 1 per dumpling, minimum 4 dumplings per order

Xiang Jiang serves soy sauce chicken backed by Michelin. It has an alluring sheen and tender bite and comes with either rice or noodles, the latter of which has a lovely springiness to them. The shrimp wantons are beautifully done too, with fresh prawns and delicate skin.

The brownish-coloured soya sauce chicken is served in huge slices and smothered with a dark brown sauce. When you get your chicken and wanton mee, you can smell the soy sauce.

SGD 3.50 to SGD 5.50

The line is usually long at this stall, but the waiting brings gorgeously made xiao long baos. The skin is slightly thicker than Din Tai Fung’s, and it holds oily, meaty pearls of pork. For something crispier, go for the pan-fried dumplings, while the Szechuan chilli oil wontons bring a fiery punch.

The noodles are cooked al dente, which means they are chewy and firm to the bite.
Their house sauce, a combination of peanut sauce, minced pork, unique broth, and black bean paste, is out of this world. It’s savoury, nutty, and flavorful. Just keep an eye out for splash damage when slurping the noodles!

SGD 5 to SGD 6.50