When you think hawker stall, you usually think of char kway teow and mee rebus, not ramen and army stew. But Japanese and Korean cuisines do exist in hawker centres! Here are 10 stalls you can eat at for your weekly fix of sushi and jajjangmeon – that you don’t have to pay restaurant-level prices for.
1. Gyu Nami
If you feel like having roast beef for lunch, why not head down to Gyu Nami for a taste of their signature Wagyu Beef Don? Tender roast beef, topped with a soft sous vide egg and yoghurt sauce over a steaming bowl of rice – that’s the kind of lunch we’re talking about. $10 isn’t necessarily hawker price, but you’re paying for quality, after all.
Don’t feel like having beef? No worries – try their salmon don or unagi don instead!
Gyu Nami is currently offering islandwide delivery for $8, so you can enjoy their dons even if you can’t, or don’t want to, go down to their stall at Amoy Street Food Centre.
Address – Amoy Street Food Centre, 7 Maxwell Road, #02-126, Singapore 069111
Opening Hours: 11am – 3pm (or until they’re sold out, Mon – Sat)
Link(s): Facebook | InstagramÂ
2. Seoul Shiok
Located in Pasir Ris and Ang Mo Kio, this Korean hawker stall is particularly well known for its army stew (budae jjigae). It’s no wonder – mildly spicy and generously filled with tender pork belly slices, ramyeon and other goodies, this hearty dish will leave you happy and satisfied. You can share it with your family or colleagues (portion it out first, please don’t share food right now!), or order the mini version at $7.90 if you’re lucky enough to have it all to yourself. The army stew is fully customisable as well – add enoki mushrooms or prawns, or top it off with cheese!
Seoul Shiok is currently offering islandwide delivery on GrabFood, and you can enjoy $5 off the delivery price with an order of $80 or above. You can also enjoy 10% off your order if it exceeds $35!
Address: Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre, #02-20, Singapore, 519641
Opening Hours: 12pm – 9pm (Mon – Sun)
OR
Address: 159 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4, Singapore 560159
Opening Hours: 11:30PM-9PM
3. RAMEN TAISHO
If army stew is less your speed than ramen is, you can always head down to Ramen Taisho for a full ramen experience. The Singaporean couple running this stall studied ramen-making in Japan, and the result is authentic, smooth, handcrafted noodles. Try their Standard Ramen for just $6.80 or their Black Garlic Ramen for $7.80. Or, if you’re in the mood for fusion food or just something spicy, order the Sambal Ikan Bilis Ramen ($7.80). At that price point and with that quality, it’s no wonder this stall is always boasting long queues!
Address: 1 Kadayanallur Street, #01-32 Maxwell Food Centre, Singapore 069184
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 9.30pm (Tues -Thur, Sat) and 11:30am – 10:30pm (Fri) on
Tel: 9831 1855
4. Waker Chicken x Oppa Grill
Speaking of fusion food, why not give Waker Chicken x Oppa Grill a try? This is a Muslim-owned Korean fried chicken stall, and it offers fusion food such as a dish it calls Emi’s Biryani, which substitutes Korean fried chicken for the usual chicken found in biryani. Or you can just have the Korean fried chicken, which is plenty delicious on its own. The light, crispy skin gives way to tender meat, and there’s a variety of options to choose from as well!
Waker Chicken x Oppa Grill also serves army stew and other options, but if you do decide to try the stew, be forewarned – it’s spicy!
Address: 201C Tampines Street 21, Chang Cheng Mee Wah Coffee Shop, Singapore 523201
Opening Hours: 10:30am – 9:30pm (Mon – Sun)
Link(s): Instagram
5. Lagoon in a Bowl
Let’s bounce back to rice for a bit. This colourful dish is the only thing sold at Lagoon in a Bowl, which is located at Amoy Street Food Centre. Despite the fact that this hawker centre is home to many well-known food stalls, Lagoon in a Bowl stands out because of its sheer vibrance! Each serving boasts soft, flaky salmon, a poached egg, and colourful vegetable options on a bed of deep-blue rice. The colour comes from butterfly-pea flowers, which is supposed to boost your eyesight and revitalise your skin, so it’s definitely the healthier option!
And of course, it’s totally Instagrammable.
Address: 7 Maxwell Road, Amoy Street Food Centre #01-48, Singapore 069111
Opening Hours: 11am – 3pm (Mon – Sat)
Tel: 9119 2619
6. Pink Candy
Despite the name, this stall doesn’t sell pink candy. (Sorry to disappoint.) What it does sell, though, is authentic Korean cuisine! This hawker stall is run by Koreans and serves everything from seafood pancakes – thick and crispy, chock-full of filling – to, yes, army stew.
The gimbap it serves is generously filled, and with so many ingredients – we see burdock, cucumber, carrot, picked radish, ham and crabstick. Each piece of this makes a good mouthful, and it all adds up to a truly satisfying meal.
It’s located at the back of Beauty World Food Centre, so don’t miss it!
Address: 144 Upper Bukit Timah Road #04-60 Beauty World Centre, 588177
Opening Hours: 10:30am – 2:30pm and 5pm – 9pm (Mon, Wed – Sun)
Link(s): InstagramÂ
7. Konomi Zen
All the Japanese food options we’ve mentioned so far weren’t expensive, per se, but they weren’t inexpensive, either. So how about a super-affordable one for a change? Everything Konomi Zen sells is $6 or under! Their salmon bento and chicken teriyaki sets come at just $6 and $5 respectively, and their tendon – at only $5 – still comes freshly fried, piping hot, and absolutely delectable, despite the low price point. The batter is thicker than normal tendon, but we’d argue that that just adds to the satisfaction.
Other options at this stall are their oyako don ($3.50) and chicken udon (also $3.50).
Address: 628 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4, #01-59, Ang Mo Kio 628 Market & Food Centre, Singapore 560628
Opening Hours: 11am – 8pm (Mon – Sat)
Tel: 9734 8875
8. JW Korean Food Stories
Here’s another Muslim-owned Korean option! The army stew served here has a beef-base soup – and it’s also free-flow, so you can have as much as you want of it. Another dish this stall serves is Sweet Soy Sauce Grilled Beef. For only $10, you get an incredibly generous serving, and the beef is tender and lightly char-grilled. It’s perfection on a plate – what more could you want?
This huge stall takes up two units at the kopitiam they’re located in, so it’d be hard to miss! And it’s only a 10-minute walk from Buona Vista MRT station.
Address: 19 Ghim Moh Road, #01-229, Kopitiam Stall 8, Singapore 270019
Opening Hours: 10am -10pm (Mon – Sun)
Tel: 9115 2194
Link(s): Facebook | Instagram | Website
9. Donya Japanese Cuisine
Our last Japanese stall is located in the heartlands, but despite that, just look at the number of people queueing. That tells you all you need to know about the quality of this stall – and its popularity!
Donya Japanese Cuisine was set up by three friends who grew up in Toa Payoh (and thus wanted to set up shop there). Their aim is to sell premium food at affordable prices. With their Mentai Maki going at just $5.80 – look at that generous topping of mentaiko mayo! – and their Unagi Tama Don priced at just $8.80, we think they’ve succeeded, don’t you?
Other dishes they have at their stall include all-time favourites such as Chicken Katsu Don and Chicken Karaage Don.
Address: 126 Lorong 1 Toa Payoh, Singapore 310126
Opening Hours: 11am – 2:30pm, 5pm – 9pm (Mon – Sun)
Tel: 8866 2126
10. Gangnam Bingsu
What better way to end a 10-course listicle with a dessert recommendation? You wouldn’t expect to find a bingsu stall in Lau Pa Sat – you’d be more likely to find an ice kachang stall – but Gangnam Bingsu upends at expectation completely. It sells its bingsu in two sizes, regular and large.
What better way to beat the heat than to treat yourself with Korean bingsu? Options include strawberry bingsu, matcha bingsu, and black sesame bingsu, among others.
Address: 18 Raffles Quay, #01-88/95 Lau Pa Sat, Singapore 048582
Opening Hours: 11am – 4pm (Mon – Sun)
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Wow, this entire list of hawker recommendations sure has our stomachs growling – we’re headed off to try some of these things once the work day ends. Which stall will you visit first?
Read:Â MUST-TRY: 10 Best Eating Spots for Ramen in Singapore!
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