When you’re not in the mood for the usual run of local food, we’ve found plenty of hipster hawkers that are dishing out affordable alternatives.
Beer is Food (#B1-55 Golden Mile Food Centre, 505 Beach Rd., 9734-0508)
We all know you can get some delicious Thai dishes at Golden Mile Food Centre, but how about pairing them with some good craft beer? Beer is Food have a particularly wide selection of fruitier and sweeter beers like a Banana Bread beer, Double Chocolate Stout, Mango beer or even a Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale.
Fork N’ Fingers (#02-54 Chinatown Complex, 335 Smith St.)
This Japanese-leaning stall focuses on donburi bowls of rice and izakaya-style food to complement neighboring stall, The Good Beer Company. There are plenty of options like hae bee hiam fried rice with spicy dried shrimp sambal and spring onions; crispy ebi fried rice; cold spicy sesame spinach tofu; and oden, a Japanese stew with mushrooms, carrots, hard-boiled eggs in a dashi stock.
The Good Beer Company (#02-58 Chinatown Complex, 335 Smith St., 9430-2750)
As one of the first alternative hawker stalls to pop up around town, this place specializes in craft brews from all over the world. They stock over 60 different labels from places like America, Taiwan and the Netherlands. Although situated in a fairly traditional hawker, it doesn’t hurt to have some good suds to accompany that plate of char kway teow.
Immanuel French Kitchen (#01-40 Blk 119 Bukit Merah Lane 1, 9297-3285)
Chef Immanuel Tee left the cushy and well-stocked confines of a proper restaurant to start this stall. He still uses the same fine dining techniques like espumas and braising to dish out hearty French dishes. Think plates of duck rillette, pork belly with mashed potatoes, frog legs and a moist and tender sous-vide chicken breast.
Mian (#01-40 Blk 119 Bukit Merah Lane 1, 9818-6636)
From the folks who brought you one of Singapore’s first food trucks, The Traveling C.O.W, comes their first brick-and-mortar venture. Taking over the space where popular burger stall De Burg used to be, they have more of their best sellers like the bulgogi ramen burger.
Seasalt (#01-40 Blk 119 Bukit Merah Lane 1, 8200-5528)
This Bukit Merah kopitiam is swarming in cool hawker finds and this particular stall is a seafood haven. If you err on the safe side, opt for their fish and chips, hand-battered and doused in tartar sauce. If you’re in a group, their clam or mussel pots (with a variety of broths) are great for sharing. They’ve also got Asian-inspired dishes like a whole fish with Thai-style mango-chili-coriander sauce.
Stew Kuche (#01-40 Blk 119 Bukit Merah Lane 1, 6276-6445)
A Swiss-German stall on the corner of the busy kopitiam, they have stalwart favorites like pork knuckle and tons of sausages sourced from Huber’s Butcher and Indoguna. They’ve also got a huge menu of safe bets like pastas and meats with mashed potato.
Two Wings (#01-40 Blk 119 Bukit Merah Lane 1)
Who doesn’t love chicken wings? Well, this place does a mean rendition of all things deep-fried and battered. The chicken wings are plump, juicy and pretty big compared to the others you find around the island. They’ve also got a special chili sauce (we think it’s comparable to the garlicky-ginger chili sauce you find for chicken rice) and the wings aren’t super greasy, either.
