A hop away—basically across the road via an overhead bridge—from the Ikea-Courts-Giant enclave in the industrial heartlands of Tampines sits the charming New Ubin Village.
Innovative even for the groundbreaking folk behind New Ubin (which originally opened offshore on Pulau Ubin decades ago), this east-side opening stands out from its other two Singapore outposts in many ways, including welcoming external brands into the “village”.
Founder Pang Seng Meng at New Ubin Village
It’s literally an industrial canteen, housing their very own New Ubin Tampines tze char stall, a New Ubin Test Kitchen incubator specialising in food for deliveries (they have a Ubin Nasi Lemak; $15), plus an upcoming dry-aged meats concept. Alongside them are four tenants, serving cai png (economic rice), Indian Muslim cuisine, noodles and drinks.
The highlight of course is New Ubin’s own extensive tze char menu. Enjoy many of the same signature dishes you’ll find at their Chijmes and Zhongshan Park restaurants—like the Boss Bee Hoon ($10), Hokkien Mee Special ($14) and the USDA Black Angus ‘Choice’ Ribeye ($15/100g) served with potatoes and their infamous Heart Attack Fried Rice cooked in beef fat. Also try the returning signature from the now-defunct Hillview store, the Charcoal Fish Head Steamboat ($28).
Hyperlocal yet daring, the allure of New Ubin Village lies in its kampung vibes. Here, find honest-to-goodness plates of tze char staples as well as welcome reinventions of Singaporean food you won’t get anywhere else. And as always, feel free to BYOB; there’s no corkage and they’ll even offer proper wine glasses.
