SINGAPORE - Barely more than a week after it opened, Yishun Park Hawker Centre is generating buzz for the creative dishes that some new hawkers have come up with.
The hawker centre which has 45 cooked food stalls and about 750 seats is run by the Timbre Group on a not-for-profit basis.
It also accepts cashless payments and has a Games Square with pinball machines and arcade games.
But the star of any hawker centre are the stalls, and here are five to look out for.
1. Har Cheong Gai Rice Set
What: Can't decide between prawn paste chicken and chicken rice?
Ah Tan Wings combines both by serving the popular zichar dish (also commonly known by its Cantonese name har cheong kai) in rice sets during lunchtime.
The Atas Wing Meal ($5.50) features two chicken wings and two chicken drumlets that are double-fried to golden brown perfection and are studded with crisp and light crumbs.
They are served with a chicken stock-infused rice, a halved onsen egg, cucumbers and a tangy chilli lime dip.
Where: Ah Tan Wings, 01-40
Open: 11.30am to 2.30pm; 6 to 9pm (daily, except Wednesdays)
Info: www.facebook.com/ahtanwings
2. Hakka Tofu Rice Bowl
What: Mr Lee Lock Teng, 24, owner of Ah Lock Tofu Dian, also mashes up two traditonal dishes -fried Hakka tofu and Hakka lei cha fan (thunder tea rice) - for his signature dish ($5.50). Each rice bowl has seven ingredients: Hakka tofu, tau kwa (fried soya bean puffs) stuffed with minced pork, seaweed, chillies, mani cai (a leaf used in lei cha fan), long beans and small tofu cubes encircling Japanese rice that is topped with a piquant sambal mayonnaise.
Where: Ah Lock Tofu Dian, 01-08
Open: 6 to 9pm or till sold out (weekdays), noon to 2pm; 6 to 9pm or till sold out (weekends), closed on Tuesdays
Info: Go to www.facebook.com/ahlocktofu
3. Happy Panda Set
What: This Instagram-worthy vegetarian meal ($8.50) features a cute panda-shaped sushi rice - complete with "ears", "eyes" and "arms" made with seaweed, two types of vegetables or fruit, a mock meat, soup and a choice of dessert such as longan jelly or mango pudding.
Choose from about 20 vegetables, fruit and mock meat such as soya bean-based pork belly and crabstick. Pick from nine house-made dressings such as honey mustard and yuzu mint that are made with egg-free mayonnaise.
Where: Yummy Salad House, 01-04
Open: 10am to 9pm, daily except Tuesdays.
Info: www.facebook.com/yummysaladhouse
4. Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang
What: This Malay-Indonesian fusion dish ($5.50) features ayam taliwang, an Indonesian grilled chicken that has been marinated with chillies, tomato and ginger. The succulent chicken leg is simmered in a wok of spices for an hour before being grilled. It is served with coconut-infused rice, ikan bilis, peanuts, tempeh and begedil (deep-fried potato patty).
Where: Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang, 01-33
Open: 7.30am to 8.30pm, daily except Mondays.
Info: Go to www.facebook.com/nasilemakayamtaliwang
5. Chicken Curry with Baked Golden Roti Prata
What: This mini pot of Thai-Indian curry ($5) is concocted with 11 ingredients such as mustard seed, lemongrass and onions. In the mildly spicy curry are a boneless chicken thigh, potatoes and a hard-boiled egg. Mop up the curry with a baked dome-shaped roti prata ($1) that is crisp and flaky, or a baked spring onion roti prata ($1.50).
Where: Midas Every Touch Is Gold, 01-31
Open: noon to 8pm, daily except Thursdays.
Info: Go to www.facebook.com/MidasOvenBakedRotiPrata
Yishun Park Hawker Centre is at 51 Yishun Avenue 11. It opens from 6am to 10pm daily. For more info, go to yishunparkhc.sg
