Before Northpoint City and Yishun Park Hawker Centre sprung up in the northern town of Yishun, I had never really hung out in the neighbourhood much or specifically made trips there to eat something. Nothing there really interested me previously even though I don’t live that far away. 😛 Of course, now it’s a different story as I find myself heading to Yishun every few weeks just to eat mala hot pot which I will cover in a later post. 😀
Yishun Park Hawker Centre, managed by the Timbre Group, is a modern-concept food centre that is located right opposite Yishun Park. Hence the name. It is also home to a group of young hawkerpreneurs under the Timbre+ Hawkers’ Hawkerpreneurs Incubation Programme. If you’re an aspiring hawker who is keen to test the waters before officially plunging into the trade, you can find out more about the programme here -> https://yishunparkhc.sg/hawkerpreneurs-incubation-programme/
Besides a wide variety of cuisines, this hawker centre also offers a lovely environment for us to chill out in – whether for tea or for a beer.
I had been here a couple of times to date. And I just want to recommend 4 stalls that are worth checking out if you haven’t been here and/or aren’t sure what’s here.
1. Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang #01-33
If you’ve not come across the term Ayam Taliwang before, well it is simply an Indonesian-style ayam bakar ( or grilled chicken) dish from Lombok.
This stall opens from Tuesday to Sunday from 7.30am to 8.30pm. It is closed on Mondays.
Some of the nasi lemak dishes here are similar to what we can get locally. The ones that you may want to try are those with Indo flavours like items no. 4-6.
The Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang ($5.50) is not our usual nasi lemak though it does look a bit like chap chye png, lol. I really liked the smoky flavour of the chicken leg that was nicely grilled to a lovely char on the outside. It was also a good-sized leg with plenty of meat.
The slightly stodgy rice had a subtle flavour of coconut milk. Would have been better if it was more intense.
What I enjoyed the most on this plate was the sambal that wasn’t sweet or oily like many other nasi lemak sambals. It was very spicy and shiok to eat and it just kinda married everything else on the plate.
The boss of the stall also surprised us by coming over to our table to get our feedback on the chicken. Trying to perfect his recipe, eh. 😉
2. Hua Hua Cooking & Eating #01-41
This stall serves up local favourites like Hokkien Mee, Char Kway Teow, Carrot Cake & Oyster Omelette.
It opens from 10am to 10pm on Mondays to Fridays and 8am to 10pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
The Oyster Omelette ($5) is our favourite dish to order from this stall. I like that it always come in a whole thick omelette instead of bits and bobs. All that eggy goodness is simply addictive. I love this a lot ‘cos I love eggs, lol. If you’re an egg lover like me, you can’t miss having this.
The plump oysters are worth mentioning too. Normally, the oysters that we get in other oyster omelettes would end up looking shrivelled and miserable but definitely not the ones here. Their oysters were fresh and had no fishy taste or smell in them.
3. Ah Tan Wings #01-40
This stall specialises in har cheong kai (prawn paste chicken)! *crunch* 😀
It opens from 11am to 9pm on Tuesdays to Sundays and is closed on Mondays.
Fried chicken. Yum. 
The Shrimp Paste Cutlet ($7) was served up western-food style with fries and salad. Oooh, I found kelp in the salad and they used yuzu dressing – very refreshing! 😀
I wouldn’t say this is mind-blowing but it’s a pretty legit piece of fried chicken. Super crispy on the outside. Super moist on the inside. And overall full of shrimp paste flavour. The exterior of the chicken was just like biting into a piece of goreng pisang. But it didn’t ooze any excess oil.
The shoestring fries were under-seasoned but it didn’t really matter as we had a choice of a sweet chilli sauce and a spicy, vinegary one to dip the fries in.
Do note this har cheong gai stall may get long queues during peak meal times and it can be quite a long wait as food is only prepared upon order.
4. Munchi #01-43
For desserts, check out Munchi’s wide range of min chiang kueh pancakes.
This stall opens from 7.30am to 10pm daily.
Price starts from $1.20 onwards for a pancake.
You can pick from whatever’s available on the serving boards.
Or have your pancakes made fresh on the spot. This uncle is in-charge of wrapping the pancakes.
While this auntie is busy making the skins behind. As turnover is high, you’re guaranteed to get fresh batches of pancakes every time.
Alternative Dining Area – Yishun Park
One advantage of the Yishun Park Hawker Centre is its location next to the park. By the time we bought our pancakes, the food centre was already busily packed so we crossed the road to get to the park on the opposite side.
View of the hawker centre from the park. We sat at one of the stone tables there while watching kids at play.
And we laid out our freshly made soft-skin pancakes that were still quite warm to the touch. Didn’t get the traditional crispy-skin min chiang kueh as the flavours were pretty standard. By the way, for these soft-skin pancakes, you can have a choice of normal, green tea or charcoal skin which according to the uncle is only for colour and not flavour.
The Green Bean Pancake was my least favourite of all. Wasn’t sweet but wasn’t fragrant too. In fact, the green bean paste was too dry.
The Yam Pancake was really delicious. Made of pure yam paste. Not too sweet but extremely fragrant and satisfying.
We totally enjoyed the Cream Cheese Pancake too. It tasted like the Laughing Cow brand of cream cheese. Very smooth, cheesy and flavourful.
We thought the Mao Shan Wang Durian Pancake was the most outstanding. Had real durian flesh and fibres in the filling. So creamy, moist and rich in flavour. Definitely on par with the durian pancakes from Four Seasons though the price of $2.60 was a little expensive.
Besides the above stalls I have highlighted, there are also other noteworthy stalls worth checking out –
- Hakka Tofu Rice Bowls from Ah Lock Tofu #01-08
- Curry Noodles & Ipoh Cuisine from Yap’s Noodles #01-36
- Thai food at Thumshop #01-02
- Smoked Sliders at The Outslider SG #01-31
- Seafood Soups from Seafood Pirates #01-35
What is your favourite? 😉