Looking for authentic Singapore hawker food away from the tourist crowds? Discover the best stalls at Pek Kio Hawker Centre including the famous prawn mee, chicken rice, nasi lemak, chee cheong fun, curry puffs and traditional sweet soups at bargain prices.
Pek Kio Hawker Centre is located in the heartland area of Singapore. This area is located just outside Singapore's CBD, and is made up of suburban neighbourhoods and HDBs (high rise housing estates), many with their own communities with shopping areas, hawker centres, schools and transport networks. The heartland is where around 80% of Singaporeans live.
Pek Kio means white bridge and is named after the white bridge that formerly spanned the Kampong Java Canal. It's not a place that you will find many tourists and has a really low key, pleasant hum to it without the frenetic bustle that some hawker centres have. On the Saturday we visited, there was live music playing and it was easy to get a table. My family originally stumbled upon Pek Kio years ago almost by accident. They actually live in the city so it's not close to them but my father had a particular fondness for Pek Kio and one stall in particular.
Xin Heng Kee Chicken Duck Rice #01-14
My father was devoted to the Xin Heng Kee Chicken Duck Rice stand. It was where he would eat chicken rice on his weekly hawker centre outing with my sister Blythe. In fact they changed their outing day once Xin Heng Kee changed their opening days so that my father could procure his fix of chicken rice.
Not only are the roast pork rice and chicken rice delicious with flavoursome rice, they are also an absolute bargain at $3.50. I particularly like the flavour of the rice and how each grain glistens with flavour and moisture.
Lai Hiang Pork Rib Prawn Mee #01-41
If there's one stand that is famous here for its long queues it is Lai Hiang Pork Rib Prawn Mee. No matter what time of the day, the line is long and each bowl of mee or noodles is made to order. The menu is in Chinese and the only difference is in the serving size. The noodles cost from $2.50 up to $5. You can order medium rice noodles, vermicelli or hokkien and we go for hokkien. I watch a woman next to me heap a generous amount of chilli powder on top so we do the same.
The bowl of soup comes separately to the noodles which I always like as I don't like the noodles to get soggy. And I get why it's so popular. The noodles have a nice springiness to them and the seasoning is a judicious balance of sweet and salty. Yes you only get one prawn but we can't expect too many as it's $2.50 and there are still some slices of fish cake too. I end up eating most of this and would have lined up again but the line was too long!
Pin Wei Hong Kong Style Chee Cheong Fun #01-25
Mr NQN's favourite stall here by far is the chee cheong fun stall which is also the stand that French President Emmanuel Macron visited (their Lau Pa Sat branch). Having freshly made chee cheong fun is something of a rarity in Singapore and honestly once you've had freshly made chee cheong fun you'll see the difference in the texture.
We try two of Blythe's favourites: prawn and char siu which also happen to be the most popular. These delicate silky parcels are filled with juicy prawns or chopped char siu made by a man who has learnt the craft from his father. The texture of the slippery, silky rice noodles is definitely the star. At $4 each they're slightly pricier than other items but well worth it.
Sin Kee Nasi Lemak #01-34
Blythe loves the nasi lemak from Sin Kee Nasi Lemak and it comes already packaged up in a waxed cardboard container. It comes with a bed of coconut rice with fried chicken fillet sliced up, ikan bilis or dried anchovies, a fried egg, cucumber and a scoop of thick, sweet-spicy sambal chilli sauce in a generous portion to flavour everything.
Heritage Tanglin Puff #01-45
Tanglin Puff is a relatively new stand at Pek Kio Hawker Centre having only been open for 4 months since the beginning of 2026. Here they sell a range of curry puffs filled with chicken rendang, spicy otah (fish paste), chicken curry and sweet taro.
They also have a special of 3 mini curry puffs filled with Hae Bee, a Hokkien dried prawn filling. We buy a range of these curry puffs and they're good although they are best brought home to enjoy warm after heating in the air fryer. However I still think the best curry puffs so far are from Old Airport Road Hawker Centre.
Shui Yue Hot Desserts #01-33
I can't leave without trying sweet soups, one of my favourite Asian dessert types. Shui Yue sells a range of hot soups but unfortunately some of them are sold out like the Bubur Hitam or purple rice soup.
That leaves Tau Suan and green bean soup. Tau Suan is a Teochew dried mung bean soup with a gelatinous, glossy texture to it and is flavoured with pandan with a very light sweetness. It also comes with slices of you tiao or Chinese donuts. The dried green bean soup or lyu dou tang is less sweet but comforting. Each bowl is $1.50 and it's a sweet ending to our visit to Pek Kio.
So tell me Dear Reader, would you have gotten back in the queue to order another serve? Do you like sweet soups?
This food was independently paid for.
Pek Kio
41A Cambridge Rd, Singapore 211041
Phone: +65 6225 5632
Open: 5:30am-11pm (closed Mondays)
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