Chomp Chomp Food Centre

Chomp Chomp keeps vampire hours. Lunch is a car park; dinner is half of Serangoon Gardens.

Chomp Chomp is worth the trip for a weeknight dinner with a group and no plans for afterwards. It is a supper centre in the old sense, a neighbourhood ritual rather than a mall food court with a curfew, and the Hokkien mee alone justifies the journey to Serangoon Gardens. The compromises are space and timing: it is small, the tables are contested, and nothing happens at lunch. Come after dark, take the MRT rather than the car, and send someone to hold a table.

Why it works

Stall shutters only go up from about 4pm, and by dinner Kensington Park Road smells of barbecue smoke. The centre opened on 7 May 1972 as Serangoon Garden Food Centre, built to house the unlicensed hawkers who had been trading around Serangoon Garden Circus. The hawkers chose the Chomp Chomp name themselves, a loose adaptation of the Teochew 忠忠, whose characters stand for loyalty and righteousness. In 1996 it became the first hawker centre where stallholders bought their own stalls, and parking has been a sore point with the neighbours since at least 1984.

What to order

Start with Ah Hock Fried Hokkien Noodles (#01-27), a drier, second-generation style, more than 35 years old and Michelin-listed. It is the reason people cross the island, so queue for it first. Pair it with sambal stingray from the second-generation barbecue stall at #01-20.

Then graze. Wang BBQ & Grill (#01-31) does lok lok, more than 40 skewers deep-fried and then grilled, by the same aunty for 12 years; her daughter runs the chicken wings and satay counter at #01-03. Ang Sar Lee Satay Bee Hoon (#01-17), now third generation, smothers its noodles in peanut sauce. The Warung (#01-15), a Muslim-owned family business of more than 40 years, does mee soto and satay celop. The carrot cake stall at #01-36, the first you see at the entrance, does both black and white, which settles at least one argument at the table.

How to do it well

It is just over 600 square metres, so seats are the real currency. Send one person to hold a table, one to the drinks stall for sugarcane and the rest to queue in parallel. A weeknight is easier than a Friday or Saturday. Some stalls close around midnight, so it works as a late supper too.

The building has had its moments: a 1998 refit gave it a roof hawkers said was too low, trapping heat and letting rain splash in, and it was replaced in 2003 before the centre reopened in April 2004. The parking has not been fixed in quite the same way. Lorong Chuan and Serangoon are the nearest MRT stations, and both are a better idea than circling Kensington Park Road.

What to order

• Hokkien mee · Ah Hock Fried Hokkien Noodles · #01-27Drier, second-generation Hokkien mee, more than 35 years old and Michelin-listed. Queue here first.
• BBQ stingray · 福烧烤海鲜 BBQ Seafood · #01-20Second-generation barbecue stall; the sambal stingray is the order.
• Lok lok skewers · Wang BBQ & Grill · #01-31More than 40 skewers, deep-fried then grilled, by the same aunty for 12 years.
• Satay bee hoon · Ang Sar Lee Satay Bee Hoon · #01-17Third generation, more than 40 years old, noodles under a lot of peanut sauce.
• Mee soto or satay celop · The Warung · #01-15Muslim-owned family business of more than 40 years; mee soto or satay celop.
• Black and white carrot cake · Carrot Cake · #01-36First stall at the entrance; black and white both on offer.

Good to know An evening-only centre: most stalls open from about 4pm and some close around midnight. Lorong Chuan and Serangoon are the nearest MRT stations; parking nearby is tight.

Chomp Chomp Food Centre | 20 Kensington Park Road, Singapore 557269 | Nearest MRT: Lorong Chuan, Serangoon