What it’s like: Spacious and airy on the second level of Commonwealth Crescent Market, this hawker centre holds 450 seats and slow (mostly elderly) human traffic lazing away the afternoon. Vendors here also tend to take siestas during lazy afternoons, with about half of its 39 stalls in shutters either night or day. It’s often overlooked in favour of the hyped Two Chefs tze char joint next door at block 116, but Crescent conceals some hawker fare worthy of its own hype as well.
What to eat: Besides the famous Henry’s Chicken Rice (#02-84, $2.50), run by the former chef of Chatterbox at Mandarin Orchard (famous for their Mandarin Chicken Rice), Coocci Contemporary Japanese (#02-92) is a one-year-old contender that doesn’t skimp on style – a blow torch is used to give the chicken roulade ($5) a final char before it’s served with somen noodle in a double-boiled chicken and pumpkin broth. Apple wood is used for the smoked chicken ($7.50) and the stall also serves handmade pasta tortellini ($5).
Another young hawker-preneur start-up is Flavore (#02-76), a French-inspired bakery by a former teacher and an air traffic controller (Anson Mark and Jesser Peng, respectively), who use Valrhona chocolate in their $2 hazelnut choc macaroons and savarins. You can also find reasonably priced cold-pressed juices like zucchini and pineapple ($2) or kale, ginger, spinach, capsicum and orange ($4) at Asip Drinks (#02-85), a five-month old endeavour by retired artist May Choo.
But don’t forget the old timers, like the four-decade-old dessert stall Xi Le Ting (#02-70), which offers warm cheng tng, tua bek (white oats) and red and green bean soup ($0.90), or the cold versions like gingko dried bean ($1.50) at Dessert 90 (#02-90), which you have just one month to check out, before the owners retire in July 2014. Wong Pei Ting