A Paya Lebar Food Guide – 16 Spots We Love & You Should Try!

There’s simply too much good food in Paya Lebar, especially with Haig Road Market and the likes that are just a mere 5-minute walk away from Paya Lebar MRT station. With more malls such as Paya Lebar Square, Paya Lebar Quarter and SingPost Centre popping up, this neighbourhood is starting to get exciting!

We’ve compiled a list of some of our favourites and we hope that it will be a good starting point if you’re travelling to Singapore for the first time or from the Western part of the island. Enjoy!

• Poon Nah City Home Made Noodle
• Arnold’s Fried Chicken
• Dapur Penyet
• 5 Little Bears
• Xuan Miao Vegan
• Long Phung Vietnamese Restaurant
• Mr and Mrs Mohgan’s Super Crispy Roti Prata
• Syaza Nasi Padang
• 99 Food Bazaar
• Lin Yu Mei Sarawak Kolo Mee
• Say Seng Tau Kwa Pau
• Zheng Guang Wanton Mee
• Greendot
• The Original Katong Laksa
• Tong Kee Braised Duck
• Tenderfresh Classic

1. Poon Nah City Home Made Noodle

Located in City Plaza which is a short walk away from Paya Lebar MRT, Poon Nah City Banmian is one of the most popular banmian stalls in Singapore. The highlight here is their noodles, which are soft and chewy. The broth here is clear without any eggy bits. That doesn’t mean that it’s less tasty though! They use wolfberry leaves in their dishes, which are supposed to be ‘cooling’ for the body. Its also an excellent source of Vitamin E! The chilli sauce stands out as well. Diners have a choice of ban mian, you mian, mee sua, and even bean flour noodles. Our favourite order would be the classic ban mian with minced pork or sliced fish!

2. Arnold’s Fried Chicken

Arnold’s Fried Chicken needs no introduction. They have garnered an impressive following, and have even set up a new branch in Bedok recently. We got the 1 person set from their ala carte menu. For $7.70, you get half a young and tender spring chicken, and fries and coleslaw. The chicken is well marinated and tender. The perfect comfort food for a bad day! We recommend the affordable 2 Person Set ($24.60) which comes with 2 pieces of crispy fried chicken, fries, coleslaw, 2 fried buns and 2 regular soft drinks.

3. Dapur Penyet

Dapur Penyet is owned by Edy Ongkowijaya who is known as the person who brought the lip-smackingly good ayam penyet to Singapore. Here, authentic Indonesian spices, herbs and ingredients are used.

We tried the classic Ayam Penyet ($9.50), which comes with boiled kang kong, a piece of tempeh (fermented soya bean cake) and beancurd. They also have a grand total of 5 different types of sambal! They come in varying levels of spice and originate from different parts of Indonesia. Other than Ayam Penyet, they also have a grilled chicken dish, the Ayam Bakar Kecap ($9.70) which is sweeter and less oily.

4. 5 Little Bears

You don’t have to fly to Taiwan to get your fix of Taiwanese street snacks. 5 Little Bears is a Taiwanese eatery selling classics like Braised Pork Belly Rice, Oyster Vermicelli and more. We got the affordably-priced Braised Pork Rice Set ($5.90) which comes with a choice of wintermelon tea, black tea or green tea right here at Paya Lebar Square. Cut into small pieces, the braised pork belly has the right ratio of fat and lean meat. It also comes with some preserved vegetables on the side which helps to cut through the rich dish.

End your meal on a sweet note with Eight Treasures Ice ($6), a colourful looking Taiwanese dessert that has 8 different types of ingredients – coconut jelly, corn, pearl jelly, red bean, sweet potato, green bean and yam.

5. Xuan Miao Vegan

This is for the vegans and those who are feeling a little under the weather. Xuan Miao Vegan is located at the Basement of Paya Lebar Square. The noodles of the U-Mian Dry ($6.50) come with a blob of xiang chun sauce which has a strong garlicky taste. The black sauce complements the xiang chun sauce and sealed the deal for us. While the soup may taste a little bland for some, each bowl is filled to the brim with vegetables and accompanying ingredients.

6. Long Phung Vietnamese Restaurant

I really love Vietnamese food. I just can’t get enough of the fresh herbs and fish sauce which I find so fragrant and addictive. Here at Long Phung, only authentic Vietnamese food is served! The classic Pho Tai ($7) comes with beef slices and rice noodles. The broth is slightly sweet and extremely flavourful. They serve their thin beef slices rare so that the beef does not get overcooked due to the piping hot broth. The springy rice noodles are smooth and glide down your throat easily. This bowl is perfect comfort food on rainy days.

7. Mr and Mrs Mohgan’s Super Crispy Roti Prata

Hailed as the best prata in the east, we think that Mr and Mrs Mohgan’s Super Crispy Roti Prata lives up to its mighty reputation. Having made prata for more than 30 years, Mr Mohgan is a prata expert. He makes his own dough, cooks his own curry and flips the prata all by himself! Their kosong (plain) prata is super crispy, and has an enticing buttery aroma. They also have 3 types of curry – mutton, fish and dhal.

8. Syaza Nasi Padang

Syaza Nasi Padang is situated in a coffee shop near Paya Lebar MRT. Other than nasi padang, they also serve delicious bowls of mee soto. The mutton briyani ($10) is worth a try too. The dedicated old couple manning the store starts food preparation at 5am daily.

9. 99 Food Bazaar

Get ready your cameras for this briyani dish that is served in a bamboo trunk wrapped in banana leaves. The lamb briyani is knocked out of the bamboo trunk onto the plate with a swift thump. This serving method is supposed to help lock the flavour of the spices into the meat and rice! The Bamboo Briyani set ($24) comes with a cup of iced blueberry soda and a cup of hot honey lemon ginger drink. It is just nice for 2 pax, or maybe even 3.

10. Lin Yu Mei Sarawak Kolo Mee

Lin yu mei Kolo Mee often sees snaking queues because of their springy and QQ noodles! Only egg white is used to make kolo mee, so it is not as yellow as other noodles and is supposedly healthier too. The kolo noodles are cooked and drained before they are tossed with different sauces. They are then topped with minced pork, char siew and a helping of extremely potent chilli.

11. Say Seng Tau Kwa Pau

Say Sang Tau Kwa Pau’s signature dish goes for just $1.50 each. Think fried bean curd stuffed with roughly chopped ingredients such as fried fish cake, braised egg, fried yam and cucumber, and drizzled with Teochew braised sauce. It makes for a delicious explosion of flavours!

12. Zheng Guang Wanton Mee

Zheng Guang (正光) is aptly named as the owner runs an honest business selling wholesome food, without any shortcuts or missing ingredients in his wanton. The noodles here have a perfect QQ texture, are not lumpy, and are well-cooked. Hence, they soak up the sauce better. Fried plaice, a type of flatfish from North Atlanta, is also added to the noodles.

13. Greendot

Another vegetarian eatery within Paya Lebar Square, Greendot serves up a variety of vegan items, and is fully vegetarian! If you’re craving homey tasting comfort food that is nourishing and tasty, get the Angelica Herbal Noodles ($7.90). The flavourful soup is made with more than 10 Chinese herbs. The noodles come with Konnyaku fishball, soya mutton, lettuce, carrot and tau pok. You can also look forward to vegetarian burgers which are exclusive to the Paya Lebar outlet.

14. The Original Katong Laksa

Sure, you’ve tried Laksa before. But have you tried CRAYFISH LAKSA? The Original Katong Laksa now has Crayfish Laksa ($9.50) which is only available at their outlet in Paya Lebar. The spicy coconut milk soup base is creamier and has bits of dried shrimp which adds flavour to the broth. If you just want a bowl of good ol’ laksa, go for their classic Laksa (from $5) which sees short strands of thick bee hoon and bean sprouts topped with prawns, fishcakes, cockles and laksa leaves.

15. Tong Kee Braised Duck

The owner of Tong Kee Braised Duck, Mr Lim, has been selling braised duck for more than 50 years. He used to help his mother sell braised duck out of a trolley cart at Princess (Margaret) Market back in the 1960s. They shifted to Princess Margaret Market, before moving to 40A Margaret Drive Hawker Centre. Mr Lim now sells braised duck at the Haig Road Hawker Centre. The braised duck here has light herbal flavours and tastes like gold with the braised duck sauce.

16. Tenderfresh Classic

Tenderfresh is no stranger to most Singaporeans. The Lucky Set ($6.90) which comes with 2 pieces of fried chicken, fries, and coleslaw, is the most popular dish here. You might want to try the Laksa Prawn Spaghetti ($8.90) if you’re craving something a little spicy.

From fried chicken to mee soto, Paya Lebar has a whole lot of good food (especially at Haig Road Market). Do share with us your favourite places!

MissTamChiak.com made an anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stalls featured here.

Let’s build a food community that helps to update the food news in Singapore! Simply comment below if there’s any changes or additional info to the stalls listed above. We will verify and update from our side. Thanks in advance!

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