Beach Road Fish Head Bee Hoon

Hawker centres in Singapore are sheltered eating areas with rows of unique stalls selling a particular type of cuisine. Most of the local delicacies are present, including Chicken Rice, Roti Prata, (flatbread with curry) Yong Tau Foo, (a pick-n-mix of veggies, tofu, seafood and meat, to boil in soup, with or without the addition of noodles) and local desserts and drinks. There are also stalls selling Japanese, Korean, and Western food.

Really, one can never run out of options at a Singaporean hawker centre. There is most likely something for everyone.

My mum brought me to try out the Fish Head Bee Hoon at Balestier, which was preceded by a 10-minute long queue. (Worth noting that the other stalls had under three customers at a time)

Beach Road Fish Head Bee Hoon @ Whampoa Makan Place is mended by two stall owners – a cook, and a lady who handles the orders and payment.

At $3.50 (£1.75) for a pretty big bowl, it's great value. There's nothing to pay for service nor eating area. Just grab your food and find a table. That's why I love eating in hawker centres.

Yes, that is a bucket of plastic chopsticks.

I often find myself thinking that London needs something like this. I'm tired of going into places and sighing at the price labels, the voice in my head whining, "But... but I'm a student..." I'm tired of supermarkets (and not even all of them) being the only cheap option, I want a budget dining-in choice like good old Singaporean hawker centres!

I'm no expert on Fish Head Bee Hoon, as it's not one of my usual hawker choices. However, after trying this one from Beach Road Fish Head Bee Hoon, it has become a favourite! I love the light, milky, fish stock soup, as well as the slippery, thick rice vermicelli. The meat from the fish's head is cooked to perfection, stiff enough to grasp with chopsticks, but not tough or rubbery, and it falls apart nicely when eaten. This particular stall is awesome, because there is a generous serving of sliced fish. It is infuriating when you get lots of noodle, soup and vegetable, but just two pieces of meat. There's another version in which the fish is fried in batter, which I'm eager to try – an excuse for another visit!

Beach Road Fish Head Bee Hoon
Whampoa Makan Place
Block 92 Whampoa Drive
#01-46
Balestier
Singapore 320092