Singaporeans have spoken, and out of the over 120 hawker centres we have on our island, Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre has been chosen as the crowd's favourite for 2025. This announcement was made at the recent Singapore Hawkers' Celebration and Awards, held earlier this week. A quick search on Google shows that the food centre, which is a close distance to Sembawang MRT, is popular for its stalls selling nasi lemak, homemade muffins, fishball noodles and wonton mee.
Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre also picked up a second prize that afternoon – the Healthier Dining Hawker Centre Award – given to food centres where a majority of stalls use ingredients like lower-sodium condiments, wholegrain carbs and healthier oils. Last year, Serangoon Garden Market was named the people's Favourite Hawker Centre, winning with a total of 216 public votes.
This year's Singapore Hawkers' Celebration and Awards also gave out prizes to stalls that have contributed to the continuation of Singapore's hawker culture, which is famously recognised as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Dubbed the Hawker Heritage Award, this honour went to three stalls this year: Warong Pak Sapari at Adam Food Centre, Ghim Moh Chwee Kueh at Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre, and Bahrakath Mutton Soup, also at Adam Food Centre. All three brands have been in operation for more than 50 years and counting.
It's not all about preserving the old, but also how hawkers can innovate and look ahead. There were three recipients of the Enterprising Hawker Award this year: biryani stall Spicelios at Amoy Street Food Centre and Western food stall Salt.Singapore at Old Airport Road Food Centre were two of them. Then there's Ah Kiat Wonton Mee at Bedok 538, which was praised for its efforts to incorporate machinery into its cooking processes, and new wonton mee flavours, including a unique salted egg version.
Meanwhile, the Outstanding Hawker Mentor Award went to legacy brands that have reached out to hone new talent, such as Madam Tee Chun Moy from Rong Xing Yong Tau Fu, who has mentored nine aspiring hawkers over the last decade. The other awardees in this category included Teo Jiun Ming Jimmy of Huang Da Fu Bak Chor Mee in Commonwealth Crescent Market, and Xu Can Bin from Long Ding Seafood in Kampung Admiralty.
So, what do you think? Does Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre deserve the title of the nation's favourite, or do you have a better candidate in mind?
MORE HAWKER STORIES:
Check out this list of hawker stalls in Singapore recommended by the Time Out team