Tekka Centre Food Guide: A bit of spice and everything nice

This two-unit stall isn’t immediately noticeable (it’s situated in the middle aisle), but just look for a small crowd milling about as they wait for their orders and you will have found the gold.

The wait isn’t too long and is definitely worth it for the freshest appam made to order and served with fresh coconut milk and orange palm sugar. Crisp edges sink towards a spongy centre that you can choose to have plain ($3 for 2 pieces) or with egg ($2.50 each). More contemporary flavours like cheese and chocolate are also available, along with other South Indian staples like idli and dosa.

They look like Teochew oyster cakes, but taste like hei piah (prawn fritters) with a popiah filling. If you’ve never come across mang guang ge (turnip cake), it’s probably because it started out as a snack that owner Ronald’s grandmother used to make for the family back in their kampong.

Prawns were expensive and hard to come by then, so the resourceful old lady improvised with turnip, tau kwa, and minced meat. The result: this savoury and chewy creation. The Hokkien ladle cakes are available in original, coriander, and spicy ($2.50 each) along with paper wrapped chicken ($2.50) and scallion oil noodles ($1.50).

An array of colourful traditional Indian sweets (from $1) fill the stall’s food display case, but their savoury offerings are also worth a try. The idli and vadai set ($3.20) comes with three pillowy rice cakes, a small vadai, and three gravies that are the perfect spicy accompaniment to the mild tang of the fermented rice. The vadai differs from the chewy versions more commonly available – it uses a fermented rice batter similar to the idli, and is surprisingly not greasy at all.

Their putu mayam ($2 for 3 pieces) sells like hotcakes, so go early to get your fix.

Started by two self-taught baristas, this hipster kopi stall started out at Tekka Centre and has expanded to two other hawker centres since. Take your pick from the usual coffeeshop fare of kopi or teh (from $1.40) or go cafe-style with specialty items such as dirty matcha (from $3.50) or masala chai soy latte ($4). Either way, your beverage of choice is brewed using an espresso machine instead of the kopi sock.

You can even order their proprietary coffee beans which are roasted every Monday and Thursday (from $12).

If you are new to Sri Lankan food, the owner Mr Odi would be more than happy to recommend the day’s specials. Lighter on the spice compared to South Indian cuisine, the stall offers authentic Sri Lankan dishes that are not commonly found elsewhere. Get your greens and try the smoked jackfruit curry; vallarai keerai (brahmi leaves) lightly cooked with shredded coconut, tomatoes and onions; and banana flower. The devilled chicken sounds more fiery than it tastes, giving off just a peppery heat. Deer meat and mutton liver is also available on certain days.

Rice sets are priced from $6.

Tekka Centre houses a number of briyani stalls that are crowd favourites, but Samad specialises in dum briyani where the meat and rice are cooked together in a large pot, resulting in moist basmati that is evenly-coated with a spice mixture. Best-sellers are the chicken ($6.50) and mutton ($7) versions, but the stall also interestingly offers quail ($7).

Portions are extremely generous and come with a hard-boiled egg, achar, and a serving of dalcha, all of which could easily feed two.

With a curious signboard that simply reads “Tekka Rojak Waffle”, you won’t miss this old-school stall that hawks exactly what it says - rojak (from $4) and waffle. 

The auntie proudly declares that her rojak tastes of “gu zao wei” (nostalgia), and that she only uses traditional ingredients such as youtiao, tau pok, turnip, pineapple and cucumber. Tossed in a sweet and pungent mixture of hei ko (prawn paste), sweet sauce and some chilli, the dish is finished off with a generous dusting of crushed peanuts.