Woodlands Centre Road Food Centre : time to say Goodbye

The decades-old Woodlands Town Centre is a border town for people passing through to Malaysia or to Singapore, though it may have lost its appeal after the relocation of Woodlands Bus Interchange in 1996. The sleepy Woodlands Centre Road Food Centre is still serving as a pit stop for travellers on both sides of causeway who yearns for a good value meal but it is going to be gone soon as the site has been acquired for the expansion of the Woodlands Checkpoint.

Now, it is time to rediscover this once bustling Woodlands Centre Road Food Centre to uncover those hidden gems before its relocation to Woodlands Street 12, which is about 10 minutes away, next to Woodlands Swimming Complex and beside the Woodlands Sports Hall.

NOVENA FISH SOUP  (#02-22)
Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 9.00 pm (Closed on Saturdays)

This stall is manned by a friendly Uncle and is serving the Double Fish Bee Hoon Soup ($4/$5) which I ordered, it consists of boiled and fried fish with thick been hoon. You have the option to choose whether to add milk to your soup. There is also Sliced Fish Porridge ($3/$4), Seafood Soup ($4/$5), Fish Head Bee Hoon Soup ($4/$5) and Sesame Oil Chicken ($4) on their menu.

YAN JI SEAFOOD SOUP (#02-11)

Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 8.30 pm (Closed on Mondays)

Yan Ji Seafood Soup has been around for more than 30 years. Their main outlet is at this food centre with a branch at Marsiling Lane. The prices for the seafood soup range from the normal one at $6 and $8 to those with crayfish or fish maw at $10 and $12, they also serve Braised Pork's Trotter at $7.00. Rice is available at 0.50 cents per bowl. The outlet is usually crowded during lunch and weekends, the waiting time could be as long as 45 minutes or even longer.

XIA MAN HERBAL SOUP (#02-26)

Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 9.00 pm (Closed on Alternate Fridays)

This Herbal Duck Soup for just $5, is the popular item on their menu. It consists of a whole duck drumstick served in a bowl of intensified herbal soup. It has a distinctive taste of Chinese Angelica Root that is also known as Dang Gui. It must have been boiled for many hours for that intensive flavour and also for that perfectly cooked meat that was tender and not oily. Their Braised Pork Trotter ($4.50) is equally popular and sold out fast too.

MEI HANDMADE HAKKA YONG TAU FOO (#02-29)
Operating Hours: 3.00 am to 8.30 pm (Daily)

The stall owner if an elderly Uncle in his 60s and he is running this stall with his wife for the past 8 years in this food centre. Though no queue but there is always a constant flow of customers. It is not difficult to tell from those odd and uneven shapes that most of the items are handmade daily as early as 3.00 am before they start. Their steamed and fried meatballs are the must-try items there. 

HUA LI FRIED CARROT CAKE (#02-34)

Operating Hours: 9.00 am to 7.00 pm (Closed on Tuesdays)

This stall serves the white and the black fried carrot cake at $2.50, $3 and $4 and there is also fried oyster at $4, $6 and $8. Most of their customers will go for their fried carrot cake, both the white and the black version are equally popular. I have tried both and I would prefer the black carrot cake a bit more, particularly with extra chilli and preserved radish added. 

YE LAI XIANG LAKSA (#02-36)

Operating Hours: 3.00 am to 3.00 pm (Closed on Thursdays)

Their Laksa is the popular item on their menu. It has an intense flavour of coconut milk that brought forth its creaminess and with the addition of dried shrimps to enhance its taste. It was served with slices of fishcake and tau pok together with a few cockles and a handful of bean sprouts. Though added with sambal chilli but its level of spiciness was still rather mild. Other than Laksa, they do serve Lor Mee, Prawn Mee and Fish Ball Mee too. The smaller portion for Laksa and Lor Mee is $3.00 and $3.50, the Lor Mee and Fish Ball Mee is $2.50 and $3.00.

AHSIA FOOD STALL (#02-76)
Operating Hours: 4.00 am to 10.00 am (Daily)

This is one of the stalls that are strongly recommended in this food centre. They are also likely to be the only stall that is serving their prata with special sardine gravy. When I was there for the first time at about 10.30 am, they have already sold out. Their plain prata costs 0.90 cents per piece and their sardine gravy is 0.60 cents. The sardine gravy has got a small chunk of sardine in it, it was a little spicy and slightly sweet likely from the tomato puree added. It tasted quite special though not particularly memorable.

LIAN XIANG SHU SHI (#02-38A)

Operating Hours: 5.00 am to 2.00 pm (Closed on Sundays)

This stall has a rather old signboard, a simple one with just their name on it. They are serving Fried Kway Teow at $2.50/$3.00 and Fried Hokkien Mee at $4.00. The smallest portion of Fried Kway Teow consists of evenly fried kway teow and yellow noodles served along with a few pieces of thinly sliced Chinese sausages, cockles, eggs and a few stalks of green together with a handful of beansprouts. It tasted simple and it is more savoury than sweet, though chilli was added but I could hardly taste it. The texture of kway teow and yellow noodles was just right, not overly soft nor too greasy.

JING JING (#02-07)

Operating Hours: 7.00 am to 4.00 pm (Closed on Saturdays)

You could try the snacks from this stall while waiting for your order from Yan Kee Seafood Soup to be ready. Some of the most popular choices are fried carrot cake, spring roll, curry puff, goreng pisang and also their tapioca balls. The most interesting item to try is their tapioca balls that serve 3 balls on a stick. 

FU YUAN SUGARCANE DRINK (#02-37)

Operating Hours: 12.00 pm to 7.00 pm (Closed on Thursdays)

Roselle Drink at just $1 is a must-order at this stall. This drink is known to have certain health benefits and it is also a refreshing thirst quencher. They also serve Logan Drink, Barley Drink, Lime Juice, Sugarcane Juice and also their special Cheng Tng that is served in a disposable tall plastic cup with the usual ingredients like sweet potato, barley, sago balls, dried longan and ginkgo seeds. 

WOODLANDS ROAD CENTRE FOOD CENTRE

Block 4A Woodlands Centre Road Singapore 731005