I visit the new food court at Tampines 1 that has Michelin Bib Gourmand and legacy brands, here's what I ate

Easties, rejoice because there's a new food spot in your hood — and it's a good one. 

Select Group has opened their second Hawkers' Street outlet at the newly-refurbished Tampines 1 shopping mall.

Boasting a 518 sq m space that can accommodate up to 238 seats, it's three times bigger than their branch at Ion Orchard and will also have twice the number of stalls — 12, to be exact. 

Amongst these are famous Michelin Bib Gourmand-awarded stalls like Tai Wah Pork Noodles and Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice, as well as legacy brands such as Garden Street Kway Chap and Koung's Wan Tan Mee.

While I'm sadly not an Eastie, I was still excited to see what the new food court had to offer. 

First impressions 

If not for the words "Hawkers' Street" plastered across the pillar at the front of the food court, I may not have realised that this place sold food. 

The decor was a mix of modern and old-school elements.

Right smack at the entrance is a counter that's designed to look like a pushcart.

Several glass lights dangling from the ceiling resemble Chinese lanterns while vintage cups hang off the sides of a pillar. 

Thanks to the floor to ceiling windows, the entire space felt bigger than it actually was. And of course, for people like me who enjoy taking photos of my food, I appreciated all that natural light. 

The food 

I noticed that all the brands here are different from what you can find at Hawkers' Street's Ion Orchard outlet, save for King of Fried Rice. 

Besides heritage brands and those that have received the Michelin Bib Gourmand awards, other F&B options here include Hill Street Hainanese Curry Rice and Fire Western 'N' Grill. 

Unsurprisingly, my colleagues and I were left spoilt for choice. 

But we eventually settled for food from Pang's Hakka Yong Tau Foo, Koung's Wan Tan Mee, Old Teochew Satay Bee Hoon & Mee Siam, Jiak Song Mee Hoon Kueh and Nikmat Nasi Lemak by Husk.

One of the highlights for us was Pang's Hakka Yong Tau Foo. 

The business is a passion project run by Chef Pang Kok Keong, better known as Chef Pang, who used to run the now-defunct patisserie chain, Antoinette.

"I spent a lot of time developing all these recipes to make it as traditional and as authentic as possible," he told AsiaOne in an interview. 

One dish he urged us to try was his Signature Hakka YTF Noodle ($7.80), which is also one of his more popular menu items. 

My colleagues and I thoroughly enjoyed this dish. 

Don't be fooled by how simple these noodles look. They're packed with flavour thanks to the fried garlic oil and crispy pork lard. 

The handmade yong tau foo surprised us too. Here, minced pork and fish paste are combined to make the stuffing so it tastes different from your regular yong tau foo. Fermented salted fish is also mixed in for added umami. 

Another menu item that comes highly recommended by Chef Pang are the Abacus Seeds ($6.80), which he told us is a very "time-consuming, laborious dish to make". 

"We use premium Thai yam, which is the most expensive yam you can buy in Singapore," he shared. 

It's our first time trying abacus seeds and my colleagues loved how chewy and aromatic these were. 

Those who are watching their waistline can go for Pang's Hakka Thunder Tea Rice ($6.80). 

Chef Pang himself said that people either love or hate thunder tea rice and he was right. While I enjoyed the nutty, grassy flavours of the rice dish, my colleagues were not fans and let me finish it. 

Another noodle dish we tried and loved was the Satay Bee Hoon ($6.80 for small, $8.80 for large) from Old Teochew Satay Bee Hoon & Mee Siam, a brand which was founded by the Queks in 2018. 

The couple wanted to bring back the lost art of satay bee hoon, a dish that they felt was disappearing from Singapore's local food scene. 

And we felt that they did an excellent job of executing it. 

The dish features ingredients like cockles, sliced pork and prawn atop a bed of bee hoon. 

All this was generously slathered in a satay sauce gravy. 

Nutty and sweet with plenty of bite, we slurped up every last bit of it. 

We were also curious about the food from Jiak Song Mee Hoon Kway so we got the Chilli Ban Mian ($6.30). 

The brand is by former MasterChef Asia finalist Aaron Wong and specialises in handmade noodles. 

What makes his noodles special is that they're made using Japanese ramen techniques, giving it an interesting, unique texture. 

We gave the Chilli Ban Mian a good stir before tucking in and the first thing we were hit by was the smokiness of the dark sauce, followed by the chewy texture of the handmade noodles. 

While the noodles were exceptional, what I surprisingly enjoyed more was the bowl of soup on the side.

It's unlike any other ban mian soup that I tried before and was extremely thick, creamy and packed with umami. You could just tell that a lot of effort had gone into making it. 

For something more nostalgic, there's Koung's Wan Tan Mee. 

The brand was founded by Koung Boon Kong, who started out selling wonton noodles from a pushcart along the streets of Geylang. 

He opened his own stall in 1964 and has since become very popular for his old-school rendition of this well-loved hawker dish. 

His wonton mee ($5.90) is simple — egg noodles with thinly-sliced char siew and some vegetables. Two dumplings are served on the side with a bowl of soup. 

I'll be frank and say that the noodles here were a little too bland for our liking and could have done with a bit more seasoning. However, the nostalgia factor was still there and it is a comforting dish to have.

The final place we tried was Nikmat Nasi Lemak by Husk, which is founded by head chef Gideon Tan. 

Gideon has been in the food industry for over 16 years and has a background in Indonesian cuisine.  

He told AsiaOne that he's "very excited" to have the opportunity to set up a stall at Hawkers' Street. 

His shared that his other business, Husk, is on the pricier end. 

"We wanted to bring Husk to the hawker centre scene for people to experience elevated nasi lemak at affordable prices," he explained. 

He recommended the Signature Chicken Cutlet and Wholesome Lemak Drumstick. 

Gideon also told us that some customers like to combine both the dishes by ordering the Signature Chicken Cutlet and having the spicy gravy from the Wholesome Lemak Drumstick poured over it. 

We wanted to try the Wholesome Lemak Drumstick ($8.90) as it was and ordered that. 

And we can see why people love the gravy so much because it was extremely aromatic and packed a punch. 

The chicken was also juicy and the definition of fall-off-the-bone tender. 

Verdict: Will be back if I'm in the area 

I envy Easties for living so nearby this food paradise. 

It's rare to find so many good F&B names under one roof and the wide range of options ensure that there's something for everyone. 

The ambience was also great despite it being so crowded. 

Though the outlet at Ion Orchard is more convenient for me, I much prefer this one, simply because it's bigger and has double the amount of food options. 

I would definitely come back if I'm in the area. 

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melissateo@asiaone.com