Nothing beats a good ol’ slice of traditional kaya butter toast and a cup of coffee for breakfast. For the uninitiated, kaya is a custard essentially derived from a mix of pandan, coconut milk, eggs and sugar to give it a creamy texture.

Toast Hut at Old Airport Road Food Centre is a stall you should make a point to travel to. Melvin Soh, the owner of Toast Hut, has been perfecting his craft of making the best kaya toast and traditional kopi since he was 23 years old.

Melvin used to work part-time in coffee shops back in his secondary school days, and through that, he slowly took interest in these traditional delights. After which, he took a leap of faith and ventured into the hawker scene right after his National Service.

He wakes up at 3.30am in the morning daily to assiduously prepare for the opening of his stall at 4.15am so that his regulars can get their coffee as early as 6.30am in the morning!

Toast Hut has their own take on Kaya Butter Toast and we definitely are not complaining.

What sets Toast Hut’s Kaya apart from the usual is that Melvin adopts a less sweet approach as Melvin thought that a kaya spread that is less sweet would complement the taste of traditional coffee better.

The result? A win-win outcome that provides customers with a healthier option whilst getting the best taste of the kaya toast and coffee pairing.

Unique to Toast Hut is the Giant Bun, which has an interesting take on traditional breakfast. It features a crispy grilled layer at the top of the bun and a fluffy interior with just the appropriate amount of kaya and butter inside.

Coffee is serious business at Toast Hut—it is only after countless step-by-step attempts by Melvin over the years before he managed to nail the traditional taste of coffee. The superbly aromatic and fragrant kopi at Toast Hut is so good we’d choose this over gourmet coffee any time.

Toast Hut is not on any food delivery apps as they want to keep the prices of the kaya toasts and kopi affordable. Please support this hawker stall when you are around the Old Airport Road Food Centre.

Toast Hut
51 Old Airport Road #01-52
Old Airport Road Food Centre
Singapore 390051

During trying times like these, do continue to support our local hawkers by getting takeouts or ordering local hawker food from delivery apps such as Deliveroo and Foodpanda.

Here are 5 hawker centres in Singapore where you can order your favourite local dishes from and have them delivered to your doorstep.

Photo Credit: Ah Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice on Facebook & @paulasjunk14

#1 MAXWELL HAWKER FOOD CENTRE

Loved by both tourists and locals alike, Maxwell Hawker Food Centre is one of the most popular hawker centres in Singapore and there are many famous hawker stalls that have long queues every day.

If you’re a chicken rice lover, you will be glad to know that Ah Tai Hainaese Chicken Rice is available to order on Foodpanda. The Steamed Chicken Rice is a hit. Besides chicken rice, there are other stalls to check out, including Rojak, Popiah & Cockle, a Michelin-Recommended stall; and the crowd-favourite Jin Hua Sliced Fish Bee Hoon.

Available for food delivery on Foodpanda.

Maxwell Food Centre
1 Kadayanallur St
Singapore 069184
Open Daily: 8am – 2am (stall hours might differ)

#2 CHOMP CHOMP FOOD CENTRE

Arguably one of the most popular supper spots in Singapore, Chomp Chomp Food Centre is in the heart of Serangoon Gardens. Some of the hawker stalls at Chomp Chomp you can order via Foodpanda include Traditional Hai Nam Fang Yuan Satay, AMK 409 Fried Carrot Cake, and even desserts from Ding Hao Sugarcane & Desserts!

If you’re a fan of barbecued food, Chomp Chomp has an array of choices, but our favourite remains the Large Sambal Stingray from Lucy BBQ Seafood on Deliveroo.

Available on Foodpanda and Deliveroo.

Chomp Chomp Food Centre
20 Kensington Park Rd
Singapore 557269
Open Daily: 4pm – 12.30am (stall hours might differ)

Read our guide on the best dishes at Chomp Chomp Food Centre.

#3 OLD AIRPORT ROAD FOOD CENTRE

This hawker centre was voted “Best Hawker Centre In Singapore” last year when 96.3 HAO FM launched its “The Search for Singapore’s Best Hawker Centre” campaign, garnering the most votes and twice as many votes as its nearest competition.

You will be overjoyed to know that Michelin-Recommended stall Hua Kee Hougang Famous Wanton Mee is available for delivery on both Foodpanda and Deliveroo, starting at S$5.90. Other options from Foodpanda include Fried Carrot Cake, Albert Street Prawn Noodle, and Xin Bee Congee.

Available on Foodpanda and Deliveroo.

Old Airport Road Food Centre
51 Old Airport Rd
Singapore 390051
Open Daily: 6am – 11pm (stall hours might differ)

Read our guide on the best eats at Old Airport Road Food Centre.

#4 YISHUN PARK FOOD CENTRE

One of the newer hawker centres in the hawker scene, Yishun Park Food Centre was opened in 2017. A modern take on the traditional hawker centres, the founders wanted to attract the younger generation and encourage them to support local hawkers.

Be sure to order the Atas Wing Meal from Ah Tan Crispy Chicken Har Cheong Gai, which is available on both Foodpanda and Deliveroo. Deliveroo also has options such as Thunder Tea Rice from Ah Lock Tofu, and Beef Brisket Noodles from One Mouth Noodle. Foodpanda has Belgian Chocolate Pancakes from Munchi Delights and Century Egg and Lean Meat Congee from Li Fang Congee.

Available on Foodpanda and Deliveroo.

Yishun Park Food Centre
51 Yishun Ave 11
Singapore 768867
Open Daily: 6am – 10pm (stall hours might differ)

Photo Credit: @jennysggoh

#5 BUKIT PANJANG HAWKER CENTRE

This hawker centre is one of the newest in the hawker scene as well, opened by NTUC Foodfare back in 2018. Selling tasty, delectable food at affordable prices, its no wonder everyone who dines here is spoilt for choice.

Hawker favourites include Prawn Noodle from Zai Lai Prawn Noodle, Fishball Noodle from You Xiang Teochew Noodles, Chicken Rice from Tong Fong Fatt Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice, and Fried Carrot Cake from Father & Son’s Fried Carrot Cake And Char Kuey Teow.

Available on Foodpanda.

Bukit Panjang Hawker Centre and Market
2 Bukit Panjang Ring Rd
Singapore 679947
Open Daily: 6am – 10pm (stall hours might differ)

The Singapore Food Scene is getting very exciting with the opening of Celebrity chef restaurants, and many new dining concepts. But when my overseas friends ask me for recommendation on what to eat in Singapore, or what is the true Singaporean cuisine, I’d definitely reply: Hawker Food.

With the exception of places like Newton Circus, Lau Pa Sat & Chomp Chomp Hawker Centre, the prices of food in the other food centre usually are around $2-3. You are going to be shocked by this, but my last visit to Old Airport Road Food Centre was actually a few years ago, before the renovation. I need someone to scold me for taking so long to revisit this wonderful place, which undoubtedly is one of the best Hawker Centres in Singapore.

As much as I do not fancy oysters, it is a joy to dip the oyster omelette into the chili sauce which is slightly sour, yet sweet and spicy. I’m not sure if Katong Ah Soon Fried Oyster is one of the better stalls in Old Airport Road Hawker Centre, but the oyster omelette was the first empty plate on the table.

It was one o’clock in the afternoon, and everyone was hungry. It’s a damn Sunday morning, and we should all be sleeping in bed. Instead, I was queuing up for the Blanco Court Kway Chap at Old Airport Hawker Centre with ten (equally crazy) people in front of me. After a long wait of 27 minutes, it was finally my turn to make the order. The intestines were cooking in the stove, yet the chef/cook/hawker grabbed them with his bare hands, put it on the chopping board and cut them into appropriate portions with breathtaking speed.

Everyone crowded around the table, waiting impatiently for the food blogger to take the photos. Eating commenced after that, and luckily, it was worth the wait.

Char Kway Teow is one of my favorite Singapore’s Hawker Food, and Lao Fu Zhi fried kway teow is one of the most famous char kway teow stalls in Singapore. Unfortunately, I thought that Lao Fu Zhi’s rendition was a little too dry, and it lacked a certain wok-hei. The million dollar question: is there another better char kway teow stall in Old Airport Hawker Centre?

This is the Xin Mei Xiang Lor Mee, otherwise known as the lor-mee-that-we-queued-for-half-an-hour. There are many hawker stalls in Old Airport Food Center, but Xin Mei Xiang Lor Mee is one of the few that has an incredibly long queue. It’s good to eat out with a group of friends who are willing to brave the snake-like human traffic and wait for a seemingly-ordinary bowl of noodle.

Lor Mee is a bowl of noodle served in a thick starchy gravy and comes with ingredients like prawn roll (ngo hiang), half boiled egg, fish cake, and fish. My friends were won over by the generous toppings, and the flavor of the sticky gravy. Me? I will only eat it if someone else is queuing up.

If you like the kick from having the spicy-hot sambal chili, you will be very disappointed with the famous Nam Sing Hokkien Mee. In place of the familiar sambal chili, they have sliced red chili instead. The Hokkien Mee has a much higher proportion of the rice noodles to the yellow egg noodles. Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee definitely has their loyal supporters, mind you — we waited slightly more than twenty minutes for this plate of Hokkien Mee. Thankfully there is no need to queue as they will deliver the Hokkien Mee when it’s ready.

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I’m definitely going back to Old Airport Road Food Centre soon, do share with us which are some of the other hawker stalls that are worth a try.

Singapore Hawker Food
Blanco Court Kway Chap
Blk 51 Old Airport Road #01-135
Old Airport Road Food Centre Singapore

Katong Ah Soon Fried Oyster
Blk 51 Old Airport Road #01-07
Old Airport Road Food Centre Singapore

Lao Fu Zhi Fried Kway Teow
Blk 51 Old Airport Road #01-12
Old Airport Road Food Centre Singapore

Nam Sing Hokkien Mee
Blk 51 Old Airport Road #01-32
Old Airport Road Food Centre Singapore

Xin Mei Xiang Lor Mee
Blk 51 Old Airport Road #01-116
Old Airport Road Food Centre Singapore