Hey Hive!
It's time to share yet another one of our recent food haunts we found during quarantine! Even though restaurants and eateries in Singapore have been given the okay to enable dining in (with social distancing measures of course), we've still been limiting our time spent eating out, or just being out in general, to be safe.
So another one of our favourite places to get takeout from is this place called Tekka Centre!
Source: Kopar at Newton
Tekka Centre is one of the most iconic buildings in Singapore; housing a wet market, food centre and many smaller shops. The original market was built in 1915, and expanded into a two-storey complex in 1979. Today, it is a dining landmark in the Little India neighbourhood, serving up mostly Indian food and numerous halal dishes.
Source: Hotels.com
I read that the name of the original market was known as Tek Kia Kha in Hokkien, literally meaning "foot of the small bamboos", as bamboo plants once grew on the banks of the Rochor Canal. After the complex was built, it was named Zhujiao Centre (Chinese: ็ซน่ไธญๅฟ), the pinyin version of Tek Kha. However, it was hard to pronounce for non-Chinese speakers and was later renamed Tekka Centre in 2000. (Cr: Wikipedia)
I think the renaming was definitely a wise decision, especially considering that the complex not only serves predominantly Indian food but is literally in Little India. It makes little sense for it to have a Chinese name. No doubt the developer who built it was probably Chinese but still.
We've actually only explored the hawker centre side of Tekka Centre, since we only go there at night time and the market is closed by then. But the shops on the second floor sell stuff like traditional Indian costumes and cheap casual clothes (similar to pasar malam stalls aka night markets).
The hawker centre side of Tekka looks like pretty much any other hawker centre, except it's mostly Indian food. There are some Malay and Chinese stalls as well, but not as many as other hawker centres in Singapore.
Since we don't really eat Indian food as often, this was a good chance for us to try different types of Indian food!
Most of the shops are quite similar but we eventually settled on this one:
I decided to try their chicken chop since I wasn't too hungry and Sean ordered mee goreng (which is stir-fried noodles with some bean sprouts and vegetables).
So this was my chicken chop:
I think this actually came with a buttered bun too but I put it aside to take this pic. It doesn't look like much, but it's actually pretty good! The chicken was nice and tender, and the sauce they marinated it with was quite tasty! The fries were average but overall it was still pretty decent.
But I think the winner was definitely the mee goreng!
It was packed so compactly but man, the pack itself was so dense! There was quite a lot of noodles for only 4 bucks. It was slightly spicy (hence the redness) but it wasn't overwhelming and tasted sooo good! It was a tad oily though, so I wouldn't say this was an everyday kinda meal, but man was it good!
We've actually been back to that very stall multiple times for the mee goreng because we liked it so much and it was so worth the price.
I think we must've gone back to Tekka at least 3 times and we tried their nasi briyani before but unfortunately I didn't grab a photo. This is pretty much what it looks like though:
Source: Foodchiak
Nasi biryani is rice mixed with Indian spices, egg, chicken, and topped with curry btw, and it is absolutely delicious!
If you're ever hankering for Indian food, Tekka Centre is definitely the place to visit! With stalls that serve honestly good food that cater to both the Singapore (or international) foodie or Indians looking for a taste of home.
Thanks for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! ๐๐ฅณ๐
Did you know every user has their own profile map?
And so does every post as well!
Want to have your post on the map too?
All that food is making me hungry and I just woke up. Nice post.
hahaha aw thanks so much @jasonbu! ^-^
and thanks for curating!
Yum! You have been curated by @jasonbu on behalf of FoodiesUnite.net on #Hive. Thanks for using the #foodie tag. We are a tribe for the Foodie community with a unique approach to content and community and we are here on #Hive.
Join the foodie fun! We've given you a FOODIE boost. Come check it out at @foodiesunite for the latest community updates. Spread your gastronomic delights on PEAKD.com and claim your tokens.
Join and Post through the Community and you can earn a FOODIE reward.
Time to go back and eat at Tekka!