Malaysia
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Thailand
A giant pasar malam has just landed outside Hougang MRT Station’s exit B. If you’re a nearby resident dragging your feet and dreading the same ol’ boring kopitiam fare around your neighbourhood, why not make a detour and explore the night market instead?
With more than one seating zone to enjoy your food and drink, we discovered over 55 F&B stalls together with retail booths, claw machines, and more. It’s running for 3 weeks till 29 July 2025, and opens from 12pm to 10pm daily.
A vibrant row of stalls that had the words ‘Penang No. 1’, offering a mix of Penang and Taiwanese fare, caught our eye. Patrons can enjoy various Taiwan fried egg pancakes here in flavours like Chicken Floss (S$8), Crabmeat (S$8), and Original (S$6).
There were also Penang Assam Fishballs (S$4), but the Penang Assam Laksa (S$7) was calling out to me more.
It has been a while since I had this dish and I requested for chilli and hei ko to be added. Lai fun at a pasar malam instead of thick bee hoon? Now, that’s a first. Though both noodles are kind of similar, I find the former to be more authentic.
There were loads of either mackerel or sardines (can’t tell the difference) together with lettuce and sliced shallots. Overall, we were satisfied with the laksa.
For those who are feeling adventurous, why not try Pani Puri which is a common snack along the streets of India. My Gen Z colleague, Esther, always wanted to try, but gasped at the amount of chopped red onions that were inside the spheres (I was like that at her age).
There are a total of 7 flavours, but we settled for the Original (S$6 for 5 pieces). I poured the ‘puri‘ (or spiced tamarind water) into the shells and wolfed them down. As someone who has grown to love onions (raw or cooked), I adored the spices and different textures, with the crispy thin shell keeping everything in place.
Acai Ai Mai sells a variety of acai cups, ice lemonade and strawberry chocolate. Enjoy Medium (S$9) or Large (S$11) Acai Cups in flavours like Passionfruit, Lychee and Yuzu.
We went for the Berry Banana Mallow (S$8) chocolate cup instead. A mix of strawberries, marshmallows, and banana were generously drizzled with a blend of Belgian and milk chocolate.
Eat My Toast with its clean and simple signboard enticed us to try its range of grilled cheese sandwiches. Choose between Classic Grilled Cheese (S$5), Kimchi Grilled Cheese (S$6), Chicken Ham Grilled Cheese (S$7), and Tuna Grilled Cheese (S$7).
The Kimchi Grilled Cheese was quite tasty and the bread tasted like a French toast with chunky pieces of tangy kimchi. I just wished they had used mozzarella cheese in place of sliced cheese for a more satisfying pull.
We were excited when we spotted different types of nostalgic kueh tutu available at S$4 for 5 pieces. The catch? You can only choose a maximum of 2 flavours. Our moods were dampened when both the Pineapple and Milo were not available.
“They are not popular so we stopped selling them” Aunty exclaimed — what a bummer.
We ended up with the classic Peanut and Nutella instead. My advice is to eat them while they’re still warm. It got cold due to our never-ending photos and videos and the skin became a little dry and flaky.
Potato fanatics can keep a lookout for Rosti Haus, which has options like Swiss Rosti with Chicken Sausage (S$10), Spicy Rosti with Chilli Crab (S$14), just to name a few.
There’s also Spudzilla where you can build-your-own jacket potato with various sauces, proteins and toppings from S$3.
At Boon Lay Power Nasi Lemak, you can get the Beef Teriyaki, Chicken Karaage, or Saba Fish rice sets. I also spotted a picture of Laksa Bonda, a type of Malaysian-style laksa from Perak.
Ajmir Briyani was one of the popular stalls with a decent line of customers. The menu offers Mutton Briyani (S$9.50), Masala Chicken Briyani (S$8.50), and Fried Chicken Briyani (S$8.50). All sets do come with achar and dalcha provided.
So, what are you waiting for? Grab a cup of Thai Iced Tea (S$4 for 700 ml) and visit the night market this weekend.
