Heng Kee Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee

Heng Kee Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee is a hawker stall at Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, on the edge of Chinatown. It makes one dish: curry chicken noodles in a thick, creamy gravy. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand in its 2023 Singapore selection, and still lists it with that award.

The stall dates back to the 1970s, according to the Michelin Guide, and it is still a family business. The curry recipe has passed down through the family for more than 50 years. Cooking starts in the early hours, so the gravy is made fresh each day.

What to order

The choices are simple: your noodles and the size of your bowl. Each bowl brings together a few parts.

• Chicken: generous pieces of tender poached chicken
• Noodles: bee hoon (thin rice vermicelli), yellow noodles, or a mix of both
• Tau pok and fish cake: tofu puffs that soak up the gravy, and slices of fish cake, both made to the stall's own order
• Potatoes: soft chunks cooked in the curry

The gravy is a Chinese, Teochew-style curry, thick and creamy. It tastes fragrant and slightly sweet, with only mild heat. The Michelin inspectors praised its balance. If you want more kick, add a spoonful of the stall's homemade sambal chilli.

Good to know before you go

Expect a queue, as office workers from the nearby business district come here for lunch. Eatbook suggests arriving before or after the office lunch rush. The Michelin Guide notes that the stall takes cash only, so bring some with you.

Make sure you join the right line. Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee, a separate stall with a similar name and dish, is on the second floor of the same food centre. Heng Kee is on the ground floor at stall #01-58.

If this is your first hawker centre, read our tips on how to chope a seat and our short guide to hawker centre etiquette.

The setting

Hong Lim Market & Food Centre is a two-storey hawker centre on Upper Cross Street. It serves a wide range of local dishes, from curry noodles to hor fun. Eatbook notes that it tends to be calmer than nearby Maxwell Food Centre, with free tables outside the lunch hour.

Getting there

Chinatown MRT station is the nearest, according to Eatbook. From there it is a short walk to the food centre.

Nearby

Our Chinatown cheap eats crawl links several low-cost meals into a half-day route. The Chinatown neighbourhood guide covers what else to see in the area. You can also browse more hawker favourites or all restaurants in Marina Bay and the CBD.