Hill Street Fried Kway Teow is a legendary hawker stall located at 335 Smith Street in Chinatown Complex Food Centre, carrying forward over 50 years of culinary heritage that traces back to the now-demolished Hill Street Food Centre. This authentic stall represents one of Singapore's most treasured char kway teow traditions, operated by Mr. Tan Chiang Boo, who has been masterfully tossing noodles since he was just 17 years old.
As one of two surviving Hill Street Fried Kway Teow establishments (the other being in Bedok), the Chinatown location maintains the authentic preparation methods that made the original stalls legendary. The char kway teow is prepared with all the definitive ingredients of Singapore's traditional version: blood cockles, lap cheong (Chinese wax sausage), lard, and chives, creating the perfect balance of savory and sweet flavors with exceptional wok hei.
Operating Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 9 AM to 5 PM, this cash-only stall attracts devoted queues that can stretch up to 30 minutes during peak periods. The elderly couple behind the operation serves their signature dry-style char kway teow at incredibly affordable prices - for a regular serving and with prawns - making authentic hawker heritage accessible to all.
Located in the heart of Chinatown Complex, Hill Street Fried Kway Teow embodies the spirit of Singapore's hawker culture, where traditional recipes and time-honored techniques are preserved by passionate food artisans. The stall continues to be a pilgrimage destination for locals and visitors seeking an authentic taste of Singapore's culinary history in its most traditional setting.
Old school char kway teow (CKT) at Smith Street Food Center, Chinatown.
There is always a constant queue of over 10 people at this stall which stretches to the coffee stall that’s behind them, during their operating hours. The wait is about 25 minutes to get your order.
They only open 3 days each week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Standard orders are $4 or $5.
I ordered the $5, who is bigger in portion and comes with an additional prawn. Within are bean sprouts, slices of Chinese sausage and cockles.
What I like is the pork lard that’s chunky and crispy. Noodles are fried eel with some wok hei.
What’s also interesting they add some chives to their version of CKT.
The uncle pre-fries a batch of yellow noodles and kway teow for 3-4 plates, before dishing them out and frying up each order. He also constantly adjusts the gas valve that controls the fire to the wok. Hard work! 😓
Recommended! 😋
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Jenn Wong
Located at an obscure corner, the stall is manned by an elderly couple for more than 50 years. Opened only 3 days a week with cash payment ($4/5), they dished out smoky flavoured old school char kway teow that was not too garlicky or dry. The clams were fresh with every spoon, the noodles had "wok hey" and were al dente, it's hard to find such good CKT in Singapore nowadays. Good food requires patience, waited 30 mins for it as he stir fries in batches of 3. Come before they retire.
Jaws Lee
Was there on a Thu at 10.30am. Already long q of at least 10 pax. Since need to q so long, ordered their $5 ones. Chinese sausage was good, cockles were fresh, prawn fresh too, but only 1 prawn :(
Awesome that there were pork lard. However, no wok hei. An abit above average plate of CKT, not really worth the time to q.
Will eat again if no long q :)
Patrick Lau
We were here early before 9 am, queue was already 5 pax deep
Q is on the side of the stall facing the street. So when u get there, JOIN THE QUEUE. Please do not crowd in front of the stall as that confuses the stall helper and other new patrons as well
The CKT was well worth the wait! Lots of wok hey and ingredients were fresh. I ordered with extra chilli which was a wee bit too rich on the spicy side
Will definitely order again!
Good stuff!
Wye YO
The old school Char Kuey Teow need to queue for half an hours. Worth the wait if are a Char Kuey Teow.
