Newton Circus Hawker Centre (Newton Food Centre)
- July 6, 2008
- Rated 5 of 5 by
marseilles from Metro Manila, Philippines
In Singapore, everyone eats at hawker centres. Rich or poor, young or old, tourists and businessmen. The hawker centre is everyone's dining room.
The hawker centre at Newton Circus is a Singapore icon. I remember coming here as a child 20 years ago, before it was renovated and sanitized, and I can still recall the muddy ground, the pushing crowds, the sweaty workers walking around in their loose vests and shorts ... the atmosphere then was like eating in a wet market ... but I never complained because the food was absolutely scrumptious.
Since then, Newton Food Centre has been renovated, cleaned up, and looks more like a slightly manicured outdoor food court. Many guidebooks consider Newton "touristy," and the prices are reportedly a little higher than other food centres, but that didn't deter us from enjoying a meal there.
I imagine that at peak hours--dinner, that is--a lot of the comforting familiar chaos probably still remains--the noisy clacking of metal dinnerware on cheap plastic plates, the smells and sounds of dozens of hawker stalls selling food to hundreds of customers. But we went to Newton on its off-peak time--for lunch. Only about a third of the food stalls were open, only about 2 or 3 dozen customers were there, and Newton was peaceful and quiet. But we were happy to be eating there nonetheless. My husband ordered chicken rice (and later ended up ordering a second order!) at S$4.50 for a medium-sized plate. I ordered from another stall what I'd been craving for much of the trip, baby sotong (squid) deep-fried in a sweet and salty sauce (about S$8.00). The taste of the baby sotong transported me to my childhood and I happily gobbled up my food.
To get to the Newton Food Centre, take the MRT to Newton Circus. From the station, it's a short walk along the roundabout and across the overpass.
From journal Shopping and Eating in Singapore