Whampoa hawker centre!
Whampoa Makan Place this morning to finally try the famous black carrot cake ($4 medium) plus two soon kueh ($1 each). A 15-20 minute queue for my top pick in Singapore.
Visited Whampoa Makan Place this morning and finally got to try the famous carrot cake! 😋
The queue is always ongoing and endless, and we queued for at least 15-20 minutes. A long line at a breakfast hawker stall is usually the surest sign you’re in the right place.
Operating hours: 5am-12pm from Tuesdays to Sundays.
Ordered the black carrot cake ($3 / $4 / $5). We chose the medium $4 portion and added 2 soon kueh at $1 each. So yummy. I would rate it as the top and #1 black carrot cake in Singapore.
A quick note on the dish, since “carrot cake (菜头粿)” confuses first-timers: there’s no carrot in it. It’s made from steamed radish (white carrot) and rice flour cake, diced and fried with egg, preserved radish (chai poh) and garlic. The black version is the one tossed in sweet dark soy sauce until it caramelises into those slightly charred, sticky edges, as opposed to the pale “white” version. The dark sweet-savoury crust here is exactly what earns the queue.
The $4 black carrot cake with no chilli:
Soon kueh with sweet sauce, served separately. Soon kueh are soft steamed rice-skin dumplings stuffed with shredded turnip (bangkuang) and sometimes mushroom, a chewy, savoury Teochew snack that’s a great side to share.
Address: 91 Whampoa Dr, Singapore 320091
Hours: 6am-10pm
Overall: 4.7 / 5. 😋👍🏼 The caramelised, dark sweet-savoury black carrot cake lived up to the queue, my top pick in Singapore. Would re-visit.
