Old Airport Road Food Centre: 6 Stalls and Their Rest Days

Blk 51 Old Airport Road is one of the biggest hawker halls in Singapore, with roughly 168 cooked food stalls on the ground floor alone. It sits on the estate the government laid over the runway of the old Kallang Airport, and it opened in 1972 as part of that redevelopment. Plenty of guides will tell you that much.

What almost none of them tell you is the thing that actually decides whether your trip works: the six stalls people travel across the island for all keep different rest days, and two of them shut before dinner. Turn up on the wrong afternoon and you will eat something perfectly fine while the stall you came for has its shutter down.

This guide is built around that problem. Details checked 31 August 2026. Prices and opening hours change, so confirm before you go.

Practical Details

The centre closed for a four month repair and redecoration in 2024 and reopened on 1 October that year with new tables and stools and upgraded toilets, so the seating is in better shape than the building’s age suggests.

1. The Rest Day Problem, Solved First

This is the part worth reading twice. Here are the rest days for the six stalls in this guide, verified in August 2026.

Read that table as a calendar and the answer falls out:

• Thursday is the worst day. Both lor mee and one of the two char kway teow stalls are shut.
• Saturday costs you Lao Fu Zi, which is the stall carrying the Michelin recognition.
• Sunday costs you the rojak, and Sunday is also the most crowded day of the week.
• Monday costs you dessert.
• Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday are clean. Everything on the list is open.

There is one more constraint that overrides all of it. Xin Mei Xiang closes at 2:00pm and Roast Paradise routinely sells out in the afternoon. A dinner visit cannot include either of them. If those two are why you are coming, you are coming in the morning, and that is not negotiable.

Hawker rest days are not published centrally and stalls do occasionally take extra days off, so treat this as a plan, not a guarantee. If you are travelling specifically for one dish, the stall’s own Facebook page is usually the most current source.

2. The Stalls Worth Planning Around

Xin Mei Xiang Zheng Zong Lor Mee, #01-116

The dark, thickened bowl of lor mee here is the reason people queue at this hall before most of Singapore is awake. The gravy is built on a long simmer rather than a heavy hand with cornstarch, and it arrives over thick flat yellow noodles with shredded fish, braised pork belly and fried fish cake.

• Hours: roughly 6:00am to 2:00pm, closed Thursday
• How to eat it: the condiments are the dish. Minced garlic, cut chilli and a real splash of black vinegar, then stir hard before your first mouthful
• The catch: queues can run well past half an hour by mid morning, and the stall is done by 2:00pm

Lao Fu Zi Fried Kway Teow, #01-12

The Michelin Bib Gourmand stall, and it has held that listing for several years running. Each plate is fried individually rather than in a big batch, which is exactly why the wok hei is there and exactly why the wait exists.

• Hours: roughly 11:45am to 10:00pm, closed Saturday
• Price: three sizes, around SGD 5, SGD 8 and SGD 10
• Choose: the black version, sweeter and darker, is the house style. Ask for extra chilli if you want the sweetness cut

Roast Paradise, #01-121

Kuala Lumpur style roast meats, and the one stall here that is not a decades old institution. The char siu is fatty pork belly given a long marinade and a caramelised maltose glaze, with charred edges that are the whole point.

• Hours: roughly 10:30am to 6:00pm, or until sold out, which is the operative clause
• Price: around SGD 4 to SGD 10, priced by weight
• Order: char siu with the garlic rice rather than plain rice

Dong Ji Fried Kway Teow, #01-138

The other char kway teow, and a genuinely different dish rather than a lesser version of the same one. Dong Ji runs drier, lighter in colour and much more garlic forward, with a higher proportion of bee hoon in the mix.

• Hours: roughly 11:30am to 7:30pm, closed Thursday
• Price: two sizes, around SGD 3 and SGD 4
• Worth knowing: it is noticeably less oily than the standard version, which is either the appeal or the disappointment depending on what you came for

If you want to understand why these two stalls taste so different despite the same name, our Singapore char kway teow guide covers the wet and dry styles properly.

Toa Payoh Rojak, #01-108

Making rojak on this island since 1970 and at Old Airport Road for decades. Pineapple, cucumber, turnip and fried dough fritters in a fermented prawn paste dressing with crushed peanuts. It is the palate reset between two heavy noodle plates, and it is the dish most visitors skip and then wish they had not.

• Hours: roughly noon to 8:00pm, closed Sunday
• Price: around SGD 4 for a medium plate
• Note: the stall runs a take a number system rather than a physical queue, so take the ticket and go order elsewhere while you wait

Lao Ban Soya Beancurd, #01-127

The chilled, custard textured soya beancurd that changed what Singaporeans expect from tau huay. Served cold in a tub, eaten standing up, gone in ninety seconds. There are almond and grass jelly versions alongside the original.

• Hours: roughly 11:00am to 9:00pm, closed Monday
• Price: a couple of dollars a tub. Check the board, the price has moved over the years
• Why it works here: the hall is not air conditioned, and after two fried noodle plates in Singapore humidity this is the correct ending

3. The Stall That Is Not Here

If you arrived with Chey Sua Carrot Cake on your list, it is not at Old Airport Road. Several widely shared stall roundups place it here, and they are wrong. Chey Sua trades at Toa Payoh West Market and Food Centre, Blk 127 Lorong 1 Toa Payoh, unit #02-30, on the other side of the island. It is a real Michelin Bib Gourmand stall and it is genuinely excellent, but it is a separate trip.

There is a long running unnamed stall at #01-26 here that also sells white carrot cake alongside oyster omelette and hokkien mee, which is very likely where the confusion started. It is good. It is not Chey Sua.

4. Getting to Old Airport Road Food Centre

Take the Circle Line to Dakota (CC8). The station sits underneath Old Airport Road itself, and Exit B puts you on the correct side for the food centre, about five minutes on foot. Exit A works too but adds a road crossing.

Buses run along Old Airport Road and stop close to the building, but for a visitor the MRT is simpler and the walk from Dakota is short and flat, with barrier free access at both exits. Strollers and wheelchairs are fine here, both on the approach and inside the hall.

5. How to Eat Here Without Getting It Wrong

Three local conventions do most of the work:

• Choping. Claim a seat before you queue by leaving a packet of tissues on the table. It is not a trick, it is the system, and an unattended tissue packet genuinely reserves the seat
• Payment. Most stalls take cash, and PayNow and other local e payment apps are widespread. Carry small notes anyway, because a few of the older stalls still prefer them
• Tray return. Returning your tray and crockery to the racks is required by law in Singapore, not a courtesy. Do it

One practical tactic: split up. Send one person to the lor mee queue and another to the rojak ticket machine, and you will cut your total wait roughly in half. If you are on your own, order the rojak ticket first, then join a noodle queue while the number comes up.

For a wider primer on hawker centre etiquette and how the pricing works, see our hawker centre guide for first time visitors.

6. Worth It or Skip It

Worth it if

• You can come on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday morning, when everything on the list is open
• You want char kway teow and want to taste two distinct styles of it within thirty metres of each other
• You are staying anywhere along the Circle Line and want a hawker meal that is not built for tourists
• You care more about the food than the setting, and you are happy eating in a hot, loud, functional hall
• You are travelling with a stroller or a wheelchair and need flat access and space

Skip it if

• You only have a Thursday free. Two of the six are closed and the trip loses its point. Go to Maxwell Food Centre instead, which is far more forgiving about days
• You are hunting Michelin listings specifically. There is one Bib Gourmand stall here. Chinatown Complex has a much denser cluster of them
• You can only come for dinner and lor mee or char siu was the reason. Both will be gone
• You want air conditioning, or a view, or somewhere to sit for two hours. This is a working hawker hall and the tables turn fast
• You are in Singapore for two days and staying in Marina Bay. The detour is real and there are closer options

FAQ

Is Old Airport Road Food Centre worth visiting?

Yes, if you come on the right day. The concentration of long running, single dish stalls is genuinely unusual, and prices sit between SGD 3 and SGD 10 for almost everything. Come on a Thursday and the answer changes, because two of the best stalls are shut.

What time does Old Airport Road Food Centre open?

The hall is generally open from around 6:00am until about 11:00pm, but that is the building, not the stalls. Individual stalls set their own hours: Xin Mei Xiang runs 6:00am to 2:00pm, while Lao Fu Zi does not start until around 11:45am.

How do I get to Old Airport Road Food Centre by MRT?

Take the Circle Line to Dakota station, CC8. Use Exit B and walk about five minutes along Old Airport Road. The station is built directly under the road, so there is no complicated navigation once you are above ground.

Which day should I avoid?

Thursday. Both Xin Mei Xiang Lor Mee and Dong Ji Fried Kway Teow are closed. Saturday and Sunday each cost you one stall as well, so Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday are the reliable days.

How much should I budget?

Between SGD 15 and SGD 25 per person for a full crawl of three or four dishes plus dessert. Individual plates run roughly SGD 3 to SGD 10. This is one of the cheaper ways to eat well in Singapore.

Is Chey Sua Carrot Cake at Old Airport Road?

No. Chey Sua Carrot Cake trades at Toa Payoh West Market and Food Centre, Blk 127 Lorong 1 Toa Payoh, unit #02-30. Several online stall lists place it at Old Airport Road incorrectly, probably confusing it with the unnamed carrot cake and oyster omelette stall at #01-26.

Is the food centre suitable for wheelchairs and strollers?

Yes. Dakota MRT has barrier free access at both exits, the walk is flat, and the ground floor hall is level throughout. The 2024 refurbishment also upgraded the toilets, which had been the weak point.

The Short Version

Go on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday. Arrive around 10:30am, start with the lor mee at #01-116 before the queue builds, take a rojak ticket at #01-108 on your way past, then eat char kway teow at #01-12 or #01-138 depending on whether you want it sweet and dark or dry and garlicky. Finish with a tub of chilled beancurd at #01-127 and be out before the lunch rush lands at 11:30am.

If you can only do one thing here, make it Lao Fu Zi. If it is a Saturday, make it Dong Ji instead and do not treat it as a downgrade.

Note: Prices, opening hours and availability change frequently. Please confirm details with the venue or operator before you travel.