At every waking hour, food awaits. Often grouped in clusters, food stalls are commonplace in Southeast Asia. You may find culinary treasure being offered on a street corner, down an alley, or on a village road. But it is when you gather from five to seventy-five stalls in one location that’s a “Hawker Center,” some part of Asia particularly Southeast Asia called it “Food Court.”

Some people are nervous about eating street stall food or in hawkers center citing the dangers of unhygienic or disease. Remember though, locals eat at these interesting dining area every day and rarely get sick. Almost all the food is fresh that day. Hawker stalls can be found all over Southeast Asia.

The first time dining in a hawker center or food court might seem a little daunting, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll realize that it’s an exciting dining experience which is an inexpensive path to some of the best food in Southeast Asia served quickly and eaten casually.

For backpackers, it always follows that they travel on a budget. It is also an art of backpacking to find the most affordable places to eat notwithstanding, the cultural requisites like flavor, tradition and the old school way of cooking it.

Singaporeans take their food very seriously, walk down to a local hawker center (there’s one almost everywhere), and taste for yourself. You’ll see tourists mingling with locals, stuffing their faces with Chinese, Indian, Malay, and “Western” food. The dishes are as cheap as they are delicious – you can get a hearty, authentically Asian meal for less than $3.

The Philippines got a good version of it too, food court are always found inside the big shopping malls in the whole country, it’s a pocket full of stores with treats from different regions of the country. It is indeed a one stop traditional Filipino food expo.

Street stalls and food court are all over Thailand. In every city, large town and small town they have food court in big malls and aside from that you won’t be able to go a block without seeing at least one portable stall set up selling food. Most times, a city block will have 5 or 6 stalls, sometimes more.  Even though there are a lot of good restaurants in Bangkok I am really convinced that you should try to eat food from the street vendors at least once!

These Hawkers Center around Southeast Asia are culinary meccas to locals and travelers alike. Most vendors have been cooking the same dish or few dishes every day for years. They’re masters of their craft! Often a stall’s specialty has been passed down from generation to generation.

The main thing is be a little adventurous, try new things, try everything and enjoy. You might be surprised at what you love. It´s really cheap and it´s really good and at least you get the feeling that you do something authentic!

Hawkers Center you need to try in Southeast Asia

Lau Pa Sat – Singapore

Singapore Lau Pa Sat is situated right at the heart of Singapore’s Centre District (CBD) and is a place where all tourists must not miss. It is an octagonal cast iron Victorian compiled with hundred food stalls and a huge range of different food and a vibrating atmosphere. It is one of the popular eating places for the visitors and the resident of Singaporeans. It is highly economical and the food is delicious. Lau Pa Sat is known for having the spongiest putu piring (rice cake) in town. Lau Pa Sat Festival Market is located at 18 Raffles Quay, Telok Ayer, between Raffles Quai and Robinson Road.

East Coast Seafood Center – East Coast Park, Singapore

An open air Seafood Hawker Center at the East Coast Park, situated directly next to the sandy beach and below the palm trees shading you during a hot day. In East Cost Seafood Center you can savor great tasting food with no added cost and just perfect for your budget. Whether you are dining alone or with a company of friends. Seafood lovers are in for a treat as they can hunt for their favorite seafood dishes being served all in r one roof. Enjoy favorite local dishes like satay, stingray, chili crabs, octopus, squids, Chilled honeydrew Sago, Salted fish or the fame Black Chili Pepper King Crab. The place is wonderful for having scrumptious meals and breathtaking scenery. With just a stone away at the heart of Singapore, customers can have a tasty afternoon snack or a romantic scenic dinner of the bay during the night.

Jalan Alor Food Paradise – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Jalan Alor is a lively street, located opposite the Bukit Bintang shopping center in the area known as the Golden Triangle, famous for its abundance of Malay and Chinese food second to none. Jalan Alor comes alive every night with the sights and smells of hawker cooking and the moment you round the corner of Jalan Alor, you will be hit by a hundred different aromas. It’s no surprise then to find that the entire street is lined with coffee shops. The stalls are parked all along the street. Some hawker stalls open for lunch but most start serving before dark and go on well into the night.

Suan Lum Food & Beer Garden – Bangkok, Thailand

Suan Lum is famous for its enormous food court, beer garden and live concert. Every night of the week, the food court is open, with around 50 food stalls selling every kind of Thai food imaginable. . Here one can indulge in an assortment of international and Thai beers and foods. Beer and food are accompanied by live Thai cover bands performing the latest local and international hits on stage. With prices starting at 30 baht (less than $1) for a plate of rice and green chicken curry or som tam (spicy Thai papaya salad), you can try several dishes and also request them less spicy if you can’t handle fiery Thai dishes. Suan Lum Food court is adjacent to Suan Lum Night Bazaar. Take the MRT subway to Lumpini station; the market is near Lumpini Park, a short walk from the station.

MBK Food Court – Bangkok, Thailand

The most popular shopping mall in Bangkok has another gem…the food court! If the heat in Bangkok is a little too much for you, this food court may be good as it’s air-conditioned though its noisy. There is a good selection of stalls ranging from local to japanese to korean meals. You can even find Singaporean favourite like chicken rice here. There’s even sharksfin and birdnest here. Clean and hygenic as food handlers do not come into contact with money because you will need to purchase coupons in exchange for food. Don’t worry of excess coupons, you can refund them all. Just follow the ‘REFUND’ sign on the floor you’ll find your way to the counter. You can find this food court on the 6th floor of the shopping mall.

Aw Taw Kaw Food Market – Bangkok, Thailand

Most tourists manage to navigate their way to the famous Chatuchak market where they buy cheap tee-shirts and other trinkets which they can take back home to validate their trip. Little do they realise that lurking nearby is one of the world’s great food markets, the Aw Taw Kaw Market. Literally a ten minute walk and a quick and heart-stopping race across a very busy road and you are at the entrance to the market,  Aw Taw Market is diagonally across from the southwest corner of the Chatuchak Weekend Market. Once inside your senses are assaulted by the best of the best of Thai food offerings. Whether it is fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, live seafood or cooked delights they are all here.

Ben Thanh Market’s Food Stalls – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

If you want an overview of Vietnamese cuisine – especially soups – Ben Thanh Market’s food stalls in Ho Chi Minh City are a great place to go. It’s all there – pho, bun bo, hu tieu. Flavors are authentic and the prices are incredible. A couple of dollars go a very long way. Ben Thanh also comes alive at night when the outdoor food stalls open and the surrounding streets are taken over by a more varied range of market stalls, but during the day there are far better options. It’s a great place to start an education in local cuisine – very local. It’s all there for you to see and sample for next to nothing. Traditional food, drinks, and snacks are aplenty at Ben Thanh market. The most recommended food here is the “banh xeo”, a traditional dish made from rice, going at only VND10,000 (approx. 0.50USD). Another is “bun suong”, a kind of noodles which is very popular in the market. If you want to buy something as souvenirs for friends, the try picking out the local sweets made from banana, mango, or custard-apple.

Sukhumvit Soi 38 Street Food – Bangkok, Thailand

Sukhumvit 38 is actually a place rather than an actual restaurant but every night at about 7:00vendors push their carts out to the intersection with Sukhumvit and the hungry follow them there. This street in Bangkok is particularly known for its street food, has been well known for ages. It draws many denizens of the upscale neighbourhood, as well as post-club midnight snackers. It’s hard to beat Thailand’s street food – various noodle soups, pad thai, grilled meats, fried chicken, fresh ice cold coconut,  papaya salads and so much more. And it’s not just the food – there’s something about the whole scene – it’s very social with no pretense. You order something from your favorite vendor, grab a plastic stool at portable metal table. Sukhumvit Soi 38, a side street near the Thonglor BTS.

Petaling Street Night Market – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Another of the best and most popular hawker stall areas in Kuala Lumpur is at the Petaling Street Night Market in Chinatown. Famous for its shopping, Petaling Street also has a large variety of hawker stalls selling Chinese, Malay and Indian food. Try the fresh seafood, chicken and rice, barbecued fish and the curries. Many of the hawker stalls have been on Petaling Street for several generations, so they really are experts at what they’re cooking. Get to Petaling Street Night Market hawker stalls on the train from KL Sentral. Just one stop to the Pasar Seni LRT station then a five minute walk.

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