Tekka Centre is a sprawling multi-use complex standing proud in the heart — and heat — of Singapore’s vibrant Little India district. The trade and culture hub has withstood the test of time and undergone numerous major facelifts in both look and name since it was first erected in 1915.
Back then, it bore the name Kandang Kerbau, meaning "buffalo pens" in Malay, as a reference to slaughterhouses that operated in the vicinity then. Soon, a popular nickname emerged, referencing another nearby fixture: Bamboo plants growing along the banks of nearby Rochor Canal, giving rise to the moniker in the local Hokkien dialect of Tek Kia Kha (small bamboos’ foot).
That wasn’t all, since the complex went on to be renamed "Tekka Pasar" (meaning market in Malay), then Zhujiao Centre (a Mandarin version of bamboo’s foot) and finally, in 2000, Tekka Centre as we know it today.
If you aren’t confused yet, you sure will be when you step into the sprawling building itself, which boasts multiple levels of heritage retail shops selling everything from textiles to Taoist paraphernalia, a wet market, and a bustling hawker centre jam-packed with multiethnic eats.
Many of the stallholders there have passed their businesses — and with it, their treasured recipes — down from generation to generation, meaning you’ll almost certainly find great food at every corner of the busy hawker centre — if you’re willing to brave the weekend crowds. Read on for the stalls that left an impression on our MICHELIN Guide inspectors.
Delhi Lahori
NEWMICHELIN Guide Singapore 2024
The newest entrant on the list, Delhi Lahori specialises in northern Indian and Pakistani grub. We’re talking hearty meats and curries like seekh kebab (spiced meat skewers), butter chicken, and mutton keema. These can be paired with rice or classic flatbreads like chapati and especially pillowy naan, extracted fresh from the tandoori oven still ripping hot and impregnated with garlic, butter, or cheese.
Allauddin's Briyani
SelectedMICHELIN Guide Singapore 2023
Due to its proximity to Little India, it is no surprise that many briyani stalls call Tekka Centre home.
Each has managed to carve out its own slice of the pie, leveraging on age-old family recipes and traditions to stand out from the crowd. Only one, Allauddin's Briyani, has managed to catch the attention of the MICHELIN Guide. The stall, first established in 1968, continues to attract diners today for its briyani, a one-pot dish brimming with gently spiced but robustly flavoured basmati grains that are heady with the scent of ghee, onions, and cashews. Diners have the choice of chicken, mutton, or fish with their sets, which also come with pickled cucumbers, or achar, and a bowl of vegetable dhal.
Heng Gi Goose and Duck Rice
SelectedMICHELIN Guide Singapore 2024
Heng Gi Goose and Duck Rice is a Teochew braising specialist with close to 70 years of history behind its brand. While both goose and duck are mentioned in the name, the former is no longer served as imports of the fowl have been halted in the country for more than a decade. Nonetheless, the stall continues to attract long queues for its succulent and savoury braised duck, pork belly, and offal.
