Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow closes after over 50 years of operation
Image credit: @stonemissile
Indulgent, flavourful, and fragrant, char kway teow (CKT) isn’t the healthiest food around, but it’s definitely one of the tastiest when done right. Serious skill is needed to fry up a good plate that’s worth the calories, and Guan Kee Char Kway Teow in Ghim Moh Road Market And Food Centre can attest to being one of the greats. Sadly, the CKT stall recently announced its closure in a Facebook post—its founders are retiring.
Image credit: Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow
Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow was established in 1969, over 50 years ago. Hawkers Tan Hock Guan and Chang Kha Noi started out from a humble street stall in Redhill, before moving to their current location at Ghim Moh Market in 1978.
Despite a slow start, decades of hard work have earned them a reputation for frying up some of the best char kway teow in Singapore. The stall was even placed on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list in 2019!
Image credit: @rshh5
Before their closure, the hawkers had to scale back their operations to just thrice a week, due to their age. On the days they were open, the duo dished up over 200 plates of CKT every morning and often sold out by noon.
Image credit: @nomboynomgirl
For Mr Tan, timing is the key to a good CKT, and each serving of char kway teow was meticulously fried plate by plate. Flat rice noodles and yellow noodles would be fried once, then a second time with the rest of the ingredients and dark soya sauce to give the noodles an intense, savoury-sweet flavour.
Image credit: @george.kooi
Each serving came with an artery-clogging amount of deep-fried pork lard and a generous helping of cockles, lup cheong, fish cakes, and bean sprouts. The ingredients would be prepared early after the couple start their day at 4am, and later freshly fried to order for a well-balanced CKT with a good amount of wok hei.
Image credit: @mixy_mix
While we’re sad that the stall is no longer operating, we’re happy that Auntie and Uncle can get a well-deserved break after 54 years of hard work!
Check out our char kway teow guide for the best CKT stalls around Singapore. Also, read our Hill Street Fried Kway Teow review for another Michelin-approved stall serving highly flavourful plates of CKT since 1961!
Address: 20 Ghim Moh Road, #01-19, Ghim Moh Road Market & Food Centre, Singapore 270020
Opening hours: Tue 7:30am to 2pm, Thurs 7:30am to 2pm, Sat 7:30am to 12pm (or sold out)
Website
Guan Kee Char Kway Teow is not a halal-certified eatery.
Hill Street Fried Kway Teow Review: Famous CKT Since 1961 In Bedok South
Feature image adapted from @george.kooi and @stonemissile
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