Yishun Park Hawker Centre: 5 Useful Things to Know

21 September 2017

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Telegram for the latest updates.

Yishun Park Hawker Centre opened for business on 20 September 2017. The airy, high-ceiling, 800-seat hawker centre is sure to be a draw for hungry folks with a wide variety of food available – from traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice to Japanese Bento sets.

The Yishun Park Hawker Centre is managed by Timbre Group, the same folks behind Timbre+ at one-North. Timbre Group was appointed by the National Environment Agency (NEA) as Yishun Park Hawker Centre’s managing agent and, according to the NEA, will manage the hawker centre on a not-for-profit basis.

This hasn’t stopped new innovations from being tried out at Yishun Park Hawker Centre. In fact, this hawker centre is not the run-of-the-mill variety. Here are a few useful things to know about Yishun Park Hawker Centre.

1. Save 10% with Tuck Shop App

Go cashless at Yishun Park Hawker Centre. Sort of.

CNY Fun: Discover Exciting Things to Do for Chinese New Year 2025

Chinatown Heritage Centre: Local Residents Enjoy Free Admission till 16 February

River Hongbao: 9 Highlights at This Year's Event

-- Story continues below --

The Tuck Shop Store Credit app can be used at all the hawker stalls at Yishun Park Hawker Centre. Once you have downloaded and set up the Tuck Shop app, you can “top-up” cash into the app at machines located in the centre of Yishun Park Hawker Centre. At the moment, topping-up is by cash only.

By topping up / buying credits, you will enjoy 10% off food purchases within Yishun Park Hawker Centre.

Scan the QR code on your Tuck Shop app at the hawker stall to pay.

After ordering your food at the hawker stall, you need to scan a QR code on the Tuck Shop app to pay. The corresponding amount will be deducted from your credit balance.

The system sounds neat but when we tried using it to pay for our food, the system couldn’t read the QR code very well. We had to wait for technical support (in a hawker centre!) before the app deducted the amount. These are probably early teething issues; overall the Tuck Shop app is a positive idea.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, cash is still accepted by the hawkers.

2. Pay $1 Deposit for a Tray

When you purchase food at Yishun Park Hawker Centre, you will have to put down a $1 deposit for the food tray. This is to “encourage” diners to help clear the table and return the tray (and crockery of course) after eating.

The tray system at Yishun Park Hawker Centre feels like a cross between inserting a coin into a supermarket trolley and the library’s book drop system.

When you purchase food, $1 is automatically added on to the bill by the hawker as a deposit for the tray. For example, if you have to pay $3.50 for a bowl of noodles, the final charge will come to $4.50.

Each tray is equipped with a radio frequency identification tag.

Tray Return at Yishun Park Hawker Centre

After finishing your meal, head over to the tray return area.

Insert the tray into the tray return slot and $1 will magically pop out into a coin return (tray) holder by the side.

Singapore – where even our food trays are smart.

3. Meals for $3

This we think is a good idea.

To keep the meals affordable, stalls have at least one basic meal that is priced at $3.

Chicken Teriyaki Bento, Bee Hoon Soup, Dumpling Soup and Zha Jiang Mian are some of the dishes that you can get for $3.

There are some stalls, such as the Mixed Vegetable Rice stall, where you can also get a meal for less than $3. Great!

4. One Drink Stall

This we didn’t think is a good idea.

The 800-seat Yishun Park Hawker Centre has one drink stall.

Seriously?

As you can expect, the line at the drink stall is long.

Enough said.

5. Two Floors of Parking

Yishun Park Hawker Centre is located at the junction of Yishun Ring Road and Yishun Avenue 11. It is opposite the fun Arboretum playground at Yishun Park.

Above the hawker centre area are two floors of parking. The entrance to the car park is along Yishun Avenue 11.

Other Amenities at Yishun Park Hawker Centre

Besides the plentiful food choices, Yishun Park Hawker Centre has several other amenities.

At the main entrance of the hawker centre is a little padded play area with hopscotch markings.

Pinball machines are also set to be unveiled in the future. Retro.

There is also family room close to the washrooms.

For more information on Yishun Park Hawker Centre, all the yummy food you can find there, and the Tuck Shop app, visit its website. (Must say it is nice that a hawker centre has a website of its own!)