Local Hero Singapore at Westfield Doncaster – a nice reminder of Singapore and hawker food centers in Melbourne

Michelin accredited food and Singaporean street food makes an entrance with Local Hero Singapore Doncaster’s stall vendor at the main food court at Westfield Doncaster. The main stars of Singaporean street food are here with chicken rice, nasi lemak, laksa and noodles. For those who can’t visit Singapore, the food on offer here are good reminders and/or introduction to the amazing food in Singapore. If you are like me, you will be happy with the dishes.

It’s been over an year since Australians have been banned by the Federal Government from traveling overseas due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In essence, no leisure or recreational travel overseas. It means no traveling to Singapore or other great places to eat delicious food. So Local Hero Singapore’s recent opening is a chance to capture an opportunity to enjoy delicious Singaporean food in Melbourne.

Local Hero Singapore's storefront in the main food court at Westfield Doncaster
Local Hero Singapore’s storefront in the main food court at Westfield Doncaster

Local Hero Singapore Doncaster is found within Westfield Doncaster. Westfield Doncaster is a large shopping center that has been recently renovated. It is home to some premium brand outlets and some incredible restaurants and offerings. I found myself wanting to visit several chain stores, because it seems that all the main chains are here from Dymocks, Games Workshop, JB Hi FI, etc.

Westfield Doncaster is not an easy place to reach. It is best reached by driving and can be reached off the Eastern Freeway (and you may need to use the toll road, East Link, so please ensure you have a toll pass or sticker in your car). To add salt to the wound, the suburb of Doncaster has been poorly serviced for many years when it comes to public transport. There is no nearby train or tram service. (It would help if the local and federal representatives for the area put some effort into supporting public transport infrastructure.)

In terms of parking, customers only get 2 hours of free parking. However, you can increase this to 4 hours if you register on the Westfield’s app. In my mind, 2 hours of free parking is too short to be able to get much shopping done. I also found that lunch hour on a Saturday, e.g. around 1 pm, was bustling with people and car park was limited.

You can find the restaurant near Nandos in the main food court. Since it is in a food court, you can pretty much sit anywhere. Your group is also able to eat at other vendors (and honestly there is an incredible amount of options).

At Local Hero Singapore, there dishes include some Michelin accredited food, and they are marked on the menu, and other popular Singaporean dishes, drinks and desserts. The Michelin accredited food include their Tiong Bahru Chicken Rice and their Noodle Story Singapore-Style Ramen. I wouldn’t discount the Katong Laksa as that is also a fantastic dish, though I am basing my experience on the original back in Singapore and am yet to try it here.

The price of the dishes sit around AUD$12.90 to $15.90. This is a lot more expensive than the prices you would find in Singapore. (It’s worth noting that the Singaporean Dollar and Australian Dollar are usually on parity, but the labor costs in Singapore are much lower.)

We ordered two dishes, both Michelin accredited dishes, which included their Slow Cooked Pork Belly Rice and Roast Chicken Dry Ramen.

The Slow Cooked Pork Belly Rice came with pork belly drenched in a special marinade, cucumbers, stock rice, sauces (thick soy sauce, ginger and garlic and chili garlic) and some soup. The stock rice was flavorsome, the pork belly was beautifully cooked and marinated and the sauces were nice complements to the dish. The soup had pieces of cabbage and was okay, but didn’t have much flavor. (It probably needed MSG.)

The Roast Chicken Dry Ramen came with two sets of dumplings, one soft dumpling and one fried dumpling, a marinated egg, some roast chicken and some saffron on a bed of noodles. The chicken was tender and excellently cooked, the egg was nice and the soft dumpling was the better of the two dumplings.

Overall, we were very impressed with the dishes and were happy with the experience.

Local Hero Singapore Doncaster is located at Level 1 Food Court Shop FC3, 619 Doncaster Road, Doncaster VIC 3108:

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