This insider’s Singapore food guide is all you need to navigate Singapore’s scarily extensive food scene.

Singapore takes her food very seriously. If there’s one thing we Singaporeans can’t stop yapping about, this is it! But as we parade ourselves around as a food paradise, dealing with cuisines from at least four cultures at once can be overwhelming to the uninitiated.

And if there’s anything our powerful passport has taught us, it’s that tourist traps are aplenty around the world. It’s totally normal for tourists to feel the same in our little red dot. Hence, this.

This Singapore food guide is specially written for our curious and hungry friends from abroad, curated by our 19 man-strong team of born and bred Singaporeans.

These recommendations ONLY include places we’ve frequented and actually tried, and are convenient enough for travellers to access! Also, compared to Asian food in Western countries, the food here is a lot more affordable — I mean, nowhere else will you get a Michelin-star meal for ~AU$3!

Price Range Guide (per pax): 
$ — under S$10 (~AU$10.90)
$$ — S$11 – S$20 (~AU$12 – ~AU$21.80)
$$$ — above S$20 (~AU$21.80)

What to Eat in Singapore

1) Hainanese Chicken Rice ($)

Tong Fong Fatt Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice at ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre - Singapore Food Guide - What to Eat in Singapore

Tong Fong Fatt Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice

If you only have time to eat one dish on this Singapore food guide, let it be this. The true icon of Singaporean cuisine, chicken rice is a national institution (much like roast lamb to Australia). Gordon Ramsay has tried to replicate it, and we love it so much we have a Facebook group dedicated to posting a photo of it every day.

A good plate costs as low as AU$3.30, and you need to eat it with the holy trinity of condiments: ginger sauce, dark soy sauce and a uniquely tangy chilli sauce (to some Singaporeans, the chilli sauce makes or breaks the dish).

Tian Tian Chicken Rice
Opening Hours: 10AM – 7:30PM, closed on Mon
Address: 1 Kadayanallur St, #01-10/11 Maxwell Food Centre, Singapore 069184
Nearest MRT Station: Tanjong Pagar/Chinatown

Wee Nam Kee
Opening Hours: 10:30AM – 9:30PM
Address: 6 Raffles Boulevard #04-102B, Marina Square, Singapore 039594 (and 3 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: City Hall

Delicious Boneless Chicken Rice
Opening Hours: 10:30AM – 8PM, closed on Mon
Address:
Katong Shopping Centre #B1-85/87, 865 Mountbatten Rd, Singapore 437844
Nearest MRT Station: Paya Lebar

2) Kaya Toast ($)

Ya Kun Kaya Toast - Ultimate Singapore Food Guide for Tourists - Things to Eat in Singapore

Photo credit: Ya Kun

Another Singaporean institution that’s in every Singapore food guide. It’s the quintessential Singaporean breakfast and nothing quite beats this in popularity. A typical set is composed of three items: Charcoal-grilled toast slathered with a mixture of butter kaya (a sweet jam made with coconut and egg), two half-boiled eggs and coffee or tea.

There is only one indisputable place you should get yours at: Ya Kun Kaya Toast. Nowhere else. It’s so good, it’s become a chain with 69 branches across shopping malls islandwide — but the quality remains the best. Locals still queue every day like it’s the Great Singapore Sale. Some foreigners we’ve known love the jam so much, they buy them home in bulk.

Ya Kun Kaya Toast
Opening Hours: 7:30AM – 10PM
Address:
 2 Orchard Turn, #B4-492 Orchard Turn, #B4-49 (and 68 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Orchard

3) Laksa ($) 

Singapore Laksa - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Viaggi-lowcost.info

Contrary to its looks, this bowl tastes nothing like conventional Indian curry. And it’s not as spicy as it looks! With a slightly sweet, coconut milk taste that complements the spice from sambal belachan chilli, you’ll realise the laksa‘s bark is stronger than its bite. Laksa is usually served with thick rice vermicelli noodles, fishcakes and cockles.

328 Katong Laksa
Opening Hours: 10AM – 10PM
Address: 51 E Coast Rd, Singapore 428770
Nearest MRT Station: Paya Lebar/Dakota

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The Original Katong Laksa
Opening Hours: 8:30AM – 5:30PM
Address: 50 East Coast Road, Roxy Square, Singapore 428769
Nearest MRT Station: Paya Lebar/Dakota

4) Nasi Lemak ($)

Nasi Lemak - Things to Eat in Singapore

Photo credit: Eatwhattonight.com

The national dish of our neighbouring Malaysia, this coconut rice dish remains one of Singaporeans’ favourite meal choices be it for breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper. Equally as iconic is the sambal chilli sauce that comes with it, along with sides such as fried peanuts and ikan bilis, fried eggs and fried chicken wings.

Mizzy’s Corner
Opening Hours: 7AM – 1AM
Address: Changi Village Hawker Centre #01-26, 2 Changi Village Road, Singapore 500002
Nearest MRT Station: Pasir Ris/Tampines East

Ponggol Nasi Lemak
Opening Hours: 12PM – 11PM
Address: 371 Jalan Besar, Singapore 208998 (and 2 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Farrer Park/Bendemeer

5) Roti Prata ($)

Roti Prata with Egg and Curry - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Misstamchiak.com

Despite its Indian influence, you can’t actually find this flatbread dish in India — it’s a Southeast Asian creation! A popular breakfast and supper indulgence, it’s a must-try on this Singapore food guide. Locals most commonly have it plain (or as the locals call it, “kosong“, meaning empty in Malay) or with an egg cooked into it.

Springleaf Prata Place is easily my favourite. They go the extra mile with its spruced up versions like the Plaster Blaster — a kosong prata topped with a slice of ham, a poached egg and hollandaise sauce. They add one item onto this special menu every year, based on local trends in the food scene! Talk about reinvention.

Springleaf Prata Place
Opening Hours: 9AM – 10PM, closes 11PM on Fri and Sat
Address: Springleaf Garden, 1 Thong Soon Avenue, Singapore 787431 (and 9 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Springleaf (Google Maps)

Enaq
Opening Hours: 7AM – 11PM
Address: 303 Jurong East Street 32, Singapore 600303
Nearest MRT Station: Chinese Garden

6) Bak Chor Mee (Minced Meat Noodles) ($)

Bak Chor Mee - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Migrationology.com

Despite being a cultural hodgepodge of a country, the bak chor mee is one noodle dish we can confidently call our own (none of that “Singapore Noodles” BS, okay? This Singapore food guide tells only the truth). The secret sauce: Braised mushroom broth, soy sauce, chilli sauce, pork lard oil and vinegar. Topped with some pork liver, meatballs, minced pork bits and a fried wanton, it’s seriously more sinful than it seems.

At the stall, the aunties might ask, “mee pok (or) mee kia?” i.e. which type of noodle do you want. The poster child is usually the flat, mee pok noodle, but the mee kia takes on the standard, rounded likeness. Try both and see which you prefer!

Ah Ter Teochew Fishball Noodle
Opening Hours: 7AM – 4PM, closed on weekends
Address: 7 Maxwell Rd, #01-14 Amoy Street Food Centre, Singapore 069112
Nearest MRT Station: Telok Ayer/Tanjong Pagar

Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodles
Opening Hours: 9:30AM – 9PM, closed on first and third Mon each month
Address: 466 Crawford Lane, #01-12, Singapore 190465
Nearest MRT Station: Lavender

7) Roast Meats (Roast Duck, Crispy Pork Belly, Char Siew)

Duck Rice - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Papneesoon.sg

As a certified 100% Cantonese, this is my jam. It’s more Hong Kong than Singapore, really, but it’s the red meat alternative to chicken rice that you’ll find in every hawker centre. You can see the holy trinity of roasts from afar!

Roast Meats - What to Eat in Singapore

Photo credit: Sgfoodonfoot.com

Take this as a Singapore food guide tip: Make ordering in a group easier by ordering a platter of all three meats, and letting the stallholder know your group budget (e.g. “$20 of duck, char siew and roast pork”).

Kay Lee Roast Meat
Opening Hours: 10.30AM – 8PM
Address: 60 Paya Lebar Road #B1-10, Singapore 409051 (and 2 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Paya Lebar

8) Satay ($)

Satay with Peanut Sauce and Vegetables - Singapore Travel Guide

Photo credit: Thespruceeats.com

If you’ve seen Crazy Rich Asians, let it be known that the scriptwriters got everything wrong — Newton Circus is NOT where the best satay in Singapore’s at (but I’m not denying it’s a good place to sample everything).

These Indonesian skewers are usually charcoal-grilled and slightly sweet, paired with a rich peanut sauce. For a passable attempt at balanced nutrition, it also comes with sliced red onions, cucumbers and ketupat (Malay rice dumplings). Share it in a group to taste all three kinds — chicken, beef and mutton!

Satay is usually found in hawker centres near the city, like Old Airport Road or Lau Pa Sat (sold only at night).

Read also: Ultimate Singapore Travel Guide — Insider Tips & Everything You Need To Know

9) Carrot Cake (Chai Tow Kway) ($)

White Carrot Cake - What to Eat in Singapore

Photo credit: Anthony Leow / Flickr

You’ll be hard-pressed to know this is not your Western-style dessert made from real carrots. This, instead, is made from a white radish, fried together with egg and other artery-choking ingredients.

Choose between white carrot cake (more savoury) and black carrot cake (more sweet from the addition of dark soy sauce) depending on your tastes.

Bukit Merah View Hawker Centre
Opening Hours: 7AM – 2PM, 6PM – 1AM
Address: Blk 115 Bukit Merah View, Bukit Merah View Hawker Centre, #01-37, Singapore 151115
Nearest MRT Station: Tiong Bahru

Ghim Moh Carrot Cake
Opening Hours: 6.30AM – 1PM, closed on Mon
Address: 6 Jalan Bukit Merah, #01-140 ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre, Singapore 150006
Nearest MRT Station: Queenstown/Redhill

10) Char Kway Teow (Fried Noodles) ($)

Char Kway Teow - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Dishmaps.com

This dish literally translates to fried noodles (kway teow), and it is what it is. It’s a sinful delight though — this carbo-bomb is fried with light and dark soy sauce, cockles, Chinese sausage, fishcake, beansprouts and pork lard.

No. 18 Zion Road Fried Kway Teow
Opening Hours: 12:30PM – 2:30PM, 6:30PM – 11PM, closed on alternate Mon
Address: 70 Zion Rd, #01-17 Zion Riverside Food Centre, Singapore 247792
Nearest MRT Station: Tiong Bahru

Hill Street Fried Kway Teow
Opening Hours: 11:30AM – 4:45PM, closed on Sun and Mon
Address: 16 Bedok South Road, #01-41 Bedok South Market & Food Centre, Singapore 460016
Nearest MRT Station: Bedok

11) Nasi Briyani ($)

Nasi Briyani - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Justgola.com

An Indian mixed rice dish paired with mutton or chicken, it’s one of the rare dishes in Singapore where I actually prefer the taste of the rice to the protein! The textures in this dish are phenomenal — the graininess of the heavily-spiced basmati long grain rice, fall-off-the-bone tenderness of the meat, and crispiness of papadum that sometimes come on the side.

Bismillah Biryani
Opening Hours: 11:30AM – 9PM
Address: 48/50 Dunlop Street, Singapore 209379 (and 3 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Rochor/Jalan Besar

IMAM Banana Leaf Restaurant
Opening Hours: 24hrs
Address: 12 Lor 1 Geylang, Singapore 389120
Nearest MRT Station: Kallang

12) Ayam Penyet ($$)

Ayam Penyet - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Zacbhl.blogspot.com

Let it be known that no Singapore food guide is complete without this Indonesian dish. I love everything — the fried chicken that’s smashed before serving, the fried tofu and tempeh, the batter crumbs sprinkled atop everything, and that ridiculously OTT spicy sambal chilli that’ll make you sweat buckets with just one drop. Not for the health-conscious!

Project Penyek by Ansar (endorsed by the entire TTI team)
Opening Hours: 10AM – 8PM
Address:
 ABC Brickworks Food Centre, Blk 6 Jalan Bukit Merah, #01-27, Singapore 150006
Nearest MRT Station: Queenstown/Redhill

Ayam Penyet Ria
Opening Hours: 11AM – 10PM (Mon – Sat), 10AM – 9PM (Sun)
Address: 304 Orchard Road, Lucky Plaza, #01-45/46/47 & #04-25/26/27, Singapore 238863 (and 3 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Orchard

13) Kway Chap

Kway Chap - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Btcvnd.com

Braised duck, braised eggs, beancurd skin, tofu, pork belly, pig skin and pig innards (feel free to ask them to omit any) in one delectable platter. Instead of rice, you’ll get a bowl of wide, flat rice noodles in a (very light) soy sauce broth as your carbs instead.

Guang Liang Cooked Food (光亮熟食)
Opening Hours: 5:30AM – 12PM 
Address: 630 Bedok Reservoir Road, #01-35 Bedok Reservoir Road, Block 630 Market & Food Centre, Singapore 470630
Nearest MRT Station: Kaki Bukit/Bedok North

Blanco Court Kway Chap
Opening Hours: 11AM – 3PM, closed on Mon and Tue
Address: 51 Old Airport Road, Old Airport Road Food Centre #01-135, Singapore 390051
Nearest MRT Station: Dakota/Mountbatten

14) Chilli Crab ($$$)

Chilli Crab - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Magazine.foodpanda.sg

You knew this was coming — every Singapore food guide talks about it. Though one of our most iconic dishes, we usually only indulge in chilli crab on special occasions because, well, expensive. But if you’re on holiday, ball away! Mud/Dungeness crabs are fried in a sweet, spicy and sticky concoction of chilli sauce, ketchup and egg, usually served alongside fried mini mantou buns to sop up the remaining thick gravy afterwards. Mmmm.

Oh, and hot tip: Embrace the mess (though these days, plastic gloves and bibs are provided at many restaurants).

No Signboard Seafood Restaurant
Opening Hours: 11AM – 2.30PM, 5.30PM – 10.30PM
Address: 6 Eu Tong Sen St, #04-63, Clarke Quay Central, Singapore 059817 (and 3 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Clarke Quay

Jumbo Seafood Restaurant
Opening Hours: 12PM – 3PM, 6PM – 12AM (Last order 45mins before closing)
Address: 30 Merchant Road #01-01/02, Riverside Point, Singapore 058282 (and 5 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Clarke Quay

15) Prawn Mee ($$)

Beach Road Prawn Mee - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Blog-staging.shopback.sg

Prawn mee always gets a bad rep because in the words of our wise elders, the cholesterol in this dish will get you. But how could we resist?

Don’t take the thin, innocuous-looking soup at face value — they’re the result of boiling prawn heads for hours! They’re usually served with a mix of thick vermicelli noodles and yellow egg noodles, with dry or soup versions to choose from.

Beach Road Prawn Mee Eating House
Opening Hours: 7AM – 4PM, closed on Tue
Address: 370/372 East Coast Rd, Singapore 428981
Nearest MRT Station: Eunos/Kembangan

Wah Kee Big Prawn Noodles
Opening Hours: 8:30AM – 2PM, closed on Mon and Tue
Address: 41A Cambridge Road, #01-15, Pek Kio Market and Food Centre, Singapore 210041
Nearest MRT Station: Farrer Park/Novena

16) Wanton Mee ($)

Eng's Wanton Mee - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Misstamchiak.com

There’s something about wanton noodles that just gets me. The noodles are slightly thinner than the usual egg noodles, and my diet-conscious self appreciates the lean char siew roast pork slices and boiled pork and shrimp dumplings strewn on top of it. The best euphoric hit is when you take each mouthful with a slice of pickled green chilli. Bliss.

Eng’s Wantan Noodle
Opening Hours: 11AM – 9PM
Address: 287 Tanjong Katong Rd, Singapore 437036 (and 12 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Paya Lebar/Dakota

Nam Seng Noodles & Fried Rice
Opening Hours: 8AM – 8PM, closes 1PM on Sat, closed on Sun
Address: Far East Square, 25 China St, #01-01, Singapore 049567
Nearest MRT Station: Telok Ayer/Raffles Place

17) Claypot Chicken Rice ($$)

Claypot Chicken Rice - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Hungrygowhere.com

On our Singapore food guide, this is a gem. There’s a good reason why traditional claypots are still used in place of the soulless, stainless steel ones. The smokiness that comes from it is seriously unparalleled, and the best parts are the crispy, burnt rice bits that stick to the sides and bottom of the pot that’ll leave you scraping for more.

What comes in a typical claypot chicken rice: Chopped chicken chunks, lup cheong (Chinese sausages) and braised Chinese mushrooms. For an added wetness, feel free to drizzle on some dark soy sauce.

Geylang Claypot Rice
Opening Hours: 12PM – 2:30PM, 5PM – 10PM
Address: 361, 363, 365 Beach Road Singapore 199576
Nearest MRT Station: Nicoll Highway

New Lucky Claypot Rice
Opening Hours: 11AM – 1PM, 5PM – 8PM
Address: 44 Holland Dr, #02-19, Holland Drive Market & Food Center, Singapore 270044
Nearest MRT Station: Buona Vista/Holland Village

18) Tze Char ($$)

Photo credit: Burpple.com

Tze chars are perfect when you’re in a large group. We usually go for tze char dinners with family on weekends, or to celebrate special occasions with friends, ordering multiple plates of dishes to share. You’ll find tze char stalls in most hawker centres and food courts in the heartlands, both indoors and outdoors.

The menus are usually super long, so here’s my tried-and-tested/go-to/safe combination for starters: Prawn Paste Chicken (har cheong kai), Sambal Kangkong, Foo Yong Omelette (omelette with diced pork), Claypot Tofu, Yangzhou Fried Rice, and other specialty dishes by that specific stall (e.g. Two Chefs Eating Place is famous for their pork ribs coated with milk powder).

Two Chefs Eating Place
Opening Hours: 11:30AM – 2:30PM, 5PM – 11:30PM, closed last Mon of every month
Address: 116 Commonwealth Cres, #01-129, Singapore 140116
Nearest MRT Station: Holland Village/Commonwealth

Keng Eng Kee Seafood (Famous for Coffee Pork Ribs!)
Opening Hours: 11:30AM – 2:30PM, 5PM – 10PM
Address: 124 Bukit Merah Lane 1, #01-136, Singapore 150124
Nearest MRT Station: Queenstown/Redhill

Mellben Signature
Opening Hours: 10:30AM – 10:15PM, opens 12PM on Sat, opens 5PM on Sun
Address: 7 Tanjong Pagar Plaza, #01-105, Singapore 081007
Nearest MRT Station: Tanjong Pagar

19) Bak Kut Teh ($$)

Bak Kut Teh - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Travelwireasia.com

Directly translated as “meat bone tea”, bak kut teh is the simplest of all Chinese tonic soups, and you’ll find many chain establishments in Singapore that have stood the test of time. There are many different types of bak kut teh, but most of them follow the Teochew style that’s light coloured and loaded with pepper and garlic.

Also, in most places, the soup is free-flow!

Song Fa Bak Kut Teh
Opening Hours: 9AM – 9:15PM, closed on Mon
Address: 11 New Bridge Road, #01-01, Singapore 059383 (and 10 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Clarke Quay

Old Tiong Bahru Bak Kut Teh
Opening Hours: 6:30AM – 9PM, closed on Mon
Address: 58 Seng Poh Road, Singapore 160058
Nearest MRT Station: Tiong Bahru/Outram Park

20) Dim Sum ($$)

Swee Choon Dim Sum - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Goodyfeed.com

Dim sum is traditionally eaten for breakfast in Hong Kong, but dim sum has found its place in our food culture as a popular post-clubbing supper haunt. Speaking from firsthand experience, all that siew mai, har gow, chee cheong fun and xiao long bao sure taste better when you’re inebriated.

There’s popular debate over whether Swee Choon or 126 offers better dim sum, but we’ll leave you to form your own opinion.

Swee Choon Tim Sum Restaurant
Opening Hours: 11AM – 2:30PM, 6PM – 6AM, closed on Tue
Address: Jalan Besar, 183-191, Singapore 208882
Nearest MRT Station: Farrer Park/Jalan Besar/Lavender

126 Dim Sum Wen Dao Shi (揾到食)
Opening Hours: 24hrs
Address: 126 Sims Avenue, Singapore 387449 (and 1 other branch)
Nearest MRT Station: Aljunied

21) Hainanese Curry Rice ($)

Hainanese Curry Rice - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Gastronomy.com

Don’t scroll past in disgust yet — truly, there’s no photogenic way to capture Hainanese Curry Rice. Trust us when we say the sloppier it looks, the better it tastes. Pick your dishes (three to four is enough) and watch as the stallholder unceremoniously slops thick curry and braised soy sauce over the plate (read: yum!).

Can’t decide what to choose? Pork chop, curry chicken, fried egg and stewed cabbage. You’ll never go wrong with that combination.

Scissors Cut Curry Rice
Opening Hours: 11AM – 3:30AM
Address: 229 Jalan Besar, Singapore 208905
Nearest MRT Station: Farrer Park/Lavender

Yu Guo Curry Rice
Opening Hours: 11:30AM – 8:30PM
Address: ABC Brickworks Food Centre, 6 Jalan Bukit Merah, #01-136, Singapore 150006 (and 3 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Queenstown/Redhill

22) Curry Fish Head ($$$)

Curry Fish Head - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Discoversg.com

The fish head curry supposedly came about as a way for a South Indian restauranteur to win over Chinese customers. While the belly of a fish is typically the more sought-after part of the fish, the meat around the head is actually really tender.

When ordering fish head curry (best shared in a group of at least three with other dishes), note that there are two kinds: The Assam ones are sour and a tad spicier, while the Nyonya variants have a milkier curry.

Ocean Curry Fish Head
Opening Hours: 10:30AM – 3PM, 5PM – 8:30PM (Mon – Fri), closed on Sun
Address: 181 Telok Ayer St, Singapore 068629 (and 3 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Telok Ayer/Tanjong Pagar

23) Hokkien Mee ($)

Fried Hokkien Mee - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Aspirantsg.com

This is almost every local’s favourite on this Singapore food guide! The Hokkien Mee is more seafoody than it looks. Prawns and squid are stir-fried together with pork belly, egg, white vermicelli noodles and yellow egg noodles in a light prawn broth.

Don’t dig in once you get it — it’s rather insipid on its own, which is why you have to mix it with the sambal chilli on the side, then squeeze lime over it!

Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee
Opening Hours: 10AM till sold out
Address: Old Airport Road Food Centre, 51 Old Airport Road, #01-32, Singapore 390051
Nearest MRT Station: Dakota/Mountbatten

Tiong Bahru Yi Sheng Fried Hokkien Mee (益生炒福建虾面)
Opening Hours:
3PM – 10:45PM, closed on Wed
Address: ABC Brickworks Food Centre, 6 Jalan Bukit Merah, #01-13, Singapore 150006
Nearest MRT Station: Queenstown/Redhill

24) Oyster Omelette (Orh Luak) ($)

Oyster Omelette Orh Luak - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Blog.traveloka.com

This is a must-have for any group meal in hawker centres — juicy oysters fried into a fluffy omelette (with lots of oil, I must add). Two things make the Singaporean orh luak special: The chewy starch that’s fried with it to add an extra textural dimension, and the tangy chilli sauce that goes well with the oysters.

85 Bedok North Fried Oyster
Opening Hours: 4PM – 2AM
Address: 85 Bedok North Street 4, #01-09/10, Fengshan Market & Food Centre, Singapore 460085
Nearest MRT Station: Bedok Reservoir/Tanah Merah/Bedok

Katong Keah Kee Fried Oysters
Opening Hours: 11AM – 11PM
Address: Chinatown Food Street, 335 Smith Street, Singapore 050335
Nearest MRT Station: Chinatown

25) Grilled Sambal Stingray ($$)

Sambal Stingray - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Livingnomads.com

If you ask me, don’t bother getting sambal stingray anywhere else other than specialised seafood stalls in hawker centres (for some reason, they always have signboards rimmed with neon lights). The genius who came up with complementing grilled stingray with sambal chilli and lime juice deserves a prize, because it’s an absolute delight.

Chomp Chomp BBQ (忠忠烧烤)
Opening Hours: 5PM – 1AM, closed on weekends
Address: #01-44 Fengshang Market and Food Centre, 85 Bedok North Street 4, Singapore 460085
Nearest MRT Station: Bedok/Bedok Reservoir/Tanah Merah

Star Yong Kwang Seafood (荣光铁板烧鱼)
Opening Hours: 4PM – 11PM
Address: Alexandra Village Food Centre, 120 Bukit Merah Lane 1, #01-04, Singapore 150123
Nearest MRT Station: Queenstown/Redhill

26) Rojak ($)

Rojak - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Sgfoodonfoot.com

This dish is popularly used to describe our culture — a hot mess! a mix of everything!

While this can be semi-classified as a snack instead, Singaporeans don’t actually eat rojak as a snack per se — it’s usually bought to share during meals. It’s a really dark salad of cucumbers, pineapples, beansprouts, ground peanuts and fried dough fritters (youtiao) tossed in a sweet, black bean sauce.

Toa Payoh Rojak (大巴窑囉惹)
Opening Hours: 11AM – 10PM, closed on Sun
Address: 51 Old Airport Road, #01-108, Old Airport Road Food Centre, Singapore 390051
Nearest MRT Station: Dakota/Mountbatten

Rojak, Popiah & Cockle
Opening Hours: 12PM – 10PM, closed on Wed
Address: Maxwell Food Centre, 1 Kadayanallur St, #01-56, Singapore 069184
Nearest MRT Station: Tanjong Pagar/Telok Ayer/Chinatown

27) Indian Rojak ($)

Indian Rojak - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Cavinteo.blogspot.com

Personally, I prefer Indian rojak to the Singaporean rojak. You get to select more choices like potatoes, fishcake and prawn crackers, and the sweet, red gravy that comes with it is super addictive. Plus, all the ingredients are deep fried before serving — need I say more?

Habib’s Rojak
Opening Hours:
11:30AM – 9:30PM
Address: Ayer Rajah Food Centre, 503A W Coast Dr, Singapore 121503
Nearest MRT Station: Clementi

Siraj Famous Waterloo Street Indian Rojak
Opening Hours: 10AM – 7PM, closed on Tue
Address: Albert Centre Market and Food Centre, 270 Queen Street, #01-120, Singapore 180270
Nearest MRT Station: Bugis

28) Ma La Hot Pot ($$)

Ri Ri Hong Ma La Hot Pot - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Hungerforyummyfood.blogspot.com

This big piping bowl of spice just might be China’s most elusive culinary export — nobody knows where this started from, because you can’t actually find it in China. A local media outlet did a pretty good job at investigating its origins. It’s a bit strange to add this dish to our Singapore food guide, but it’s become an integral part of what we eat that we just had to include it!

Just like yong tau foo (#33), you pick your ingredients from a shelf, pay up at the counter, and indicate how spicy you’d like it to be (nil, small, medium, large). Recommended picks: pork belly, beancurd skin, enoki mushrooms, napa cabbage and luncheon meat.

Ri Ri Hong Ma La Xiang Guo (日日紅麻辣香鍋)
Opening Hours: 11AM – 9:30PM
Address:
 People’s Park Food Centre, 32 New Market Rd, #01-42/52, Singapore 050032
Nearest MRT Station: Chinatown

Ma La Xiang Guo (Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre)
Opening Hours: 10AM – 10PM
Address: 208B New Upper Changi Road, #01-48, Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre, Singapore 462208
Nearest MRT Station: Bedok

29) Chwee Kueh ($)

Chwee Kueh - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Dejavu-intl.com

As no-frills as breakfast can get — simple steamed rice cakes topped with savoury fried pickled radish. Many people overlook chwee kueh and it’s probably one of the many dying dishes of Singapore’s hawker food scene. Personally, it’s my favourite Singaporean breakfast!

Bedok Chwee Kueh
Opening Hours: 6:30AM – 8PM
Address: Blk 208B New Upper Changi Road, #01-53 Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre, Singapore 460208
Nearest MRT Station: Bedok

Jian Bo Shui Kueh (亚芳蔬菜)
Opening Hours: 5AM – 10:30PM
Address: 30 Seng Poh Road, #02-05 Tiong Bahru Market, Singapore 168898 (and 17 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Tiong Bahru

30) Mee Rebus ($)

Mee Rebus - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Dishmaps.com

If you’re wondering where the Malay food is on this Singapore food guide, wonder no more! Mee Rebus is Carbo-licious comfort food for the soul. The thick gravy of the dish is made from frying a spice paste before chicken broth is added together with the surprise ingredient: Mashed sweet potatoes!

P&Z Eating House
Opening Hours: 7:30AM – 9PM, closed on Tue
Address: 1 Changi Village Rd, #01-2054, Singapore 500001
Nearest MRT Station: Pasir Ris/Tampines East

Lina’s Cafe
Opening Hours: 11AM – 8:30PM, closes 7:30PM on Mon, closed on Sun
Address: 7 Jalan Pisang, Singapore 199074
Nearest Station: Bugis/Jalan Besar

31) Mee Siam ($)

Mee Siam - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Anthony Leow / Flickr

Sweet, sour and spicy all at once, this no-frills Malay breakfast noodle dish is one heck of a perk-me-up.

Jia Xiang
Opening Hours: 9AM – 8PM, opens 11:30AM on Sat
Address: 85 Redhill Lane, Redhill Food Centre, #01-35, Singapore 150085
Nearest MRT Station: Redhill

32) Beef Hor Fun ($)

Photo credit: Thehungrycow.com

Hor fun is probably one of the fattest noodles around, greasily fried with thin beef slices and beansprouts in a black bean sauce mixture. You can either get them fried dry or with a little gravy, but I think the dry ones pack a bigger bunch with an added smokiness.

For the seafood variant, give San Lou Hor Fun a try.

Good Day (Amoy Street Food Centre)
Opening Hours: 10:30AM – 7PM
Address: Amoy Street Food Centre #01-25, 7 Maxwell Road, Singapore 069111
Nearest MRT Station: Tanjong Pagar/Telok Ayer

Geylang Famous Beef Kway Teow
Opening Hours: 12PM – 2:30AM, opens 4PM on Mon
Address: 237 Geylang Road, Singapore 389296
Nearest MRT Station: Kallang

33) Yong Tau Foo ($)

Yong Tau Foo at Fu Lin - What to Eat in Singapore

Photo credit: Misstamchiak.com

Yong tau foo is pretty much a 99% customised dish, which makes it intimidating for a first-timer. So here’s the breakdown:

– Take an empty bowl and tongs by the side of the shelf of ingredients
– Pick six to seven (check the signboard for the minimum number) ingredients to your liking
– When it’s your turn in the queue, let the cashier know if you’d like it in a clear soup, laksa soup, or dry (I recommend dry)
– Then let the cashier know what type of noodle you’d like, or rice (I recommend yellow noodles)

I personally prefer the dry versions because you get to drizzle on as much of a sweet gravy sauce as you’d like — not the healthiest, I know. But still!

Fu Lin Bar & Kitchen
Opening Hours: 10AM – 12AM, closed on Sun
Address: 127 Telok Ayer Street, Singapore 068596
Nearest MRT Station: Telok Ayer

Special Yong Tau Foo
Opening Hours: 10AM – 2PM, closed on Sun
Address: 505 Beach Road, #B1-44 Golden Mile Food Centre, Singapore 199583
Nearest MRT Station: Lavender/Nicoll Highway

34) Fishball Noodles ($)

Fishball Noodles - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Delishar.com

The simplicity of this humble dish is also what distinctly separates the good from the bad. The devil is in the details, from the springiness of the fishballs to the kick of the chilli. Almost like the cousin of the bak chor mee, you can have fishball noodles either dry or in a light, clear soup with your choice of noodles.

Ming Fa Fishball
Opening Hours: 7:30AM – 3:30PM
Address: 335 Smith Street #02-49, Singapore 050335 (and 11 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Chinatown

Eng Huat Fishball Mee
Opening Hours: 6:30AM – 9:30AM (Mon – Thu), 11AM till sold out (Fri), closed on weekends
Address: Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre, 22B Havelock Road, Stall 26, Singapore 162022
Nearest MRT Station: Tiong Bahru

35) Sliced Fish Bee Hoon ($$)

Sliced Fish Bee Hoon - What to Eat in Singapore

Photo credit: Sgfoodonfoot.com

Now, this is my go-to dish whenever I feel in need of eating clean (somewhat). The main constituents are similar to the ban mian (next point), except there’s fish instead of pork. You also have the option of adding a dash of evaporated milk into it, which I highly recommend (it’s honestly almost offensive to not do so)! Look out for establishments that add XO brandy into the soup — it’s bound to be way better.

Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hoon
Opening Hours: 11:30AM – 2PM, 5PM – 11PM
Address: 19A Dover Crescent, #01-05, Singapore 131019
Nearest MRT Station: Buona Vista/Dover

36) Ban Mian ($)

Ban Mian - Singapore Food Guide

The ultimate comfort food on this Singapore food guide. Photo credit: Pinkypiggu.com

For some reason, us Singaporeans crave for something soupy every time the weather gets rainy. And every time it rains, this is the go-to dish of every office worker in the central business district (seriously). These flat, slightly thick rice noodles are cooked in a light anchovy broth with spinach, pork slices and minced pork bits before they’re topped with spring onions, fried ikan bilis anchovies and deep fried shallots.

Qiu Lan Ban Mian
Address: Lau Pa Sat, 18 Raffles Quay, Singapore 048582
Nearest MRT Station: Tanjong Pagar/Telok Ayer

37) Lontong ($)

Lontong - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Hungryonion.org

It’s hard to compare the lontong to anything else. The soup, spiked with coconut milk isn’t as spicy as it looks, and eating it with chunks of ketupat rice cakes makes for an interesting experience. Other ingredients in this typically include a hard boiled egg, vegetables (sayur lodeh) and a bergedil, a fried, egg-coated croquette. Perhaps the most surprising of all is the inclusion of sweetened grated coconut.

Queenstown Lontong
Opening Hours: 7AM – 2PM
Address: Tanglin Halt Food Centre, 1A Commonwealth Drive, Singapore 141001
Nearest MRT Station: Commonwealth

38) Murtabak ($$)

Murtabak - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Hungryonion.org

Murtabak is a beefed up version of the roti prata. Literally. They come packed with either heavily-spiced ground mutton (the recommended choice), beef or chicken, and I can almost guarantee you’ll never finish a regular portion on your own (it’s huge and thicc!).

Singapore Zam Zam Restaurant
Opening Hours: 7AM – 11PM
Address: 697-699 North Bridge Road, Kampung Glam, Singapore 198675
Nearest MRT Station: Bugis

39) Economical Rice (Budget Option) ($)

Economical Rice Cai Png - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Lhuwenkai.com

For those on a super tight budget but don’t wish to starve to death, economical rice (also called cai fan or cai png) is your best friend. It’s also a go-to for office workers and indecisive eaters, so it’s an essential on our Singapore food guide!

You’ll find cai fan literally in any coffee shop or hawker centre, with tens of trays laid out with different kinds of cooked food. Prices are calculated based on the food types you pick — vegetables, meat and seafood.

Can’t decide on what to choose? Get inspired by this Instagram. My personal favourite: Sweet and sour pork, stir-fried eggplant (in black bean sauce), and omelette.

Singaporean Snacks to Eat

40) Popiah ($)

Popiah - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Sugaspiceverythingnice.blogspot.com

Like spring rolls, but not fried. It’s a slightly sweet snack that’s typically stuffed with steamed radish, chopped peanuts, beansprouts, egg, tofu and lettuce, with the sweetness coming from the dark kecap manis, an Indonesian-style sweet soy sauce.

Qiji
Opening Hours: 10AM – 9:30PM (Last orders 9PM)
Address: 107 North Bridge Road, #B2-12 Funan Mall, Singapore 179097 (and 16 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: City Hall

41) Fuzhou Oyster Cakes ($)

Fuzhou Oyster Cakes - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Cavinteo.blogspot.com

This crispy deep-fried disc of flour batter filled with fresh oyster, minced pork and parsley is my personal favourite, and if you ask me, it’s one of Singapore’s most underrated (and unfortunately, dying) snacks.

The best one is located at the same hawker centre as Tian Tian Chicken Rice, and at just S$2 a piece, I sincerely hope they stick around forever 😩

Maxwell Fuzhou Oyster Cakes
Opening Hours: 9AM – 8PM, closed on Sun
Address: Maxwell Food Centre, 1 Kadayanallur St, Singapore 069184
Nearest MRT Stations: Tanjong Pagar/Chinatown

42) Goreng Pisang ($)

Goreng Pisang - What to Eat in Singapore

Photo credit:Foodadvisor.my

We all know everything tastes better when fried. But don’t mistake these for chicken fingers — they’re deep-fried banana fritters with an almost tempura-like batter. Not the healthiest, but um, at least you get to hit your recommended fiber intake?

Million Star Fried Banana
Opening Hours: 11AM – 8PM, closed on Mon
Address: 2 Changi Village Road, #01-49 Changi Village Hawker Centre, Singapore 500002
Nearest MRT Station: Pasir Ris/Tampines East

Lee Kee
Opening Hours: 9AM – 6PM, closed Thu
Address: #01-61 Bedok Interchange Food Centre, 207 New Upper Changi Road, 460207
Nearest MRT Station: Bedok

43) Nyonya Kueh ($)

Singapore Traditional Snacks Rainbow Kueh - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Klook

A Singapore food guide can’t all be savoury, right? Nyonya (Peranakan) kueh are a feast for the eyes. Usually in the form of colourful rectangular blocks, these sweet, chewy desserts are perfectly-sized as a tea-time snack. The hard part is knowing when enough is enough — these are calorie bombs!

Try rainbow lapis (pictured), kueh salat (half pandan custard, half glutinous rice) and ondeh ondeh (rice cake balls coated with desiccated coconut and filled with palm sugar).

HarriAnns Nonya Table
Opening Hours: 7:30AM – 8:30PM, opens 8:30AM on weekends
Address: 230 Victoria St, #01-01A Bugis Junction Towers, Singapore 188024 (and 4 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Bugis

44) Curry Puff ($)

Curry Puff - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Foodyoushouldtry.com

Another Singapore food guide essential! These deep-fried pastries are stuffed with either sardines or diced potatoes tossed in a spicy curry mix, and the latter usually comes with meat chunks and/or eggs as well.

Just like Ya Kun Kaya Toast, you can’t go wrong with Old Chang Kee’s curry puffs (called the Curry’O) — even though there’s a branch in virtually every mall, the quality is always consistently good (they sell other skewered snacks, too).

Old Chang Kee
Address: Multiple branches

1A Crispy Puffs
Opening Hours: 10AM – 10PM
Address: Takashimaya, 391 Orchard Road, #B2-07-3-3, Ngee Ann City Tower 4, Singapore 238873 (and 1 other branch)
Nearest MRT Station: Orchard

45) Kueh Tutu ($)

Photo credit: Discoversg.com

This cute-sounding and cute-looking snack is made from finely-ground rice flour, usually filled with ground peanut or shredded coconut sweetened with brown palm sugar.

It’s still prepared the traditional way wherever you go, using specialised steam carts and stainless steel moulds (and it’s not kueh tutu if it ain’t served on a square piece of pandan leaf!).

Tan’s Tu Tu Coconut Cake
Opening Hours: 12PM – 3PM, closed on Thu and Sun
Address: #01-25, 22B Havelock Road, Singapore 162022
Nearest MRT Station: Tiong Bahru

Note: Kueh tutu carts are also found at the food courts in ION Orchard (Food Opera), Wisma Atria (Food Republic) and VivoCity (Food Republic).

46) Otah ($)

Otah - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Leeweebrothers.com

The otah, more formally called the otak-otak isn’t a snack you’d want to carry and eat on the way. It’s a soft, floppy spicy fish paste mixed with starch that’s sandwiched between two banana leaves, before getting charcoal-grilled.

It’s more popularly eaten with Nasi Lemak or Laksa, or frozen-bought from supermarkets for outdoor barbecues. You’ll also find standalone stalls at huge hawker centres like Lau Pa Sat or Newton Food Centre!

Lee Wee & Brothers
Opening Hours: 10AM – 10PM
Address: 252 North Bridge Road, #B1-57, Raffles City Shopping Centre, Singapore 179103 (and 6 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: City Hall

47) Ham Jim Peng ($)

Ham Jim Peng - What to Eat in Singapore

Photo credit: Burpple.com

It’s like the Cantonese version of a donut, minus the hole in the middle. These round dough fritters are sinfully deep fried, and either come plain or stuffed with fillings like red bean. Snack shops at hawker centres may sell these, but you can also check out this famous one at Maxwell:

Hum Jin Pang
Opening Hours: 3PM – 8PM, opens 4PM on Sat
Address: Maxwell Food Centre, 1 Kadayayanallur Street, #01-28, Singapore 069184
Nearest MRT Station: Tanjong Pagar/Chinatown

48) Tau Huay ($)

Lao Ban Tau Huay Soya Beancurd - Singapore Food Guide

If you’re familiar with douhua in China or dao fu fa in Hong Kong, it’s basically the same thing (we use tau huay, the Hokkien name). It’s a soy beancurd jelly formed by gypsum powder, but you can see it as a soy bean pudding that swims in a sugar syrup.

Lao Ban Soya Beancurd reinvented the beancurd into a more pudding-like consistency (eaten cold) that won over the younger crowd, but traditional ones like Rochor Original Beancurd are still around that’s usually eaten hot.

Lao Ban Soya Beancurd
Opening Hours: 11AM – 10PM, closed on Mon
Address: 51 Old Airport Road, Old Airport Road Food Centre #01-127, Singapore 390051
Nearest MRT Station: Dakota/Mountbatten
*Pro-tip:
If the main shop is too crowded, there’s a smaller shop closer to the carpark.

Rochor Original Beancurd
Opening Hours: 11AM – 1AM (Mon – Thu), 12PM – 3AM (Sat), 12PM – 1AM (Sun)
Address: 2 Short St, Singapore 188211
Nearest MRT Station: Rochor

49) Ice Kachang ($)

Ice Kachang - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Enterarena.blogspot.com

Our version of shaved ice isn’t as fluffy as Taiwan’s or Hong Kong’s, and you won’t find them in modern flavours like mango and chocolate. Instead, what you’ll find buried beneath the generously syruped mountain of ice are old-time favourites like red beans, grass jelly cubes, attap chee (palm seed fruits), chendol and sweet corn.

You’ll find this at almost every dessert stall in hawker centres and food courts here!

50) Ice Cream Bread ($)

Singapore Ice Cream Bread Sandwich Treat - Singapore Food Guide

No Singapore food guide is ever complete without this.

Buzzfeed dubbed this one of the “absolute worst sandwiches” which pissed many of us off, but can you really blame us when this after-school treat defined most of our childhoods?! And what better way to cool off in this heat?

You’ll easily find these ice cream trucks along Orchard Road and Bugis with an attached parasol, and are usually sold for only about ~AU$1.30.

Posing beside Ice Cream Bread Menu - What to Eat in Singapore

51) Ang Ku Kueh ($)

Ang Ku Kueh - What to Eat in Singapore

Photo credit: Sgfoodonfoot.com

Named after their tortoise shell shape, this traditional Peranakan kueh is like our version of the Japanese mochi. Inside the chewy exterior (brushed with a shiny layer of oil), ang ku kueh is filled with either sweetened mung bean paste or ground peanuts, though other unconventional variations come with every stall you visit.

Ji Xiang Confectionery
Opening Hours: 8:30AM – 5PM, opens 8AM on Sat, closed on Sun
Address: 1 Everton Park #01-33, Singapore 081001
Nearest MRT Station: Outram Park

Lina Confectionary
Opening Hours: 9:30AM – 8PM, closed on Fri
Address: 124 Bukit Merah Lane 1, Singapore 150124
Nearest MRT Station: Queenstown/Redhill

52) Chendol ($)

Chendol - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Gastrotravelogue.com

Before my Malaysian brethren come after me, we’re not gonna claim chendol is ours! I find this shave ice dessert a tasty substitute to the ice kachang, and it’s heavily flavoured by the gula melaka palm sugar that it uses. The toppings are standard — sweetened red beans, coconut milk and the signature green “worms” that are actually rice jellies coloured by pandan leaves.

Malaysia Boleh!
Opening Hours: 10AM – 10PM
Address: AMK Hub, #B2-41/42, 53 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3, Singapore 569933 (and 2 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Ang Mo Kio

Makan Melaka
Opening Hours: 8:30AM – 9PM, closes 12AM on Sat
Address: 1 Changi Village Road, #01-2046, Singapore 500001
Nearest MRT Station: Pasir Ris/Tampines East

53) Durian (If You Can Stomach It) ($$)

Durian - Singapore Food Guide

Photo credit: Timchew.net

You can’t run from it; every Singapore food guide has this! The king of fruits isn’t a particularly well-liked (or pleasant-smelling) monarch. Even among Singaporeans, views are polarised — you truly either like durian, or don’t. But I guess you have to give this unbelievably creamy fruit a try to know which side you’re on! 😉

Durian season is usually between June and September, and you’ll see the streets of Geylang packed with roadside durian stalls where Singaporeans gorge on durians by the basket. Popular variants include the Musang King aka Mao Shan Wang (sweet and bitter aftertaste) and D24 durians (sweeter).

Bentong Durian
Opening Hours: 2PM – 10PM
Address: 241 Holland Avenue #01-02 Holland Village, Singapore 278976 Singapore
Nearest MRT Station: Holland Village

Combat Durian
Opening Hours: 12PM – 11PM, closes 10PM on Fri
Address: 249 Balestier Road, Singapore 329727
Nearest MRT Station: Novena

54) Salted Egg Potato Chips ($$)

Salted Egg Chips - What to Eat in Singapore

Photo credit: Thetastyduck.com

This is something uncommon on our Singapore food guide, but it is something that’ll make you want to buy a few packs home! Adding salted duck egg yolks to everything has been the craze for years now from pastries to pasta, and our homegrown entrepreneurs have probably created the best snack since ice cream bread. Trust me, it’s addictive AF.

*Pro-tip: Order your bags online and pick them up at the stores, or have them delivered!

Irvins Salted Egg
Opening Hours: 10AM – 8:30PM
Address: Plaza Singapura, B2-56 (and 13 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Dhoby Ghaut

The Golden Duck Co.
Opening Hours: 10AM – 10PM
Address: ION, 2 Orchard Turn #B3-K2A, 238801 (and 3 other branches)
Nearest MRT Station: Orchard

Did we miss your favourite out on our Singapore food guide? Berate us in the comments below. 


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A post shared by The Travel Intern (@thetravelintern) on May 7, 2019 at 6:13am PDT

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