Food Guide to Singapore — Where and What to Eat

Hawker centres: Singapore's democratic food revolution

Singapore has 114 hawker centres: open-air complexes of 10–50 individual food stalls, most built and maintained by the government, with tables and chairs shared. The food is uniformly excellent, uniformly cheap (S$3–8 per dish), and uniformly consumed standing at a table with your own paper plate. Maxwell Food Centre (near Chinatown), Old Airport Road Food Centre (Geylang), and Tiong Bahru Market are the three most famous. Ask a Singaporean: they will argue fiercely about which is best.

Chicken rice — the national dish

Tian Tian Chicken Rice (Maxwell Food Centre): the one Anthony Bourdain called the best in the world. The chicken is silky, the rice is fragrant with chicken fat, the chili sauce is precise. The line is 30–45 minutes on weekends. Wee Nam Kee (Novena): the other famous version. Boat Quay: any chicken rice stall is a reasonable fallback. The dish was invented in the 1940s by Wang Yixian, a Hainanese chef — so the original is technically Hainanese chicken rice, not Singaporean.

Chinatown food street — the tourist version, made real

Amoy Street Food Centre (near Maxwell, Telok Ayer): the authentic version of what Chinatown claims to be. Jian Bo Shui Kueh (steamed rice cakes): the best in Singapore. Rocky Star Chicken Rice: the spicy version. Chengdu Sian: dan dan noodles. Walk from here to the Thian Hock Keng Temple and then to the Marlborough Market for durian in season (June–August, the Musang King variety is the most sought-after).

Laksa — the Peranakan dish

Singapore Laksa is coconut curry soup with rice noodles, prawns, bean sprouts, and beans; the Katong style (from the Peranakan neighborhood of Katong) uses a spicier broth and is cut with a scissors. 328 Geylang Katong Laksa: the most famous version, eaten at plastic tables on the sidewalk. Old Chang Kee: curry puffs that travel well. Soup Restaurant: sampan (boat) claypot rice, the dish served in a miniature sampan.

Modern Singapore food — the new restaurants

Singapore's fine dining scene has exploded since 2010. Burnt Ends (Dempsey, Michelin 1 star, reservation required): Australian-influenced, the 64-hour short rib is the dish. Labyrinth (Raffles Hotel, Michelin 2 stars): chef LG Han's reinterpretation of Singaporean hawker food. Cheek By Jowl: contemporary Australian. For the opposite end: Zzak's Gourmet Pizza (Tiong Bahru, since 1979): Singapore's oldest pizza restaurant, family-run, unchanged since the 1980s.