[Singapore] "Best" Eateries

Regional Dining Discussions Asia Pacific
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My fiancée and I will be traveling to Singapore next year (6 nights at the tail end of our honeymoon), and I wanted to get a jump on our itinerary. I’ve been pretty overwhelmed trying to figure out where to eat, since there seems to be so many places, and I haven’t had good luck finding resources that point me towards the “best” food. I’ve scoured this site (probably not exhaustively) and of course there’s Michelin, but the top end of that is largely fine dining that could be anywhere in the world (which is not to say I don’t want that outright).

So far, from Michelin and fine dining discussions, I think I’d like to go to Labyrinth, Candlenut, Mustard Seed, and Zén.

So now, what I’m looking for largely is stuff that Singapore does very well or that I can’t get in many other places in the world (if not only in Singapore). So of course that means things like chili crab, Hainanese curry rice, laksa (in its many forms), and many more dishes, and all of this likely at hawker centres. But there’s so many stalls – where should I go exactly?

It looks like Serious Eats put together a guide which points to a few resources (I can’t add links since I’m a new user, sorry):

  • I Eat, I Shoot, I Post – A Singaporean food blog that appears to be pretty exhaustive. There’s the “must try” and “really must try” lists, which look like they will help me narrow down some things.
  • Defunct link to the Not a Tourist blog – where did this go? Would it have been useful?
  • Makansutra – this is a guide book focused on local food and appears to be exactly what I’m looking for, and even has a focused section at the back for what they consider can’t miss spots for a short visit (we’ll only be in Singapore for ~6 nights split between Sentosa and the city proper).

So I think exploring the Makansutra guide is a good place to start, though maybe a little overwhelming (I probably just need to actually read through it first).

If anyone else has any ideas, I am all ears. That said, I don’t want to make anyone compile a list of places/things for me (unless they feel so compelled!) I’m usually quite good at planning where to eat on vacation, but for some reason Singapore has been tough to wrap my head around.

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Welcome! A good start might be to look through the existing Singapore threads on the Asia board, of which there are many :slight_smile:

Plus our members are always happy to put together lists of ‘must-try’ places, so don’t be shy!

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@klyeoh @Google_Gourmet and others will be glad to chime in soon.

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Some good reading on the Singapore threads here:

https://www.hungryonion.org/search?context=category&context_id=87&q=Singapore%20in%3Atitle%20order%3Alatest&skip_context=false

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You should go through every post here that @klyeoh wrote about Singapore. He’s got a huge following from Singapore and Malaysia. In fact, he wrote some of the Michelin articles that you may have read.

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As others have mentioned, @klyeoh has the best and deepest knowledge about where to go.

I lived in Singapore for 10 years and still spend 1-2 months there every year. My own view overall is that high end places in Singapore tend deliver less given the very high prices and so even for Michelin and those types of places, I would avoid anything that isn’t using local flavors, techniques etc or uses them at least in combination with other food traditions. Of course the local hawker stall scene is great and there are some very good midrange places as well doing exclusively local dishes.

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Thanks for the advice everyone! I’ve seen @klyeoh across basically all of the Singapore threads I’ve read so far (including most of the threads mentioned by @PedroPero), so I suppose he must be the resident expert :laughing: My plan right now is to collect all of that information, cross-reference it with Makansutra (and maybe Michelin), and see commonalities as well as any individual sticking points (e.g. strong recommendations)

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Good to have you on-board, @troher . Singapore’s culinary landscape is really not that hard to navigate around. I’ll share with you some of my fave spots, but you are most welcome to ask more specific questions later.

Most newbies to Singapore food would definitely want to try our street food - which are now contained in what we Singaporeans call hawker centres, ever since the Singapore government cleaned up the streets and require all street hawkers to move into these hawker centres back in the 1970s/80s. The first hawker centre was Newton, built in 1971, the same year I entered elementary school. The last hawker centre was Jurong West, built in 1986, as I was in my second-last year in university. There are currently about 110 hawker centres spread out across Singapore, feeding millions daily.

Makansutra was conceptualised by the ever-energetic and tremendously visionary KF Seetoh in 1997, and which started off to provide a guide specifically for Singapore street/hawker food, as a counter-alternative to the hoity-toity Best 100 Restaurants Guide produced by the very influential Singapore Tatler at the time. KF Seetoh and I both worked at the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (today called Media Corp of Singapore) back in the late-80s/early-90s, but didn’t get to know each other till much later. Today, we try and catch up every chance we’ve got, and I still regard Makansutra as the best guide to Singapore dining ever.

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KF Seetoh visits Penang quite a bit - seen here with Madam Beh Gaik Lean of her eponymously-named 1-Michelin-star Auntie Gaik Lean’s Old School Eatery last year.

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To start off your Singapore food exploration, I’d recommend that you visit the hawker centres. The top 5 hawker centres in Singapore, IMHO, are:

  1. Hong Lim Market & Food Centre - must-try stalls there are Heng Kee for curry noodles, Tai Wah for “bak chor mee” /minced pork noodles, and Outram Park Fried Koay Teow for “char kway teow”.

Heng Kee’s curry chicken noodles is what I’d want if I need to choose just ONE dish to eat before I die.

I brought Chowhound’s founder & Alpha Hound, Jim Leff, here a few years back, and he cleaned up every single drop in his bowl.

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  1. Maxwell Food Centre - Singaporeans (and out-of-state visitors) make a beeline for Maxwell Food Centre mainly for its famous Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, as well as its breakaway, bitter rival, Ah Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice.
    There are a few other stalls worth exploring there, but these 2 chicken rice spots are the star attractions.

  2. Old Airport Road Food Centre - perhaps the No. 1 hawker/food centre for many Singaporeans, who’d journey all across the island to come eat here. The star pulls include Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Prawn Mee, Lao Fu Zi Fried Kway Teow, and Hua Kee Wan Ton Mee.

  3. Amoy Street Food Centre - I come here for my fave “lor mee” - Michelin-Select Yuan Chun Famous Lor Mee. Many Singaporeans come here just for the fish soup, with two rival stalls forever duking it out for the top spot: Han Kee and Piao Ji.

  4. Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre - the best-known stall in this massive food complex is Lian He Ben Ji Claypot, a Michelin Bib Gourmand-listed eatery.
    I come here for my own fave stall: Ma Li Ya Virgin Chicken. A must-try.

For Chinese fine dining, and Cantonese dim sum, both of which Singapore does very well. I try to avoid the very top-end, super-exclusive ones, but go for the popular ones frequented by Singaporean foodies/gourmands. My top 5 are:

  1. Imperial Treasure Fine Teochew Cuisine (ION Orchard)
  2. Crystal Jade Palace (Takashimaya Shopping Centre)
  3. Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck (Paragon Orchard)
  4. Taste Paradise (Ion Orchard)
  5. Asia Grand Restaurant (Fairmont Singapore, Raffles City).

Explore Singapore’s Malay/Arab quarter, and go for its Indonesian nasi padang. My top 5 picks there are:

  1. Warong Nasi Pariamman for Indonesian-style rice with curried dishes.
  2. Kampong Glam Cafe for its breakfast options like nasi lemak and especially its ultra-delicious lontong: cubes of compressed rice cakes drenched in a piquant, turmeric-scented, coconut milk-enriched gravy.
  1. South Indian-Muslim prata and murtabaks from either Zam Zam or its deadly rival, Victory.
  2. Hajah Maimunah on Jalan Pisang - this Bib Gourmand-listed Malay lunch spot is a dining icon in Singapore, and definitely a must-visit.
  3. Naadhira Ismail’s Mother Dough Bakery for a taste of Singapore cafe culture.

For Singapore-style chili crabs:

  1. Keng Eng Kee, Bukit Merah - make sure you book well ahead, and reserve the crab dishes!
  2. Roland, Marine Parade Central - eight-decades-old and still going strong. Roland Lim’s mum, Cher Yam Tian, was a local food icon of sorts.
  3. Mellben Seafood, Ang Mo Kio - our family go-to place for seafood, since it’s nearest to where we live.
  4. Long Beach, East Coast Parkway - it used to be regarded as serving the best chili crab in Singapore for the longest time. Still very good at what they do.
  5. Seafood Paradise, Vivocity. One of my fave places to go to - mainly because of their professional service. They also got their chili crab gravy’s flavors spot-on.
  6. Palm Beach Seafood - another oldie but goodie.

When it comes to chili crabs, there are simply too many options, so I won’t list anymore here, although I have that urge to do so. :joy:

No visit to Singapore is complete without a quick visit to Little India and exploring its good eats:

  1. Komala Vilas for South Indian vegetarian eats. Founded in 1947, as Singapore was emerging from the ravages of Japanese occupation during World War II, this is the oldest and best-known Indian breakfast spot.
  2. Madras New Woodlands - my personal fave dining spot for South Indian vegetarian.
  3. Fish-head curry from Apolo Banana Leaf - another Singapore dining landmark, and a must-try.
  4. Explore the food stalls inside Tekka Market Food Centre. The best-known stall is Allauddin’s Briyani.

One of the most popular dishes for visitors to Singapore - the Hainanese chicken rice. My fave spots are:

  1. Chicken House, Upper Thomson Road
  2. Boon Tong Kee (Balestier Road)
  3. Wee Nam Kee (United Square)
  4. Tiong Bahru Boneless Hainanese Chicken Rice
  5. Margaret Drive Chicken Rice, Holland Drive - this place was so-called because it was the famous Sin Kee chicken rice stall which used to be located in Margaret Drive, but has since moved here to Holland Drive. It decided that its old address was more recognisable to its legions of fans over the decades than its old stall name.
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I have fond memories of landing for the first time in Singapore, taking a taxi to Hong Lim Centre and eating both a bowl of Heng Kee’s curry mee and tai wah’s bak chor mee in the steamy heat of the late morning.

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Hong Lim Market & Food Centre has gotten much, much busier these days. Still one of our fave hangouts. Here’s our Makansutra gang on one of our forays there.

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We not only eat in Singapore, but also overseas - this one’s in Hue, Vietnam.

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Wow! Thanks for putting all of that together Peter! I think you’ve given me enough to eat for a month :laughing:

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i came on here to see what new places to try as I’m making my 3rd visit to Singapore on the way to Bangkok.

My main reason for wanting to come back is to eat those curry chicken noodles in hong lim. It truly is one of the best things you can eat.

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Oh YES!!!