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Singapore hawker dishes: Chilli crab
If there’s one dish that tops the “must-eat” list of visitors to Singapore it’s chilli crab. Whether you eat it in a hawker centre or a posh seafood restaurant, digging into a whole crab swimming in sweet and spicy sauce is the most memorable (and messy) meal that Singapore has to offer. Unlike most hawker …
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Singapore hawker dishes: 328 Famous Katong Laksa
You can get a bowl of laksa, a spicy seafood noodle soup, at any hawker centre, but Singapore's east coast traditionally lays claim to katong laksa -- regarded as a quintessentially Singaporean dish.
Singapore hawker dishes: Lor mee
Lor mee is a hawker dish of Hokkien heritage. The lor or gravy is simmered for hours, with spices, meat stock, egg whites and corn starch to give it its sticky consistency; served with flat yellow noodles and some crunchy additions, it’s dish worth seeking out while you’re in Singapore.
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Singapore hawker dishes: Kway chap
So you really want to try a classic Singaporean hawker dish? Kway chap isn’t for beginners, and will perhaps only suit those brave enough to lust after, say, haggis in the West, but it’s well worth seeking out for its rich soy sauce-based gravy, delectable flat noodles and tender pork offal. Forget newfangled nose-to-tail dining; this …
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Singapore hawker dishes: Wonton Mee
A Singapore hawker dish of Chinese origins, wonton mee takes two of our favourite things – noodles and dumplings – and combines them into one steaming bowl of goodness. Add a generous serving of roasted pork and you’ve got a delicious meal that will set you back only S$3-4. Noodles with wontons is a dish …
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Singapore hawker dishes: Popiah
Vietnam may be better known for fresh summer rolls, but at Singapore hawker centres you’ll find a comparable creation called popiah. Not only do popiah make a healthy snack, they’re a bargain at around S$1.50 per roll. As you may have guessed from its similarity to a spring roll, popiah is a hawker dish of …
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Singapore hawker dishes: Char Kway Teow
If you think fried noodles don’t get any better than phad Thai, it means you haven’t tried char kway teow. This popular Singapore hawker dish combines rice noodles, seafood, Chinese sausage and lard into one sinfully savoury dish. We hope you’re not counting calories. Translated from Chinese, char kway teow means “stir-fried rice cake strips”. …
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Singapore hawker dishes: Laksa Soup
Spicy, sour, sweet and savoury – the popular Singapore hawker dish of laksa blends many flavours into one delicious bowl. Once you try it, you may just find yourself craving hot soup in spite of the tropical heat. While most Singapore hawker dishes can be categorised as having Chinese, Malay or Indian origins, laksa is …
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Singapore hawker dishes: Yong tau foo
If you’re a fussy eater who likes to know every ingredient that goes into your meal, this healthy soup is the perfect Singapore hawker dish for you. Every bowl of yong tau foo is custom-prepared with the diner choosing the ingredients and even the flavour of the broth. Common in hawker centres and foodcourts across …
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Singapore hawker dishes: A tale of two Rojaks
Rojak is a Malay word meaning ‘mixture’. But if you hear it used in conversation in Singapore, it’s probably referring to what’s for lunch. Rojak is the name of not one but two hawker dishes, and both are delicious and completely different. First up is fruit rojak, also known as Chinese rojak, which is best …
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Singapore hawker dishes: Carrot cake (Chai Tow Kueh)
Placing an order for “carrot cake” with a wizened man with a wok, it’s hard to imagine that anyone would expect a slice of cake with cream cheese icing. The name of this classic Singapore hawker dish isn’t meant to deceive; it’s simply the result of a direct translation from Mandarin. The main components of …
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Singapore hawker dishes: Chicken rice
Forget chilli crab — if Singapore has a national dish it’s definitely chicken rice. First of all, this simple but tasty dish is something that Singaporeans genuinely eat all the time. No hawker centre is complete without a chicken rice stall and it’s a balanced meal – carbs, protein, chilli sauce – for just a …
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Singapore hawker dishes: Cantonese roast meat
If you want to try Singapore hawker food but nothing too exotic, Cantonese roasted meat is the perfect introduction. For only a few dollars, you get a complete meal with rice, soup and your choice of roasted duck, pork or chicken. The stalls are easy to identify too — just look for the display of …
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Singapore hawker dishes: Teochew porridge
Teochew porridge or ‘muay’ is so healthy that it doesn’t seem like a typical hawker dish — in fact, it’s likely as close as one will get to home-cooked food outside your home. Pretty much every food court or hawker centre in Singapore will have an ‘economy rice’ stall — a smorgasbord of meats, fish …
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Singapore hawker dishes: Fish-head Steamboat
There are steamboats — and then there are fish-head steamboats. If you don’t already know, a steamboat is an Asian hotpot of a simmering stock in which one cooks meat and vegetables. While the steamboat scene in Singapore is a hodgepodge of Thai, Sichuan, Japanese and Korean buffet varieties in restaurants, the classic Singapore hawker …
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Singapore hawker dishes: Barbecue stingray
It’s wise to keep an eye out for stingrays when you’re swimming in shallow water, but you should also watch out for them at Singapore’s hawker centres – they’re delicious! Though it may seem exotic, stingray (also known as skate) is available at any hawker stall specialising in fresh seafood alongside the squid, prawns and …
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Singapore hawker dishes: Satay
If there’s one thing that’s universal about the human race it’s our love of barbecue. At Singapore hawker centres, this frequently takes the form of satay – bite-size morsels of grilled meat served with a peanut sauce so good you’ll be licking the bowl. Most satay vendors offer a variety of meats and the usual …
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Singapore hawker dishes: kaya toast
Though they’re best known for spicy foods like chilli crab and char kway teow, Singapore hawker centres also serve up a quick, cheap breakfast. One of the most popular local breakfast items is kaya toast, a tropical twist on toast and eggs with enough calories to last you through lunch. Kaya is a uniquely Southeast …
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Singapore hawker dishes: Roti prata
Sometimes simple is best. Roti prata, a popular Singapore hawker dish imported from South India, is a deliciously buttery flatbread served with a bowl of curry. It’s equally popular for breakfast or a midnight snack, and is one of the few hawker dishes that is easily made vegetarian. Roti prata (called roti canai in Malaysia) …
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Singapore hawker dishes: Thosai (dosa)
Thosai (also spelled dosa) is a savoury pancake served with a slew of spicy dipping sauces. Like so much of the Indian food popular at Singapore hawker centres, thosai are cheap, tasty and 100% vegetarian. The recipe for thosai was brought to Singapore from South India, a region where being vegetarian is the norm. The …
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Thosai (also spelled dosa) is a savoury pancake served with a slew of spicy dipping sauces. Like so much of the Indian food popular at Singapore hawker centres, thosai are cheap, tasty and 100% vegetarian. The recipe for thosai was brought to Singapore from South India, a region where being vegetarian is the norm. The …
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Our top 10 Hawker Centres
Singapore is a food lover's paradise. Luckily for those on a shoestring budget the city's best eats aren't at five-star restaurants but at the plentiful hawker centres. Squeaky-clean Singapore forbid street food decades ago, rounding up its sidewalk chefs into foodcourt-like settings called hawker centres. They're clean, cheap, and offer diverse and delectable food. Hawker centres are everywhere, but if you're feeling overwhelmed by choice here are some of our favourites:
- Lau Pa Sat
- Chomp Chomp
- Maxwell Food Centre
- East Coast Lagoon Food Village
- Gluttons Bay
- Food Republic @ Wisma Atria
- Newton Food Centre
- Fortune Centre
- Golden Mile Food Centre & Complex
- Tekka Centre
The Makansutra: Singapore's famous foodie guide
Who says you need a lot of money to eat like a king? Singaporeans have applied the foodie mentality to their beloved hawker stalls where the best meal of your life can cost only a couple bucks. There are hundreds of blogs and guides rating Singapore’s thousands of food stalls, but the most highly-regarded foodie guide is the Makansutra.
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Singapore’s best heartland hawker centres
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Singapore’s best heartland hawker centres
To outsiders Singapore is one sprawling city, but to its residents there are two distinct divisions: town and the heartlands. Often the only part of Singapore that visitors experience is Orchard Road, Raffles Place to Marina Bay and other central areas where you find five-star hotels and people queuing to shop at Louis Vuitton. A sharp contrast, the heartlands are largely residential areas with HDB housing flats, public schools and, of course, the most authentic Singaporean food. The hawker centres in the heartlands may be well outside the usual sightseeing areas, but are worth the trip for their cheap and tasty eats:
- Old Airport Road Food Centre
- Changi Village
- Tiong Bahru Market
- Chomp Chomp Food Centre
- Pasir Panjang Food Centre
- Adam Road Food Centre
