The next time to travel to the Lion City, here’s a one-stop guide on where to find the most appetising, flavoursome, delectable hawker food in Singapore.
Step into any hawker food centre in Singapore and you’ll come across a dizzying array of dishes and food traditions — anything from regional Chinese cuisine, traditional dishes from the Malay Archipelago and South Asia, and uniquely Singaporean plates that you won’t be able to get your hands anywhere else. When in Singapore, many travellers fawn over the rich culinary heritage, which has been defined by the humble hawker centres scattered all across the island. If you need a one-stop guide to the best hawker foods in the city, here are Singapore’s best.
Where to find the best hawker food in Singapore
Here are the best nasi lemak stalls in Singapore
Nasi lemak is arguably one of country’s most iconic dishes. Typically consisting of coconut rice, fried chicken, eggs, peanuts, and a generous side of sambal, it’s the perfect dish for any time of the day.
Where to find the best congee in Singapore
Cantonese porridge is thick, rich, and full of flavour. Read on for our guide to the comfort food, which can be found in classic and gourmet variations.
Where to find heritage kueh in Singapore
Kueh are well-loved traditional snacks that are the amalgamation of the many food cultures present in Singapore. Check out these old-school bakeries that still produce these labour-intensive treats.
Discover these traditional and modern biryani dishes
Biryani is a fragrant dish made with long grain rice, tons of spices, and pressure-cooked meats. Nasi biryani is the local take on the dish but read on its many variants.
Where to go for a steaming bowl of prawn noodles
Unsurprisingly, one of the best hawker foods in Singapore is the delectable prawn noodles, or prawn mee. Here’s where you’ll find the ones with flavourful broths, fresh prawns, and chewy noodles.
Where to go for traditional Teochew porridge
Teochew porride (also know as muey) consists of grain cooked in broth. It’s usually accompanied by braised and minced meat, and steamed fish, and is one of Singapore’s best and most beloved hawker comfort foods.
Revisit your youth with these old-school cake shops
Anyone who grew up in Singapore will remember visiting these bakeries for a satisfying snack, be it pandan chiffon cake, egg tarts, or mini muffins.
Slurp up Singapore’s best wanton noodles at these spots
Wanton noodles are not be missed. The dish consists of dry egg noodles drizzled with dark sauces and chilli and served with handmade shrimp dumplings and slices of fatty barbecue pork.
Make your afternoons great again with the best curry puffs in Singapore
Curry puffs are quintessential Singapore snacks. These golden pastries are stuffed with fillings such as potato, fish, and egg.
These old-school bakeries have the best egg tarts
With a creamy centre and crunchy biscuit base, egg tarts bring together the best of Chinese and European baking traditions. Read on to find the best Hong Kong-style and Portuguese egg tarts.
Where to find the best chicken rice
Available in variations of steamed, roast, and soy sauce chicken, this dish might be one of the Singapore’s most beloved culinary treasures.
Where to get your chilli crab fix
Whether you like your chilli crab sweet, spicy, or even with a more tomato-based sauce, this list is sure to hit the spot.
Kaya today can be found in traditional Nyonya and Hainanese variants, with the former boasting a rich pandan flavour and deeper green hue, and the latter being sweeter and brown in colour.
Where to get the best roti prata
The beloved dish has its roots in South India, with ‘roti’ meaning bread and ‘prata’ or ‘paratha’ meaning flat in Hindi. The recipe is simple but in no way does that undermine how satisfying it is: dough is flavoured with ghee, before being stretched and fried to golden brown perfection.
Where to find the best Hokkien Mee
Think a stir-fried plate of umami goodness, comprised of yellow and thick vermicelli noodles married with a lip-smacking broth of pork bones and prawn heads, which is then elevated with prawns, squid, pork belly strips, egg and crispy fried pork lard.
Our hit-list of the best Bak Chor Mee in town
Available in soup and dry variants, these Bak Chor Mee options are perfect for a delicious, quick meal fix any day.
These bowls of Bak Kut Teh are sure to hit the spot
The best part of any rainy day is when we slurp on a hot bowl of soup — and one of our favourites has to the herbal and peppery bowls of Bak Kut Teh.
Where to find the best laksa in Singapore
Inarguably one of Singapore best hawker food, here’s a list of our favourite laksa variants and where you can get them in Singapore.
Feast on authentic Teochew cuisine
Take a deep dive into this unique Chinese community and its delightful dishes.
The best Hainanese Curry Rice spots in town
There’s really nothing a sloppy plate of Hainanese Curry Rice can’t fix — the messier the better.
Revisit the traditional thunder tea rice at these joints
Before the grain bowl, there was thunder tea rice, an ancient Hakka dish more fondly known as Lei Cha.
Here are our favourite claypot rice spots in town
A truly authentic bowl of claypot rice requires the attention to a multitude of fine details. Here’s where to find the best ones around town.
Our hit list of heritage Hainanese diners in Singapore
Hainanese cuisine isn’t just chicken rice. From dishes like Hainanese pork cutlets to Canned Pig Trotters Bee Hoon, we’re getting our fix from these heritage joints.
Slurp on these bowls of Mee Hoon Kueh
If you’re a mee hoon kway over ban mian kind of person at the noodle stall, then you’ve found your people — we’ve rounded up the best that Singapore has to offer.
Satisfy your rendang cravings at these locales
We’re sure the best rendang to you is the one made by your mom or grandma, but if you need a quick fix without having to bother them too much, we’ve got just the list in Singapore for you.
The best Chee Cheong Fun, from HK to M’sian versions
Brunch fare gets heaps of love nowadays, but for something just as tasty, comforting and cheap, there’s always chee cheong fun.
Where to find the best hor fun in Singapore
If you can’t decide on a bowl of cereal prawns or coffee ribs at the tze char stall, there’s always a hearty, individual portion of hor fun to fall back on.
Fish head steamboat spots in Singapore for those cold, rainy days
Before the regular hotpot and shabu shabu became popular, the communal soup of choice was always fish head steamboat.
Where to get the best roast duck in Singapore
Tastier than chicken, healthier, more sustainable and cheaper than beef: duck is an oft overlooked dish that offers just as much joy as other meats.
Old school western food stalls you can’t miss
Here, choose your main — fried fish, chicken chop, or even lamb chop, if you’re feeling fancier — before you get served a generous side of fries, baked beans, buttered bread and the occasional coleslaw.
We’re in love with the mess that is satay bee hoon
As they say, one’s man’s trash is another man’s treasure and to us, satay bee hoon is a delicious mess that’s filled with the taste of nostalgia.
The heartiest bowls fish soups to get your hands on
The nourishing bowls are quite literally what the name suggests: fish and soup play an integral part of the dish, usually accompanied with noodles or rice and some vegetables.
Where to find the best kueh lapis in Singapore
The sinful snack finds itself on our tables most frequently during Chinese New Year and Hari Raya, but we say the calories of the best kueh lapis in Singapore are worth having all year round.
Old school stalls that serve the best carrot cakes in town
PSA: Carrot cake (or chai tow kway, as it is locally called) in Singapore isn’t made of carrots. Neither is it a spiced layered cake with cream cheese frosting.
Beat the tropical heat with the best chendol
Singapore’s blazing, eternal summer is hard to beat, unless you have a cold treat in hand of course. In the enduring heat, we’re going for the OG icy dessert: chendol.
Where to find the best kaya toast in Singapore
More than just a tourist must-eat, kaya toast is a classic breakfast menu that’s loved for its simplicity, not to mention the harmonious blend of sweet, toasty, and savoury textures and flavours all at once.
Get your oyster omelette fix at these spots
For hawker aficionados, there are few dishes less satisfying than a good plate of oyster omelette, its greasy, savoury bites washed down with a mug of ice-cold sugarcane juice.
Where to find the fluffiest (and crispiest) appam in Singapore
Appam (read: ap-pom) is like the forgotten, local sister to the Western pancakes and crepes, only it really shouldn’t be.
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