Headed to Singapore? Craving for the perfect chili crab / satay / chicken rice / murtabak / char siew? Search no more! My list will give you the lowdown on where to eat, what to eat, and where it’s near (for all those tourists) – read on for a gastronomic experience you won’t likely forget!

Otherwise, if you’re less interested about the food and more interested on getting a lowdown of what to do in Singapore… then click this link for a full travel guide on what to do in this country, sans the food 😉

And…if it’s your first time to go around Singapore on your own, check out my blog on all the Singapore basics – including when’s the best time to go, what’s the best way to get around the city, and how should you prepare for your trip beforehand!

TABLE OF FOOD

• Crab (Chili crab, white pepper crab, crab beehoon)
• Satay
• Michelin star stalls (Chicken rice, Pork noodles)
• Murtabak
• Dessert
• Drinks
• Others
• For future reference (aka well-recommended, will try next time!)

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CRAB

No Signboard Seafood, Geylang branch (famous for their white pepper crab)

• What to order (a subset of what we ordered): White pepper crab (so meaty, so succulent), Crispy cereal prawn, Steamed snapper, Black pepper frog, Boiled peanut and salted egg soup, Fresh coconut juice and meat (so sweet and tasty)
• Price range: $$$ (Ambiance feels like a hawker center, but the price is fit for a high-end restaurant)
• Nearby tourist attraction: None

This restaurant is well-known for its white pepper crab, and trust me, it’s GOOD! Unfortunately, the only branch worth going to is the original branch (Geylang), so make sure to go there and not to its other branches

To reserve, go to this link and fill in the appropriate details. They usually respond within 24 hours

Unfortunately, Geylang is pretty far out from the city center as well (~30mins ride via bus, ~15mins via cab), so make sure to take that into account in order to ensure you get there by your reservation time (they only hold your table for 15mins!)

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Jumbo Restaurant

• What to order: For sure, CHILI CRAB
• Price range: $$$
• Nearby tourist attraction: None

An alternative to No Signboard would be Jumbo Restaurant – infinitely more famous, and extremely well-known for its chili crab. To be honest, this was our first choice! Unfortunately, by the time we got around to reserving, all the dinner time slots were fully booked – across all branches! So, you can imagine how popular this restaurant is, for both tourists and locals alike

To reserve, go to this link, its central branches would be Riverside Point and The Riverwalk (both of them are along Clarke Quay)

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Long Zi Char

• What to order: Crab beehoon, Cereal prawns
• Price range: $$$
• Nearby tourist attraction: Tiong Bahru (not really a tourist attraction, more like a hipster lane)

Man, this restaurant was SUPER highly recommended to me by locals. The crab bihon was SUPER on point – it cost us around ~SGD80, but it was enough to fill up six very hungry young adults also – excellent value for money! The cereal prawns was also A-MAZING (but tbh, I love cereal prawns no matter where I go…)

This restaurant is extremely popular! Either reserve ahead of time, or go there early (we went there at 5:30PM sharp as soon as they opened – and we ended up snagging the last available table >> all the other tables were already reserved!)

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Chinatown Seafood Restaurant

• What to try: Chili crab w/ mantou buns (to mop up the chili sauce after!), chicken satay, string beans, bamboo clams
• Price range: $$
• Nearby tourist attraction: Chinatown street market

As you make your way sloooooowly across the street market, you’ll see a restaurant to your left – hello Chinatown Seafood Restaurant (it’s also right outside the Chinatown MRT, and across the Heritage Center)

Hailed as one of the best chili crab restaurants by TripAdvisor, we decided to give this restaurant a try, and we were not disappointed

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SATAY

Satay by the Bay

• What to order: Satay (duh!!)
• Price range: $$
• Nearby tourist attraction: Gardens by the Bay (Satay by the Bay is actually inside, and ~10 minutes walk from the Flower / Dome

I didn’t actually get to try this as my grandparents were too tired to walk at this point, but TripAdvisor reviews for this hawker center is excellent!

It’s roughly ~10mins walk (by normal people standard) from the Flower to Satay by the Bay. As the name implies, what you should order here is the satay (don’t forget that spicy-sweet peanut dipping sauce) and an ice-cold beer to wash it down!

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Lau Pa Sat

• What to order: Chicken, beef, and prawn satay (they’ll provide you with set menu choices!)
• Price range: $ (SO CHEAP)
• Nearby tourist attraction: None (but it’s right in front of One Raffles Quay)

When you arrive at Lau Pa Sat, you’ll initially be disoriented by the size of the hawker center. Don’t be! Go in search of the open area where there’s a huge satay grilling area. Don’t bother with the hawker stalls inside the hawker center, it’s really the satay area outside that’s the REAL JEWEL OF THIS PLACE – yum yum yum!

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MICHELIN STAR STALLS

Tai Hwa

• What to try: Bak Chor Mee (get ALL the toppings – the liver is SO GOOD) -> The medium sized bowl is sufficient
• When to go: As early as possible / Saturday afternoon! The stall opens at 9:30am – but the queue starts waaaay before that. As soon as you arrive, go to the stall and grab a queue number (we arrived on a Sunday, 8:45am – and our queue number was #19)
• Price: $$
• Nearby tourist attraction: None

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Maxwell Food Center

• What to try (everything we tried!): Tian Tian’s chicken rice (one Michelin star!!), Zhen Zhen’s porridge, Shanghai Special Tim-sum’s steamed dumplings + hot and sour soup, Ye Lai Xiang’s chicken chops, Jin Hua’s fish head bee hoon, Lao Ban’s soya beancurd
• When to go: Again, NOT during peak hours (11:00 – 14:00). We went at 14:30, and there was still a ~10mins queue for Tian Tian’s chicken rice!
• Price: $
• Nearby tourist attraction: Chinatown

Head to Chinatown via bus, and get dropped off in front of the Maxwell Food Center – one of the oldest (and cheapest) hawker centers around! No need to say more, GO!

MURTABAK

Singapore Zam-Zam

• What to try: yummy murtabaks!
• Price: $
• Operating hours: 7:00 – 23:00
• Nearby tourist attraction: Sultan Mosque and Haji Lane

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Ramadan Bazaar

• What to try: Murtabak, Kebab, and all the other weird shiz 😉
• Price: $$
• Nearby tourist attraction: None

This bazaar is only available during the Ramadan season – but boy, does it pack a woozy!! Check it out – if you plan to go with a group of friends, suggest you split up and agree on a meet up spot after… The place is packed!

For more information on the 2017 bazaar, check out this link

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DESSERT

P.S. Cafe Petit

• What to try: Sinful black out cake (one of the best I’ve tried!!), decadent truffle fries
• Price range: $$
• Nearby attraction: Tiong Bahru

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Creamery Boutique Ice Cream

• What to try: LAVA COOKIES – the matcha, red velvet and chocholate selections!
• Price range: $$
• Nearby attraction: None

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Cake Spade

• What to try: Any of their cakes, they’re ALL yummy!!!
• Price range: $$
• Nearby attraction: None

Honestly, the cafe is quite small but it’s really cozy, and the cakes are great – making this a perfect hang-out for friends and families alike! Yum yum yum!

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Tarte by Cheryl Koh

• What to try: Strawberry and hazelnut tartes
• Price range: $$
• Nearby attraction: Orchard Road

Okay, to be honest, I wasn’t particularly impressed with the tartes. It was good, but it wasn’t mindblowing… However, my foodie friend absolutely loves this place, so maybe it’s a lack of refined taste on my part?

Also, do note that the store is quite difficult to find as it’s hidden at the very edge of the mall. Despite this, there were quite a few customers on the Saturday afternoon I was there – so I think there’s demand! Try it and let me know what you think?

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DRINKS

The Atlas Bar

• What to try: Gin and tonic
• Price range: $$$
• Nearby attraction: None

Okay, I normally would NEVER advocate for folks to go drinking in Singapore because it’s so darn expensive. In this case though – I must admit, the drinks were good and the ambiance was top-notch! When you enter the building, the feel of the place is reminiscent of old European art deco buildings (and the New York Rockefeller Center), with elaborate gold-gilded walls and designs – that’s ostentatious but manages to be tasteful at the same time

Quick tip: Do come early, there is a LONG queue. My friends and I had to queue for 1.5 hours (we arrived at 11PM), which (quite frankly) is ridiculous!

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Oxwell & Co

• What to try: Draft cocktails
• Price range: $$
• Nearby attraction: Ann Siang Hill (filled with the latest trendy restaurants and bars)

The vibe here is akin to an English pub, with a pretty cool rooftop bar at the top! I dropped by on a chill Sunday afternoon and loved the vibe (super laidback), I assume it’d be quite different at night though

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OTHERS

Old Airport Road Food Center

• What to try: Albert Street’s prawn noodles, Lao Ban’s soya beancurd. Because I was with grandparents and they had limited stomach space, wasn’t able to try everything I wanted. For more ideas on what to order, check out this super helpful review
• When to go: I’d advise you to NOT go during the peak lunch hours (12:00 – 13:00) in order to avoid the crowds. We went around 14:00, and the queues were manageable then
• Price range: $
• Nearby attraction: None

The Old Airport Road Food Center is nearer to the airport than the city center (expect travel time of ~30 mins from the city center) – this is THE biggest hawker center in Singapore, with >160 stalls within its walls!

If you’ve got the time, this is a definite must-try! Even if it’s a bit far, the sheer variety of food sold, the quality of said variety, and the dirt cheap (for SG) prices definitely makes it worth a visit!

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Lolla

• What to try: Sea urchin pudding (to die for!), lamb rack in asparagus purée, steak (served medium rare)
• Price range: $$
• Nearby attraction: Ann Siang Hill (filled with the latest trendy restaurants and bars)

The food here is just lovely (heard the drinks are great too!) Would definitely come back in a heartbeat!

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Wing Seong Fatty’s

• What to order (amazing honest-to-goodness homecooked Chinese meal): Black pepper prawns (their specialty!), spinach, beef with ginger shallots, fried spring rolls, Indonesian style chicken, Yangzhou fried rice
• Price range: $$
• Address: 175 Bencoolen Street
• Nearby tourist attraction: Bugis street shops (15 mins walk)

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Makansutra Gluttons by the Bay

• What to try: Chicken wings
• Price range: $$

Nearby tourist attraction: Esplanade Terrace

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Plaza Singapura

• Price range: $$ (unfortunately, they only accept local Singapore credit cards, so make sure to have cash if you want to eat here)
• Nearby tourist attraction: Orchard Road

Take the MRT to Dhoby Gaut station. When you alight, look for the Plaza Singapura exit and it’ll bring you direct to the basement

Once there, check out the three supermarkets there: Singaporean, Korean, and Japanese. So envious, their supermarkets here are AMAZING (but pricey)

Afterwards, eat at this yummy noodle place – same floor. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the name of the store… But it’s the one right in front of the Bak kut teh restaurant. If you eat there, make sure to order the beef brisket noodles and pork rib rice! So good and melt-in-your-mouth soft!

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FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

Alas, I haven’t had the chance to check out ALL the great SG places yet – but here’s my running list of restaurants to try 😉

• New Ubin Seafood: US Angus Rib-Eye Steak (comes with a plate of signature beef fried rice using charred fat, burnt ends from the steak!!), garlic baked crab
• Ang Mo Kio (Mellben Seafood): Chili crab, Crab beehoon, Salted egg pork ribs
• East Coast Food Center: Chili crab, oyster cake, snails, satay
• Newton Circus Food Center: Grilled sambal stingray, Gong gong, Crispy cereal prawn
• Char: CHAR SIEW
• Hai Di Lao Hot pot
• Red Dimsum
• Antoinette: Salted egg and chili crab croissant
• Wild Rocket: Modern Singapore cuisine
• Candelnut: First Michelin-starred Peranakan restaurant
• Burnt Ends: Australian BBQ
• Saveur Art: French food
• Geylang: Frog leg porridge (??)

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For my other Singapore travel blogs, see below:

• Everything you need to know about Singapore as a first-time tourist
• Day 1: Botanic Gardens – Orchard Road
• Day 2: Gardens by the Bay – Marina Bay Sands – Esplanade – Merlion
• Day 3: Universal Studios
• Day 4: Chinatown (Buddha Tooth Relic Temple – Chinatown Street Market – Sri Marianman Temple – Bugis)
• Day 5: Hipster and off-the-beaten path (Sultan Mosque – Haji Lane – Tiong Bahru)
• Day 6: Hipster and off-the-beaten path (Haw Par Villas – Japanese Chinese Garden)
• Top 5 Recommended Food Souvenirs from Singapore