Introduction
Singapore is arguably Asia’s greatest food city — a multicultural entrepôt where Chinese, Malay, Indian and Peranakan (Straits Chinese) cuisines have evolved alongside each other for 200 years. The hawker centre system makes outstanding food accessible to everyone, at every price point.
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The Hawker Centre System
Open-air food courts with dozens of independent stalls. Singapore’s greatest institution.
How it works: Find a table (leave a packet of tissues or a plastic bag to “chope” it — this is accepted etiquette), then go to individual stalls to order. Each stall specializes in one dish.
Best hawker centres:
- Maxwell Food Centre: Most famous. Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice (Michelin Bib Gourmand) has lengthy queues.
- Old Airport Road Food Centre: Local favourite. Less touristy.
- Lau Pa Sat: Victorian iron structure near CBD. Good for satay from evening stalls outside.
- Chinatown Complex: Largest in Singapore. Excellent variety.
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Must-Eat Dishes
Hainanese Chicken Rice: Singapore’s national dish. Poached chicken, fragrant rice cooked in chicken stock, ginger-chilli and dark soy dipping sauces. Deceptively simple, endlessly variable.
Chilli Crab: The “national seafood.” Whole crab in a sweet-spicy tomato chilli gravy. Messy, delicious, expensive (S$50–80+ per crab). Best at Long Beach Seafood or Jumbo Seafood.
Laksa: Coconut curry noodle soup with prawns and fish cake. Katong laksa (east Singapore) is the most famous style.
Char Kway Teow: Flat rice noodles stir-fried at high heat with cockles, Chinese sausage, egg and bean sprouts.
Satay: Malay grilled meat skewers with peanut sauce. Best at Lau Pa Sat’s outdoor satay stalls (evening only).
Roti Prata: Indian-influenced flaky flatbread with curry dipping sauce. Singapore breakfast staple.
Kaya Toast: Toasted bread with kaya (coconut jam), butter, and soft-boiled eggs in soy sauce. Traditional Singapore kopitiam (coffee shop) breakfast. Yakun Kaya Toast chain is the standard bearer.
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Budget Food in Singapore
Singapore is expensive by Southeast Asian standards but hawker food remains affordable:
- Hawker centre meal: S$3–8
- Kopitiam breakfast (kaya toast + coffee + eggs): S$4–6
- Chilli crab: S$50–80+ (splurge occasion)
- Michelin-starred hawker meal (Tian Tian): S$5–8
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Singapore hawker food tours and cooking classes are bookable on Klook — a great way to learn the stories behind Singapore’s multicultural cuisine.
Book Singapore food tours on Klook →
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