Where to eat during your first time in Singapore
Just like the architecture the food in Singapore has influences from many different cultures and countries. Maybe even more so, since there is even more diversity to be found – from hawker centres, to night markets, to cafes, to restaurants and bars.
This is not a “X must try foods in Singapore” kind of post. There are enough of those out there. Instead my approach was “Where to eat” while you’re in Singapore. Since you have to be mindful of where you eat, when you want to keep up with an itinerary to make the most of your time. Singapore has several iconic places to eat at, as well as iconic food. These two characteristics overlap sometimes, but not all the time.
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Overview of where to eat in Singapore
- Where to eat at and what to eat there
- Hawker Centres
- Bettr Coffee
- Cheerful Goat Cafe
- Nova
- FreakyCones
- Bee Cheng Hiang – Bak Kwa
- Chin Mee Chin Confectionery
- Heavenly Wang
- Michelin rated food
Sometimes they overlap (since you can find some of the must-try foods at the places I mention), so I would still recommend reading everything for a comprehensive overview.
Where to eat at and what to eat there
Hawker Centres
What is a hawker centre? A hawker centre usually is a big building or hall, in which former street merchants and street food vendors set up shop. Southeast Asia is well known for street food and street merchants and it was much the same in Singapore. In the 1960s the Government of Singapore built the hawker-centres we know today, as a place to congregate and organise street vendors. This was part of nationwide registration and licensing projects, during urban renewal and hawker resettlement schemes. A few decades later a hygiene license project followed.
Because of it’s origins Singaporeโs hawker culture has a somewhat turbulent history (you can learn more about it in the National Museum of Singapore). Today the hawker centres are a big part of the (food-) culture of Singapore and one of the things the country is known for internationally. In 2020 hawker culture was even declared part of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Albert Centre Market & Food Centre
I am starting at this hawker centre, simply because it was closest to where I stayed and because the food and drinks were delicious. I had my first Singapore breakfast here: White carrot cake (it’s an oyster omlette) from ๆถไปฃ้ฃๅณ Carrot Cake and a Kopi to go from Hua Ling Hng Coffee Stall, for only 1.4 SGD. Originally I had come to this centre for glutinous rice from Thong Kay Delight, but alas: they were closed that morning. On the last picture in the gallery below, can guess what’s inside the golden Margarine tub? Wrong. It’s ground coffee.
Lau Pa Sat
Lau Pa Sat (meaning “old maket”) was founded in 1824 as Telok Ayer Market, the first market in the country. Back in the day the market was located on the former shoreline of Singapore. The market we see today was constructed in 1894. In the late 1960s the wet part of the market was closed and rebuild into a Hawker Centre.
I had a chicken cutlet and fried egg on top of rice at a food stall here. Sadly it looks like the food stall I ate at doesn’t exist anymore.
I know that many people today say that Lau Pa Sat is overhyped, too expensive (and it is more expensive than other hawker centres) and you shouldn’t eat there. However, it is also a piece of history. Even if said history now exists mostly in the building itself.
Telok Ayer Market – 1824
Lau Pa Sat – 2026
Satay Street
Every day Boon Tat Street in front of Lau Pa Sat turns into Satay Street. On weekdays from 7 PM to 3 AM and on weekends from 3 PM to 3 AM the entire street is lined with satay stands, filled with tables and chairs and the air is thick with smoke.
I went there, very excited to try grilled meat, seafood or vegetables with delicious dipping sauces. However the amounts and prices of food seem to be geared only at families or groups of friends. With no exceptions.
Maxwell Food Centre
I stopped by Maxwell Food Centre while exploring Chinatown, to try Chicken Rice. Sadly a lot of the stalls were closed (understandably so, since it was Lunar New Year). But I got to at least try the Oyster Cake.
Which other foods to try here was helpfully summarised by local guide Miss Tam Chiak. I have linked one of her YouTube Videos here, since it helped me a lot.
Bettr Coffee
They call themselves “Singapore’s Largest Impact Driven Coffee Brand” and focus on the sustainability, ethic sourcing and human connections behind every coffee bean they use. Coincidentally one of their locations Bettr Coffee @Foundry was in short walking distance to my hotel, close to Bencoolen station and Bugis station, and became my go to morning-coffee spot.
I can’t say much about other locations, but Bettr Coffee @Foundry was a tranquil breakfast cafe, with a lot of foliage around, giving it garden vibes.
The chilli crisp eggs were on point, although I wish it had been a little more. If you eat a lot for breakfast youโll probably want to order a second dish.
The white coffee was good every time, the sesame latte I tried off their menu as well.
Cheerful Goat Cafe
The Cheerful Goat Cafe is a sub-brand of TIMEMORE, a coffee equipment brand. I have some of their equipment at home, so I was interested to see what this brand would do in a cafรฉ.
I had the Kenya Nemrys Trinity Set. It consist of three drinks: A black Americano, a milk coffee and a Cold Brew Coffee Cocktail with Blackcurrant, Plum Wine, Raspberry and Jasmine Tea. The beans used for all three drinks are single-origin beans from Kenya.
I liked the concept of presenting the same coffee (-beans) in different ways to show off how different the same coffee can taste, depending on how you brew it and what you add to it.
Nova
Nova is a bar on top of the One Raffles Place building. 282 meters above the ground it offers a stunning, almost 365 degree view over the city. On one side you have the Marina Bay Sands building, which is often lit up at night, 30 degrees against the clock you can see the Asian Civilisations Museum, former Supreme Court and the former City Hall, turn even further and you can see Chinatown.
The entrance fee of 28 SGD includes admission to the rooftop and a drink. The cocktail was mediocre at best and going by the menu amounted to 20 SGD. I have been told alcohol in Singapore is very expensive, but I have nothing to compare it to.
While the wind and them opening only after dark makes it an enjoyable climate in the bar, the music is far too loud for my liking and not really my style, but the other guests seemed to enjoy it.
But let’s be real, you don’t go here for drinks, you go here for the view:
FreakyCones
Freaky Cones stands for handcrafted Ice Cream and the best waffle I have ever had. They are located at the Northeastern edge of Chinatown.
Their “golden waffle” is the height of a Belgian Waffle, but without the crystalline sugar clumps, the size of a medium pizza and perfectly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
Paired with their ice cream – I went for once scoop of Matcha and one scoop Earl Grey Lavender – which was not too sweet, very flavourful and very creamy, it was the perfect combination.
And yes, the scoops are as big as they look in the picture.
Just to be clear: They didn’t pay me to write this and I fully paid for my meal, I just loved it.
Bee Cheng Hiang – Bak kwa
On the airplane they had a series with mini documentaries about Singapore in the entertainment library. One of them was about bak kwa. I have linked it here. But was is bak kwa? It’s ground meat, seasoned and grilled in thin sheets over bamboo until it has a similar texture to jerky (it’s softer though).
The company Bee Cheng Hiang has been operating since 1933 and not much has changed about their original bak kwa since then, neither in the recipe, nor in the way it is produced.
I walked past one of their stores in China Town and decided to buy a slice to try it. Since its inception they have come up with many different flavours, so I just went for the original. It was a lot sweeter than I had expected, but a nice snack.
Chin Mee Chin Confectionery
Chin Mee Chin Confectionery is one of the oldest coffeshops in Singapore, which first opened over 100 years ago. They are best known for their Kaya Toast, with soft boiled egg. This Hainanese-Singaporean dish is a staple breakfast food until today, served with a Teh or Kopi of your choice. They are located in the Katong District.
Heavenly Wang
Another shop serving Kaya Toast, boiled eggs and Kopi or Teh. And yet the Kaya Toast at Heavenly Wang could not be more different from the one at Chin Mee Chin Confectionary.
Instead of Brioche-like buns the spread is served between crispy sheets of brown toast. You can choose if you want Kaya alone, Kaya and Butter, Kaya and peanut or just peanut spread.
This might be your first or last time eating Kaya Toast in Singapore, since they have a whopping six locations (March 2026) at the airport alone. Or, in my case, it was the first AND last time eating the jam whose name I share.
Honorable Mention
This honorable mention goes out to the “Singapore Sling“. The now world famous cocktail was invented at the Raffles Hotel in 1915! You can visit “The Long Bar” at the hotel without staying as an overnight guest. But since the cocktail is based on pineapple, which I am allergic to, I refrained from doing so.
Michelin Food
While Singapore doesn’t have the most Michelin Stars (38) of any country (here is the current leaderboard), they do have a large number of Michelin Bib Gourmand (89) and Michelin Plate (175) rated food. There is – as far as I know, and looking at the 2025 Michelin Guide Singapore didn’t tell me anything contrary – only one hawker stall with a Michelin star: Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle.
Some of the otherwise Michelin rated food can be found in close proximity to each other, for example at Lau Pa Sat you could eat:
- Black Fried Kway Teow, White Fried Kway Teow, Laksa at Lao Fu Zi Fried Kway Teow – Stall 74 – 75
- Curry Chicken, Braised Pork, Peranakan Chicken Wing, Curry Chicken Ramen at Nana Curry – Stall 63
- Char Siew Cheong Fun, Prawn Cheong Fun, Scallop Cheong Fun at Pin Wei Chee Cheong Fun – Stall 1A
- Mee Soto & Mee Rebus at Warong Pak Sapari – Stall 58
Ji Ji Signature Char Siew Wanton Noodle – Dry
Inside the Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, North of Chinatown and South of Clarke Quay, you’ll find the stall of Ji Ji Wanton Noodle Specialist.
Their dish of Ji Ji Signature Char Siew Wanton Noodle – Dry has gotten the “Michelin Plate Accolade” every year since 2016. So I was very excited to try it when I was in the area.
The queue was long, even during off-hours I waited over an hour for this plate of food. And the Michelin rating is definitely contributing heavily to that waiting time. In my opinion it was good, but I had better within Singapore.
Main Post Picture – of the Hawker Centre “Chinatown Complex” – by: Dennise Anorico
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